Marlins Acquire Carlos Lee for Matt Dominguez, Rob Rasmussen

[Mainge]

I had a feeling the Marlins were going to go after him. I read that Matty D is going straight to Houston to back up Chris Johnson. Anyway, it sucks to give up Rasmussen a tiny bit, but I always assumed he would get traded at some point. I would like the Marlins to get a long-term answer for center (Bourjos or Span) because I still don't feel Bonifacio is the answer in center or second. He did however hit .302 in May before getting hurt.

As mentioned before, Bourjos isn't very good. He is white Bonifacio. Span hasn't been very good either since 2009. They're all basically the same player except Boni is a much better base stealer.

[emkayseven]

Um, are you saying Morrison shouldn't be guaranteed a lineup spot or did I read that wrong?

If you don't think Morrison is worthy of a lineup spot right now, you're going to love Carlos Lee...
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Probably not. I just think this is a waste of time.

You definitely read that wrong. My point is that to still be so high on him and think he's part of the "core" is getting to a point where you have to reconsider those things. He's already barely playing against lefties, and I think if Ruggiano continues to hit he'll be ridden until he burns out. Morrison is absolutely going to have plenty of days off if he continues this, and he may find himself fighting for a job in the future. He's still worthy of a starting spot on THIS team, but he hasn't done anything to earn a guaranteed starting spot now or in the future.

[Bobbob1313]

As mentioned before, Bourjos isn't very good. He is white Bonifacio. Span hasn't been very good either since 2009. They're all basically the same player except Boni is a much better base stealer.

Much, much (much much) better defensive outfielders than Bonifacio.

[Mainge]

By your silly metrics.

[Bobbob1313]

Oh.

[Mainge]

:-)

I mean if they want to grab Span and make Boni a super sub, whatever. But they'll move Lomo to first, stick Boni's ass in left and then wonder why our offense still sucks.

[Swifty]

That's where we disagree, I guess.

If we're giving up on Gaby, I'd much rather see Logan Morrison at 1B considering he's quite possibly part of the current core, and he's probably better there than in LF where he's attrocious.

This move prevents that from happening. I really don't care if "we're better for it" considering that "we're still a crappy team."

Logan's still here, Logan's still going to be in the lineup (unless he takes himself out of it, but he's at least starting to go in the right direction).

All that said, and please do remember that I was the biggest LoMo -> 1B advocate here, he looked like absolute shit at first when we moved him there. He is, by far, the worst left handed throwing first basemen I have ever seen on balls to his right. Mind numbing kind of bad. I just don't get it. Maybe it's rust at the position, maybe the Will Clark defensive comps were exceptional hyperbole, I don't know. What I do think, though, is that Logan's going to get a lot better in the offseason knowing that he'll be the 2013 first baseman (barring something crazy) and that anything he does now is really going to be inconsequential because the Marlins are notorious for not doing a lot of infield work during the season (that's not a knock, that's just how they do things, and it's fine, save your guys if you can). The Lee trade does nothing to disrupt that.
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Unrelated but let's keep the crazy train rolling:

I'd trade Yelich. I don't think we should trade Yelich just because, and I don't think this team is even that impact player away (short of Hamels, and I don't think I'd want to trade Yelich to the Phillies) but I'm still not sold on his inevitability. I think he'll be a big leaguer. I am still not certain he's got star or all-star potential. If the Marlins are going to have a crazy payroll going forward and don't "need" to find cheap labor, and Yelich can get you a guy like Greinke/Hamels (who'd agree to an extension) or a club-controlled guy (a la Montero-Pineda) I'm 10000000% on board with it. I don't think we should do it to plug the sinking 2012 ship, but I think we really need to sloooooooooooow down with the expectations people have for him. He's not untouchable. He's not a Stanton kind of prospect.

[Erick]

You definitely read that wrong. My point is that to still be so high on him and think he's part of the "core" is getting to a point where you have to reconsider those things. He's already barely playing against lefties, and I think if Ruggiano continues to hit he'll be ridden until he burns out. Morrison is absolutely going to have plenty of days off if he continues this, and he may find himself fighting for a job in the future. He's still worthy of a starting spot on THIS team, but he hasn't done anything to earn a guaranteed starting spot now or in the future.

I get what you're saying about him in terms of being part of the core, but I think it's a bit of hyperbole to say he needs to show he belongs in the lineup every day. His walk rate, while down, is still fine (although I don't know what happened to him in June). His problem is basically a .253 .BABIP this year and he's been swinging the bat better lately (this current series at least).

I think he starts on a lot of teams.
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Logan's still here, Logan's still going to be in the lineup (unless he takes himself out of it, but he's at least starting to go in the right direction).

All that said, and please do remember that I was the biggest LoMo -> 1B advocate here, he looked like absolute shit at first when we moved him there. He is, by far, the worst left handed throwing first basemen I have ever seen on balls to his right. Mind numbing kind of bad. I just don't get it. Maybe it's rust at the position, maybe the Will Clark defensive comps were exceptional hyperbole, I don't know. What I do think, though, is that Logan's going to get a lot better in the offseason knowing that he'll be the 2013 first baseman (barring something crazy) and that anything he does now is really going to be inconsequential because the Marlins are notorious for not doing a lot of infield work during the season (that's not a knock, that's just how they do things, and it's fine, save your guys if you can). The Lee trade does nothing to disrupt that.
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Unrelated but let's keep the crazy train rolling:

I'd trade Yelich. I don't think we should trade Yelich just because, and I don't think this team is even that impact player away (short of Hamels, and I don't think I'd want to trade Yelich to the Phillies) but I'm still not sold on his inevitability. I think he'll be a big leaguer. I am still not certain he's got star or all-star potential. If the Marlins are going to have a crazy payroll going forward and don't "need" to find cheap labor, and Yelich can get you a guy like Greinke/Hamels (who'd agree to an extension) or a club-controlled guy (a la Montero-Pineda) I'm 10000000% on board with it. I don't think we should do it to plug the sinking 2012 ship, but I think we really need to sloooooooooooow down with the expectations people have for him. He's not untouchable. He's not a Stanton kind of prospect.

Is our payroll even going to exceed this year's in the future?

I'm all for keeping Yelich, especially if he's capable of playing CF long-term.

[emkayseven]

This is not like a one month aberration from Morrison. It's getting to a point where this is who he is, which is a little scary. Explain away his 3 months this year with a .253 BABIP, how do you explain away his 6 months last year with a .265 BABIP? For all the talk about his walk rate being fine, he had 3 months last year where his OBP was below .300. Think about that. It's great that he had 3 months of upper-.300s/low .400s OBP, but half of his season consisted of a sub-.300 OPS. That isn't a core player. This year, 2 of his 4 months are like that (okay, May was .307 so I'm cheating a little, but still). I'm not saying he isn't good enough to start on this or other teams, but I do not think he's absolutely 100% guaranteed a lineup spot from here on out until he hits arbitration 2 and we trade him. If he continues being the player he's been, there needs to be another option checked out.

As far as Yelich, I'm willing to make a Todd-like statement and go out on a limb and say that he'll be nearly as good of a hitter as Bryce Harper (who I love for many reasons, but is incredibly overhyped as a hitter). I believe he is pretty near untouchable. If this team were one piece away, I'd say he's available for the perfect player. If he were going to net you a substantial player in the ilk of Greinke or Hamels straight up, I'd say he's available in those deals. But he won't, and he shouldn't be available.

[Todd]

This is not like a one month aberration from Morrison. It's getting to a point where this is who he is, which is a little scary. Explain away his 3 months this year with a .253 BABIP, how do you explain away his 6 months last year with a .265 BABIP? For all the talk about his walk rate being fine, he had 3 months last year where his OBP was below .300. Think about that. It's great that he had 3 months of upper-.300s/low .400s OBP, but half of his season consisted of a sub-.300 OPS. That isn't a core player. This year, 2 of his 4 months are like that (okay, May was .307 so I'm cheating a little, but still). I'm not saying he isn't good enough to start on this or other teams, but I do not think he's absolutely 100% guaranteed a lineup spot from here on out until he hits arbitration 2 and we trade him. If he continues being the player he's been, there needs to be another option checked out.

As far as Yelich, I'm willing to make a Todd-like statement and go out on a limb and say that he'll be nearly as good of a hitter as Bryce Harper (who I love for many reasons, but is incredibly overhyped as a hitter). I believe he is pretty near untouchable. If this team were one piece away, I'd say he's available for the perfect player. If he were going to net you a substantial player in the ilk of Greinke or Hamels straight up, I'd say he's available in those deals. But he won't, and he shouldn't be available.

Thats actually about the complete opposite of a Todd-like statement.

[emkayseven]

It is Todd-like in that it will be seen by most people as completely and utterly stupid

[Bucklin12]

Yelich may not be a Stanton type, but he's a top 25 prospect in baseball. I agree, if Yelich is the key cog to a marquee player deal, it makes a ton of sense. But anything less and I'd be wary. His all around hit tool gives him a pretty high floor and a club controlled CF who shouldn't give you worse than an .800 is pretty damn valuable.

[Bobbob1313]

Thats actually about the complete opposite of a Todd-like statement.

It is Todd-like in that it is completely and utterly stupid and really without basis.

Yeah.

[Mainge]

I feel like I've seen this all before.
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Oh he deleted and tried editing my post. Not today Polky.

Bob, the admins met recently and decided that posting from current and former members has fallen off precipitously because of posts like this. We asked several current and formerly active members and they agreed. We ask that these type of posts stop. It adds absolutely nothing to the board and brings down the brand we're trying to build. It's funny every once in a while with very stupid posts. But if it's going to be anyone's modus operandi the admins are not going to accept it anymore. It's become detrimental to the board and made it largely unreadable.

Anyone who comes here to talk Marlins or sports should not leave here frustrated over expressing their views on a regular basis.
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see? I can do a thing too

No, I think Bob is in the clear.

[Namaste]

Bobbobbobbob and Mainge said it best to sum up my mixed feelings:

It's a .200 OPS upgrade which is HUGH and

There are NINE teams ahead of us in the WC race. This team has done an outstanding job burying itself post-May.