The Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson has all sorts of info concerning the state of the Florida Marlins.
- We’ve heard this before – the Fish can’t afford to keep both Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera. Do you trade the cheaper guy, or the more valuable one? As Jackson says, it really just depends on the offers. It wouldn’t be a complete shock to see both traded if the Marlins received separate knockout offers on each.
- The Marlins are likely to non-tender Miguel Olivo, with an eye on bringing Paul Lo Duca back to Florida to provide veteran leadership for the young pitching staff. Other free agents on the radar: Yorvit Torrealba, Michael Barrett, Jason Kendall, and former Marlin Ramon Castro. Several of these are $5MM players, so the team’s owner would have to sign off.
- Some kind of MLB-ready starting pitching is likely to come back in a Willis or Cabrera deal. But otherwise the Fish will try an injury-discounted guy like Kris Benson. The market has no shortage of these types – Matt Clement, Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, Jason Jennings, Jon Lieber, and Jaret Wright all fit the mold.
- The Marlins will listen on Scott Olsen, but aren’t opposed to keeping him.
- For now, Hanley Ramirez and Miguel Cabrera are staying put on the left side of the infield. Good luck improving the defense.
- The Marlins would like to bring Aaron Boone back for ’08.
