Josh Johnson will most likely be a Marlin in 2012 (hopefully, in good health). Here are a couple of notes on a pair of hurlers who may or may not don the teal and black of the newly renamed Miami Marlins next season:
- Javier Vazquez's second-half resurgence, recently detailed by MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith, won't have any bearing on whether he decides to retire after the season, writes Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Vazquez's latest masterpiece was a shutout of the Nats on Friday, after which one of his teammates, Gaby Sanchez, offered these telling words: “He’s accomplished so much. It’s time to just walk away on a high note and be with his family."
- The Marlins may end up being the highest bidders for the services of impending free-agent starter C.J. Wilson of the Rangers, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.com, who adds that he has no inkling as to whether Wilson would want to play for the Fish.
- The Marlins plan to boost their payroll "significantly" as they head into a new ballpark next season, adds Olney (Twitter).
- For all things Marlins, be sure to check out their MLBTR Facebook page, Twitter and RSS feeds.
Is it just me, or the Marlins are just fooling themselves if they think their going to contend next year.
This team is still a few pieces away while Johnson keeps proving he’s not physically reliable and Han-Ram basically just threw a season away.
There’s still the possibility of a surprise but in my opinion, this team is not there yet.
I think they’re fooling themselves mostly because of what a powerhouse the Phillies are and the strength of the Braves as well. That’s a lot to overcome for any team. And while the Mets are sucking hard right now, a new owner or a happy resolution to their lawsuit issues can return them to a big-payroll team with the means to contend.
But for the Marlins I’m not sure it’s necessarily about contending, per se, as much as it is about trying to change attitudes about their franchise. They’re saying “hey guys, you know those years where we spent like $9.99 on our payroll? Yeah, let’s pretend that didn’t happen.” They want to make a splash, they want to spend some money and get other free agents in years to come thinking that yeah, maybe the Marlins aren’t such a bad place to sign.
I’m not sure they will succeed, mostly because the good news of actually spending some money is tempered by bad news like Loria deciding that he is in fact god and will run every aspect of his franchise himself. Every misstep will linger with the franchise for as long as he is owner, every fight with his players, every grievance over mistreatment, everything.
no way cj goes there,no friggin way…if i were a high end free agent i would avoid that place like the plague
If you were a high end free agent you would go where the money is.
You go where the money is, especially with a rebranding and brand new ballpark.
there are more teams that can pony up the money for cj…….i dont care if they got new digs….what, just because they get a new stadium, the fans are gonna come out?? cj will sign with a contender and look at cliff lee…he took less money to go back to philly….arguments are welcome
i was in extreme disbelief after checking out javier’s recent statistics. if i recall he had a 8 or so ERA in early june and i dropped him from my fantasy team
curse…absolute curse
Vasquez should keep on trucking and get 3000 Ks to pad his resume for the Hall-of-Pretty Good.
New stadium, same team.
Yeah, but four-digit attendance!
I wonder if the new stadium seats 10,000..
I hope so. They need to have enough seats for the 2015 World Series.
Right, add five to ten years to that then you might be close to when they win.
CJ Wilson is coming to the Marlins, I guess that will happen the same day Reyes signs with the Pirates. Don’t hold your breath.
Don’t be so down, bro. Jo-Jo Reyes may consider the Pirates yet.
The Pirates are a black hole.
Btw, money talks, bull$hit walks.
Man, all of you must be drinking from the same hateraid punch bowl because the marlins are not a bad team. If you add C.j wilson, a healthy J.J, and the the hanely that hit .342 they will be a contender not just for a wild card spot but the division crown. Because the philies best two pitchers are old (In baseball years) Lee:34 Halladay:35. How much longer can these two guys pitch, with all those innings (4146 combined) on their arms, somethings gotta give.
The Phillies are at a point where they can replace people with their huge budget. I personally don’t see either Halladay or Lee declining any time soon. They both know how to pitch and aren’t reliant on their fastball to blow people away. It will be interesting to see how the Phillies move forward with an aging team.
That being said the Marlins don’t need to spend a billion dollars to be good. They have some nice talent on the roster and a few pieces could make them contenders. They don’t need to win the division, just get a WC spot. If MLB adds a second WC team (which I think they will by 2013), it makes it even easier to get a shot at the playoffs. The NL East is going to be a tough division for a while as I see the Fish and Nats as up and coming teams. Who knows with the Mets, and the Phils and Braves should contend for a few more years. The NL East should be the best division in baseball the next few years.
Why would Josh Johnson only “most likely be a Marlin in 2012,” when they have him under contract through 2013? Wouldn’t that make it pretty definite that he’ll be a Marlin in 2012? Even if he’s hurting, I can’t see them trading him given how dominant he is when he’s healthy, how big a PR hit they’d take from their small fan base if they traded him, and how they plan to expand payroll going into the new stadium. I’ll take 20-25 starts from Josh Johnson over 34 starts from 90% of the pitchers in MLB.
On a slightly related note, anyone who writes off the Marlins is fooling themselves. I’m a Braves fan, but if the Marlins add a top SP through trade or free agency and Johnson comes back healthy, that team scares the crap out of me. Has everyone has forgotten how good Hanley Ramirez can be? Does everbody realize how good Mike Stanton really is? The kid is going to have close to 35 HRs in his age-21 season! Adam Dunn didn’t have that many HRs in a season until he was 25, and he was playing in a WAY friendlier park for hitters than Stanton. Joey Votto spent almost his entire age-21 season in A-ball…and he didn’t even hit as many HRs there as Stanton has at the major league level.
“Why would Josh Johnson only “most likely be a Marlin in 2012,” when they have him under contract through 2013? Wouldn’t that make it pretty definite that he’ll be a Marlin in 2012?”
Because anyone who isn’t a Marlins fan still believes they trade away any good players they develop. Living in pre-2007.
And yes, the Marlins can win. However, they need JJ for a full season and Hanley can’t be hitting .240 in order to do so.
hanley is a friggin malcontent….i think all that florida sun has bleached your brains