Here’s the latest from south Florida…
- “After the Marlins come to grips with the shock and grief of losing Jose Fernandez the man, they will confront the reality of something far less important but daunting: replacing Fernandez the pitcher,” the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson writes. There is no easy way to fill the spot of perhaps the best pitcher in the sport, particularly since the Marlins were already going to be looking for rotation upgrades anyway. This winter’s free agent pitching market is extremely thin, and the Marlins have generally been unwilling to pay big prices on the open market. (It probably doesn’t help that Wei-Yin Chen, last year’s big signing, struggled in his first year in Miami.) Jackson figures the “best case scenario” for the Marlins would be to sign one of Jeremy Hellickson, Rich Hill or Ivan Nova, and then make a trade for another starter. He suggests Adeiny Hechavarria or Derek Dietrich as possible trade chips, and the Fish could even revisit last winter’s attempt to deal Marcell Ozuna for a higher-tier arm.
- The Marlins have “expressed preliminary interest” in re-signing Mike Dunn, the left-hander tells Tim Healey of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Dunn told the club that he “would be more than willing to come back” but is excited to be testing the free agent market for the first time in his career. Dunn and his family are “going to go where the opportunity is. Where that is, we don’t know. I haven’t ruled anybody out.” The southpaw bounced back from a somewhat disappointing 2015 season to post solid numbers this year — a 3.40 ERA, 8.1 K/9 and 3.45 K/BB rate over 42 1/3 innings. Dunn posted the lowest strikeout, grounder and walk rates of his eight-year career and his 93.6 mph average fastball velocity was his lowest since 2009.
- Barry Bonds’ return as the club’s hitting coach in 2017 “is uncertain,” MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro writes. This was the all-time home run leader’s first year on a coaching staff, and under Bonds’ tutelage, Marlins such as Christian Yelich and J.T. Realmuto had notable jumps in production. Miami was a below-average offensive club overall, however, most notably in the power department (a likely product of their pitcher-friendly ballpark and an off year from Giancarlo Stanton). Frisaro notes that some changes are expected to Don Mattingly’s coaching staff.
- For more Miami baseball news, check out another batch of Marlins Notes from earlier today on MLBTR.
This a real question I just now wondered, did Barry only use steroids the he hit 73 and the few years around it, or his whole career?
You are probably the first one to wonder that
Lol, /s
bigger question might be what percentages of his contemporaries in baseball were not using.
Wish I knew the pitchers, but lot of aces went down with injuries that year in the NL and Bonds made those rookies and youngsters pay when he faced them.
I know this should be a secondary concern, but the Fernandez death set the Marlins back years. They could’ve gotten a huge prospect return for him, or instead could’ve had a controllable ace, who was probably a top 10 pitcher. It sucks from a baseball standpoint, but like Jackson alludes too, doesn’t come near as close to a personal standpoint.
Probably a top 10 pitcher? lol try top 5, probably top 3.
Top 1 in pure talent
Nah Kershaw is the best. Fernandez was the best right-handed hurler though
Hechavarra and Diertich aren’t very good ‘trade chips’, they probably won’t bring you much in return… I feel like the Marlins are stuck in a rut and have been since like 2010… any sign of hope seems to end up being a disappointment. The Fernandez thing just adds to it all. I feel for a fish fans… I feel for ya
Trump 2016
Hell yeah
Hillary for Prison! Trump 2016
Ugh
Glad to read the DOUCHE crowd posting late at night
That’s when the Donald is on the attack — 3AM tweets.
Good trade Dietrich so he can get regular at bats
No trade chips ummm…I wonder why? Bad player performance via trade. Who’s responsible for all those trades, maybe the focus needs to be the front office… Wake up Loria!
The Marlins needed pitching before the tragic loss of Jose Fernandez but now that is even more evident. The Marlins don’t have the depth or the prospects to make a trade for a high end pitcher and their and no top of the rotation arms on the free agent market they should go heavy in free agency signing these players: rich hill, Jeremy hellickson or Doug fister( preferably hellickson) , Gio Gonzalez or/ and jaime Garcia, and then bolster their bullpen with some of these guys: neftali feliz, Jesse Chavez, Daniel Hudson, pat neshek( if his option isn’t picked up), jorden Walden( if option not picked up), drew storen, bring back Dunn or sign mark rzepcynski. Bring in another shortstop so they could trade hechavarria if the opportunity arises. Basically they need to do what the royals did have a strong offense, bullpen and defense and mediocre starting pitching.