Miami Sports- The City of Champions

We certainly think so…

To (what should be) no one’s surprise, the Marlins have low-balled Josh Johnson, the most valuable asset this franchise has ever had, sans Hanley Ramirez. Sources tell us, that this afternoon the Marlins and Johnson’s representatives reached a breaking point that culminating with Johnson letting the Marlins know he’d prefer to play elsewhere. We’re told JJ wants to sign a one year deal and leave as soon as he can. The disagreement stems from Johnson perceiving the Marlins offer as a slap in the face. From what we’ve gathered, the Marlins would offer a 4 year deal but only with the contract splits looking like this:

‘09: 7 million

‘10: 8 million

‘11: 9 million

‘12: 9.5 million.

Given the situation that Johnson finds himself in, potential free agent in 2011, it appears more and more to feel like the Marlins will explore their options on the trade market with Johnson. We’re not sure what the point of angering Johnson is, and this ridiculous offer continues to show why the Marlins are regarded as a minor league organization masquerading in the MLB.

UPDATE: 11/21: We have been informed that the potential deal the Marlins offered had the 4th year slotted as a team option, not a guaranteed year on the deal. So, ostensibly the Marlins offered a 4 year deal worth 33 million with a team option on the tail end of the deal, and we were told Johnson would have absolutely signed for 4 years/38 million with no options on the deal. Wow.

Sources tell the City of Champions that the Marlins and Dodgers have had multiple talks regarding shipping off Dan Uggla to the Dodgers. We are told the Marlins have asked for Chad Billingsly, and while the trade at this stage may be unlikely, the story has some legs to it, and if one team budges either way, you may see Uggla swapped within the next few weeks or so.

Earlier today, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported that the Marlins have traded Jeremy Hermida to the Red Sox for AAA lefty Hunter Jones and another  lefty named Jose Alvarez. This trade, from afar at least, feels like the kind of trade in which the Marlins can’t possibly be criticized. Arguably the most maligned player in Marlins history, for most Marlins fans the trade of Hermida is the kind of washing away that is both soothing and exhilarating. We talked to a few scouts to get a feel for how the trade is being received by that community, and the feeling has been overwhelmingly positive in favor of the Marlins. One scout we spoke to responded immediately with “The Marlins ripped them”. Pressed further, we were told that Hunter Jones is a 25 year old local kid from Palm Beach Gardens who went to FSU. He throws 88-91 MPH and projects as a solid bullpen pitcher. As for Alvarez, there’s far less of a database on the young 20 year old, though we were told his change-up ranges from 72-76, and a fastball that tops out in the low nineties with good control.

Our friends over at the Jorge Sedano Show have created a masterpiece. Seriously. We here at the glorious City of Champions have deemed this the best Ted Ginn song ever. Enjoy it…

(h/t to Alex Donno of the Sedano Show)

One of our favorite baseball writers out there, Jonah Keri of the great Baseball Between the Numbers, and a handful of other books (we highly recommend ‘Mind Game’ which Jonah worked on with the Baseball Prospectus crew), has been kind enough to join us for an interview. As always, our questions in bold; enjoy!

1) We’ll delve into a broader set of baseball questions in a bit, but let’s start local, with the Marlins. From afar, you made what of the handling of Emilio Bonifacio this season? Is there any justifiable reasons to give him 400+ at-bats at this level?

There’s a strong recency effect in baseball, where a manager will overlook a career worth or awful minor league and major league numbers and fixate on some recent success. It’s possible that Bonifacio’s long history of ineptitude wasn’t even considered in the Marlins dugout. He looked like a good player in April, so they kept riding him. It’s the GM’s job to step in when such situations occur.

2) Sticking with the Bonifacio theme, the only argument spoken on his behalf on talk radio down here, is that given his age and skill set, that his on-base percentage is something that can improve. Would you say that as a 24 year old with a substantive sample size of playing time in both the major and minor leagues that his OBP prowess sort of ‘is what it is’, or that it’s still fluid?

There are players who improve with age, and there are occasions to give a player the benefit of the doubt. Circumstances should dictate the decisions. If the Marlins have no one in the entire organization who can be a passable option, give Bonifacio a chance. If they do have someone, don’t.
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So yeah….Valentine talked to Loria, despite all of David Samson’s best efforts to lie deny (it) all over the Miami airwaves.

Our boy, Jorge Sedano put on a fun, fun show today ripping the Jets fans, and singing songs in honor of the Dolphins. Check out this clip, and download his damn podcast already. (Ed.Note: The last 10 seconds are just classic..classic.)

We teased this last week, and finally got around to writing it. Gotta admit, it was a lot more fun remembering the good of 2009, as opposed to the shit moments. Oh well…someone had to do it, right?

10) That Stupid Sign in Left Field

Once the Marlins finally broke ground on their new stadium and David Samson stopped crying on the radio about it every week, the Marlins introduced a sign in left field that counted down the games until the new stadium opened! Awesome Idea!…right?….huh?

Would have been perfect, except it’s hard to gain any momentum for a countdown when the stadium isn’t opening for another 200+ home games. But hey, it led to moments like a Tuesday night in June when Julio Blanco from the cutlery department of LandShark Stadium got to pull down curtain number 183 of that majestic sign in left field. Can’t wait to see who they get to pull down the numbers next year! Can you feel the excitement?!

9) The Defense

So yeah..what happened to that alleged commitment to defense Larry Beinfest promised us in the off-season? Seemed excellent in theory, and perhaps if they would have executed it correctly, 87 wins would have been our total two weeks ago, not the tally when the season finished. Instead, they slotted Emilio Bonifacio (oh man..wait for it..he’s on this list…promise) at third base for 86 games too many, put natural second basmen Chris Coghlan in left field, kept defensive liability Dan Uggla at second instead of third like Baseball Prospectus recommended, and failed to give Cameron Maybin any type of shot in center field.

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So the rumor going around town this week is one  about as ridiculous as we’ve heard this entire season. The 87 win Marlins are allegedly close to firing do-boy manager Fredi Gonzalez and hiring Bobby Valentine, the former Mets manager. Before we delve off into why the move is silly, let’s start here — For those who have inquired, no, we don’t have anything “groundbreaking”on this situation from our sources. We’re told the Marlins plan to spend at some point (65-70 million payroll) and before doing that, they are poised to go get a ‘big name manager’. There is another name that was thrown out to us, whom the Marlins would pounce on if he became available. In terms of the validity to the Valentine rumors, we have nothing, so we’re just analyzing what’s been widely reported.

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