A source told us earlier today that the Marlins had sent multiple scouts to check out Mike Lowell for the possibility of signing the former Marlin to play first or third base. The Herald’s excellent Marlins blog also got similar information and one of the things they touched on is worth noting:

Lowell could provide another, intriguing option (at first and/or third) IF he shows that he’s healthy and only IF the Red Sox, in any kind of trade arrangement, agree to absorb the $12 million he’s due to make in this, the final year of his contract.

It would appear that Gaby Sanchez is your leader in the clubhouse to start at first base, and his ceiling is so low in terms of what he’ll give you from a premium power position that we believe it’s absolutely a a prudent move to acquire Lowell, as Mikey has posted OPSes over .800 (.798 in 2008 but let’s just call it .800…why? well because we said so) the last 4 years.

*Funny aside: was talking to Josh Friedman of 790 The Ticket a few weeks back, and Friedo brought up an exchange he had with our good friend Boog Sciambi. The exchange involved Boog telling Friedo that if he had to make a decision on a player and could choose from the numbers or from what scouts said, he would choose the numbers 11 out of 10 times. Funny. And totally Boog-ish

Anyway, this got us to thinking. We love spring training baseball, and everything it represents. The symbolization of hope, the crack of the bats, all that pukey bullshit. But inevitably one of the most irritating things about spring training is this notion that “jobs are on the line”, and battles between player x and player y come down to their performances in the spring.

We’re not here necessarily to argue that this happens, but we’d like to point out how absurd this is. Now look, having been to a few spring training games, we’ve gotten to see up close just how talented Mike Stanton is. And yes, he’s damn talented. Hits monster home runs, crazy athletic, solid arm, etc.

But all of a sudden there’s been this rush of publicity that Stanton has a shot to make the team, and furthermore, deserves it, given his play so far. The ridiculous part? We’re talking about 15 at-bats. 15!

How about this? If the season started today, these would be the results of the spring training battles:

- Gaby Sanchez would win the starting first base job over Logan Morrison because Gaby has gotten 7-8 hits this spring, while Morrison is 1-19

- Mike Stanton would start in right field

- Hayden Penn would be in the rotation

Last year, Mike Stanton hit .231 with with 99 strikeouts and a .766 OPS in 350 at-bats over 80 games in AA. It should be understood, that no matter how impressive Stanton looks in 15 at-bats, the sample size with 80 games attached to it is the only one that matters. It’s infuriating that the thought process isn’t “Stanton got hot for 15 at-bats (3 games more or less) and it’s not meaningful.”

The larger point that needs to be hammered home has little to do with Stanton. He looks like he’ll be a fine player, and well worth the hype that has accompanied his rise. Rather, our suggestion is that no “jobs” should be up for grabs given the scarcity of at-bats and games being dolled out in spring training. Mike Stanton should start 2010 in AAA, not the majors, because of his struggles last year in AA. Forget about his hot start in spring training, it’s irrelevant.

Seriously though, it’s funny how Sanchez vs. Morrison or Stanton vs. Maybin/Ross/Carroll gets to be decided by spring training at-bats. You guys think if Emilio Bonifacio hit .450 this spring and Hanley went 0-15, Boni would get the nod over Hanley?

Of course not. Why? Because Hanley’s body of work trumps a month full of at-bats, albeit good or bad.

Eat it, Fredi. Spring training isn’t the time to configure your lineups…

Growing up in South Florida, we’ve long been Pat Riley admirers. It’s sort of sacrilegious NOT to. Admittedly, the dude exudes the very definition of cool. He’s 64 (65 in 10 days, by the way) yet with his slick-backed hair and firm voice, Riley isn’t a guy to bleep with in this city.

However, over the last few weeks, we’ve found ourselves getting annoyed with Riles’ thought process on certain ideas, and just how cliche-soaked they have become. Last week while Riley was being interviewed by the best sports columnist in this city, Riley was riffing on the greatness of Lebron James.

Without question LeBron is one of the two best players in the league (or number 1, if you have a brain), and his exceptional talent can be described in a myriad of ways.

His height. Speed. Athleticism. Dunking ability. Efficiency as a shooter.

Whatever…pick one. Instead, Riley immediately pulled out his cliche handbook and said that what makes LeBron great is “the gleam in his eye.” Riles went on to say that LeBron just sort of has that look in his eye, that gleam in his eye, and well, that’s when you know a team is a great.

So yeah, if you read this site with any consistency, you know that annoyed us. But it’s Riley, and he’s a legend, so we just ate it and tried to forget it…

Until..

Last night, while watching the spectacular “Magic & Bird” documentary on HBO and Pat Riley’s head appeared on the screen. Just as a set-up, Riley coached Magic Johnson for many years, and should know better than anyone else what makes Magic so great. And, by the way, when Riley chooses to be, he’s the most eloquent voice on any subject you want to bring up.

So naturally, the question posed him involved what made Magic so great. And once again, there were a boatload of attributes that Riley could pluck from the arsenal.

Magic’s passing ability. Athleticism. Career 52% field goal percentage.

So yes, once again, Riley had many options. Of course, Riley didn’t choose any of the applicable options. Instead, Riley said that what made Magic so great was his “tremendous leadership skills.”

And, by the way, we’re not saying that LeBron doesn’t have a different look in his eye than Joel Anthony. And, we don’t doubt that Magic Johnson, given his charisma and charm, wasn’t a great leader. It’s just not one of the top 20 things that made them great. LeBron has that look in his eye because he’s 10 times better than Joel Anthony, he’s not better than Joel BECAUSE of that look.

Next time you Heat fans scratch your head over a Riley move (drafting Wayne Simien, Mario Chalmers, and Dorrell Wright) understand that Riley is simply a poor talent evaluator. He values the intangible qualities. In 2004, Jameer Nelson, Kevin Martin, and Anderson Varejo were all drafted after Riley selected Dorrell Wright. In 2005, David Lee and Monta Ellis were drafted after Wayne Simien.

But hey, at least Dorrell Wright and Wayne Simien have that gleam in their eye.

Who knows..they may even be great leaders!

According to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN, who wrote an excellent book with Johnson’s  agent (LIAR) a few years ago, Johnson has agreed to a 4 year 39 million dollar deal with the Marlins. It doesn’t much matter whether they planned to do this deal before the MLB union stepped in, or whether they did simply as a result of this report, but it’s fantastic news regardless. Congratulation, fellow Marlins fans…in the last year, the team has locked up Hanley and JJ, two of the best 5 players to every play for this franchise..

Later on in the day, another Marlins blog, Fish Stripes, talked to Johnson’s agent, and he denied the report:

“Josh laughed, and said that was the dumnest (sic) thing that he’s ever read.  He said that he likes both Sampson and Loria, and hopes the team signs as many good players as possible this off season.  He also said that he is hoping to do a deal that keeps him in Florida for the long haul, either this year or next off-season.”

If you remember, a month ago, Johnson and his handlers walked out of the room because the Marlins refused to go past three guaranteed years, and got frustrated with the Marlins stance on not giving out long term contracts to pitchers. Also, if you remember correctly, Matt Sosnick, Johnson’s ever-truthful agent, responded with this:

“Based on our conversations, there’s no chance of doing a long-term deal with the Marlins,” Sosnick said. “We made it clear that it was going to be this year or it wasn’t going to happen. It was now or never. And the Marlins agreed.”

Ah, so there’s no chance of doing a long term deal with the Marlins! And…….. We’re hoping to keep JJ in Miami long term in Miami. Wait, what?

The problem is, Sosnick has nowhere to go here. The fact that he responded and mocked the report, tells us the truth is packaged all around our report, and we stand by our sources. Besides, what else was he supposed to say? “Bleep the Marlins, Johnson IS pissed?” We’re sure that would have went over well.

And if you’re going to rip the report..try and spell “dumbest” correctly, please.

We’re also told that the Marlins have angered Johnson to the point that he is close to setting a hard-line stance and refusing to accept any offer the Marlins throw at him, and simply waiting two years until he is a free agent..

The decision is a puzzling one on the Marlins part, and Johnson isn’t out of line to ask for a deal similar to the one Zach Grienke received, a 4 year/38 million dollar contract, as Johnson put up a season strikingly close to the one Grienke had, just before he signed the contract. Consider:

Josh Johnson in 2008: 15-5, 209 innings, 191 strikeouts, 58 walks, 3.23 ERA

Zach Grienke in 2007 (he signed the contract immediately following this year): 13-10, 202 innings, 183 strikeouts, 56 walks, 3.47 ERA

Yet another development in the Josh Johnson saga, and as they are usually wont to be this organization, another negative one….

We certainly think so…

‘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.

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.