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.

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

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.

3) Something that exasperates us consistently (and it’s an old issue, Joe Sheehan at BP has been all over it for years) is the usage of closers and the ill-conceived notion that the last 3 outs of a game are somehow harder to get than any other 3, and thus managers (Jim Tracy) use their “closer” rather than match up correctly (Huston Street pitching to Ryan Howard). Why is that so prevalent, Jonah? What has to change for managers to “get it”?

I wrote about this, completely indirectly, in addressing the topic of going for it on 4th down in football. If managers could feel confident that they won’t meet significant criticism for not adhering to standard closer usage, or at least that such criticism wouldn’t endanger their jobs, you’d see some skew from the norm. As is, though, there’s nothing more universal than working to save one’s own ass, no matter your profession.

4) Talk to us a little bit about this Jeter is clutch, Arod is a choker argument that has been so steadily spewed out for years, and now all of a sudden is changing. Are you in on the idea that Arod never was “un-clutch” he was just presented with a sample size that paled in comparison to Jeter’s and now he’s rectifying it, the way Barry Bonds did in 2002? Does it frustrate you to no end, how now we will hear stories for 6 months about how “Alex Rodriguez is a different guy”?

A-Rod played poorly in two series when he happened to be a Yankee. For much of the baseball world, how a player performs is irrelevant until he becomes a Yankee. Now that A-Rod has come up with some big hits for the Yankees, that talk will quiet down a bit. Stll, there will be plenty of people who will never fully embrace A-Rod until he wins a World Series in the Bronx. And that’s even if he hits .500 with 20 homers in this postseason.

5) Your take on the whole Fredi Gonzalez/Bobby Valentine situation that was in the news not too long ago is what? Forget for a moment, whether or not Valentine qualifies as an upgrade; is there ANY sort of upgrade that is worth spending 2-3 times more money on manager A than manager B?

I’d spend 2-3 times as much to get the GM I wanted. Can’t think of any managers who’d warrant that gap, though.

6) You’re one of the most well rounded sports writers out there, so let’s end here- give us your take on Rush Limbaugh’s (now dead) chance of buying the Rams? Should he have been allowed to purchase them if he were so inclined?

Someone had a really good take on this and I’m struggling to remember who it was. Basically the argument was that it’s not worth the trouble. Personally, I’m pretty agnostic about it. It’s a PR issue more than anything, and the league has the right to manage their PR however they see fit.

Check-Downs

1) Best Meal You’ve Ever Had?

La Giostra, Florence, Italy

2) The one TV show you can’t miss?

Now: Mad Men; All-time: The Wire

3) Best sports (and then non-sports) book you’ve read this year?

“The Beckham Experiment” by Grant Wahl; “Home Game” by Michael Lewis (I haven’t read many non-sports books this year unfortunately, because I’ve been cramming while writing my own book about the Rays)

Thanks to Jonah for tolerating us, and make sure to check out his book on the Tampa Bay Rays, due out in the Spring of 2011.