Marlins making a mistake on cuts
by craig on Mar 28, 2011 11:30 AM EDT
in News and Rumors
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PrintIt seems the Marlins are going to make a big mistake to start the season.
With three games left in Grapefruit League play, Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez said he's "very, very close" to setting his roster, which probably will include 12 pitchers and 13 position players.
Final cuts, he said, will be made Tuesday or possibly Wednesday, after the Marlins' spring training finale against the Mets in Port St. Lucie.
Normally the Marlins carry 13 pitchers and 12 position players and this year should be no different. Especially looking at the ones who are being considered.
The Marlins have Leo Nunez and Clay Hensley locked into the closer and right-handed set-up roles. Veterans Mike Dunn and Randy Choate look to be Florida's lefty options. Right-hander Ryan Webb, acquired from the Padres in the Cameron Maybin deal, also appears to have a spot.
Randy Choate is a LOOGY who should never be allowed to pitch against a right-handed batter. Now, Choate, is a good LOOGY but that is all he is. He won't give the team at lot of innings in relief. In fact, he may be only good for one hitter, depending on the lineup.
Mike Dunn is far from being a veteran. Yeah, he has appeared in the majors in the last two years, but he has only thrown a total of 23 innings. But he is serviceable. When he doesn't walk every batter in sight, he does good work. He can get righties and lefties out.
The following idea that this is even being considered really bothers me.
Right-handed relievers Brian Sanches, who pitched Sunday in the Marlins' 6-4 win over the Nationals, Burke Badenhop and new acquisition Edward Mujica appear to be vying for two bullpen spots.
I don't think Burke Badenhop is any danger of not making the club. The man is a Super Two and no team sends a Super Two down. Not even the Marlins, and the team needs a long reliever. But if the front office persist in this line of thinking, I would assume Mujica will be the odd man out.
A bench of Wes Helms, Emilio Bonifacio, Chris Hayes (relief catcher) and some lefty hitter is good enough. If it doesn't start out that way, trust me, it will end up that way. Going with only 12 pitchers is pretty short sighted.
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I would have to assume
the schedule allows them to skip a starter the first time through (note – i haven’t looked to confirm that), which would give them an extra arm to use out of the pen for a week, if needed…
Moreover, Mujica is a far better reliever than Choate or Dunn
Uggh…
Chris Coghlan is the 2009 NLRoY (that's a +1 for me!)
Dunn is like Renyel Pinto with control problems.
And unlike a lot of other people, I like Pinto. I thought Pinto got a bad rap — sure he walked way too many guys, but he struck out a lot of guys too, and nobody could hit him hard. He would put a guy on base more often than not, but that guy would get stranded more often than not.
But there’s a difference between walking 6 guys per 9 innings like Pinto and walking 9 guys per 9 innings like Dunn. Even if you’re good at everything else, you can’t be an effective major league pitcher if there’s a 20% chance of you walking any given player.
As for the rest of the bullpen… we’ve got Nunez and Hensley, and we might as well use them. Webb looks solid. Choate and Mujica are uninspiring, but they’re not going to ruin the bullpen. Badenhop is a decent long reliever. And Sanches got way lucky last year (.220 BABIP), but he’s been solid for us a couple years now. He could play his way out of a spot, but I think we have to give him the chance to do that.
I’d say take those seven guys, and go ahead with it. Eight guys if you’re convinced Dunn has improved his control.
Bass and sharks are BOTH fish.
Not crazy about that bench, though.
Do you realize you’ve created a scenario where the best backup hitter you have is Emilio Bonifacio? (Depending on who the lefty is, of course.) Bonifacio’s useful because he can play a lot of different positions (some better than others), but he’s not a guy you want as a pinch hitter. Even if his pitch recognition keeps improving, he’s a .330-.340 OPS guy with no power at all.
I feel like you should at least be able to find a hitter-only type of guy who could hit for a .700-.750 OPS or so. Some kind of AAA first baseman or something, or an aging corner outfielder who can’t really play defense any more… not a liability at the plate, but not good enough to make up for the fact that he doesn’t do anything useful defensively. A pinch hitter.
Helms isn’t contributing anything — if the team loves his leadership or whatever so much, they should make him a coach and leave the roster spots to guys who can contribute on the field. He can’t hit any more, he can’t field, nothing.
Bass and sharks are BOTH fish.
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