Fish Bites: Wooing Cespedes and Stadium Woes

The Miami Marlins have been quiet for the time being as we slowly but surely approach pitchers and catchers reporting. Of course, there is at least one thing in which the Marlins are very involved.

- Of course, we are talking about the Yoennis Cespedes sweepstakes. All signs point to the two sides being favorable to a deal; Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald says that Cespedes likes Miami, and Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun-Sentinel reports that one source thinks the Fish are the favorite. Yesterday evening, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com reported via Twitter that David Samson told him that the Fish may have an offer ready by the lunch and ballpark tour today. As a blogger for the Marlins, I am more than interested in a potential Cespedes signing, especially since the Marlins were the first team to visit with him and could end up being the last.

- But those are potential future happenings with regards to the Marlins' payroll and talent, but two moves recently occurred regarding the team's current talent. Both Anibal Sanchez and Emilio Bonifacio won their respective arbitration cases. This does not represent a significant blow to the Fish, as the team probably lost out on $1.3 million in these cases. This should not affect any of the Marlins' potential future moves.

- Does Sanchez deserve a multi-year deal? Will Stanifer of Marlin Maniac says yes. Here at Fish Stripes, we agree.

- Want to get a gander at the Marlins' new stadium? MLB '12 has a video game preview available. The stadium looks so pretty in digital form!

- No matter how nice the stadium looks though, the parking woes may make transportation to a game a nightmare. As someone who will not be getting season tickets, I am definitely concerned about this.

- You want a piece of 2012 Marlins history? Go buy Jose Reyes's hair!

Around the League

- Elvis Andrus signed a three-year extension with the Texas Rangers. He is among the better shortstops in baseball, thanks in part to his stellar defense. There's a reason why Michael Young had to move off the position.

- So apparently I have never heard of this "Baseball Boyfriend" thing (check out an explanation of the so-called problem here). Matthew Callan of Amazin' Avenue also takes some offense.

- Patrick Reddington of Federal Baseball wonders in Michael Morse can repeat his performance from last year. My money is on him regressing pretty heavily, but there is a chance he is at least 80 percent as good as he was last year.

- Bill Baer of Crashburn Alley reviews the Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee trades.

At Fish Stripes

- Did you check out our weekend pieces? Go vote for our latest Wild Pitch and vote in our latest poll: who should be the Marlins' leadoff man?

- On Monday, we find out that Anibal Sanchez won his case, but how much will he be worth next season and beyond?

- Yesterday, we continued discussing Ricky Nolasco's problems with runners on, this time with batted ball data.