Fish Stripes: All Posts by Ehsan Kassim

Firing of Ozzie Guillen Makes Miami Marlins Laughingstock of Baseball

2012-10-24T16:01:01Z

You remember that one kid in high school? He would be that person that would do absolutely ridiculous things to catch everyone's attention. At first, everyone would want to be friends with that kid, as he would seem to be somewhat cool. He becomes one of those people who believes their stupid behavior draws laughs and makes him popular. In reality, people are no longer laughing with him but rather laughing at him. By the middle of the year, he is no longer even funny, and the other kids and teachers are no longer mesmerized by him and instead hate him.

This is what the Miami Marlins franchise is quickly turning into. Only, they are not just upsetting their peers, but they are starting to get on the nerves of the only people that actually like them: their fans.

Marlins fans have to be given a ton of credit. They have stuck around through a lot of dark times. Yes, the team has won two championships in their brief history, but the team has gone through a lot more darkness than it has prospered in the past few seasons.

In the history of the National League East, the Marlins are the only team of the five yet to capture the division crown. Adding to that, the Marlins playoff drought is now at nine seasons. Only the Kansas City Royals (27), Pittsburgh Pirates (20), Toronto Blue Jays (19), and Seattle Mariners (11) remain ahead of the Fish. This is not the company with whom the Marlins want to be associated.

Like that kid in high school, the Marlins have had their moments, but for the most part, the teams successes have been overshadowed by their shortcomings.

Tuesday was no different for the Marlins, as the team officially announced what had been speculated for the entirety of the Marlins offseason, the Marlins firing of Ozzie Guillen. The team also fired Joey Cora and let coaches Eduardo Perez and Randy St. Claire go.

The move came as a surprise to many, as the team decided to fire Guillen after three weeks of speculation. Many felt that with the recent trade of the loathed Heath Bell, Guillen's job was safe. Apparently all of them were wrong. Juan Rodriguez, of the Sun-Sentinel, and a great friend of Fish Stripes, was extremely shell shocked about the news of the firing:

Sept. 25:That was the day I thought Ozzie Guillen would survive, albeit with a short leash in 2013, but he would get there. Turned out not even his players’ support in the aftermath of that regrettable Heath Bell radio interview could save him.

In the article, Rodriguez states that Guillen had a sit-down meeting with Loria two days before the end of the season about the Marlins' future. That seemed to be an indicator that Guillen would be brought back in 2013, but on a short leash.

As the news of Ozzie Guillen spread like wild fire on the wonderful world of Twitter, Ozzie Guillen and the Miami Marlins began to trend around the world. As per the case as it is when the Marlins usually trend, other baseball folk, including fans and baseball experts were very critical of the team.

Perhaps the most surprising and most critical tweet came from a Marlins player, Ricky Nolasco:

Ricky quickly deleted this tweet, but the damage was already done. Nolasco's twitter followers quickly retweeted his tweet on their timelines for the entire world to see. You better bet that the Marlins management has probably already gotten their eyes on this tweet and had a chat with Nolasco.

Normally, I would scold a player for not thinking before making a tweet such as this, bashing their own ball club, but Nolasco and all the other Marlins players have a right to be pissed about this decision. They respected Guillen and saw him as a good enough manager under whom to win. Unfortunately, the Marlins front office did not see things the same way.

Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/fish_bytes/2012/10/all-quiet-on-the-marlins-front.html#storylink=cpy

Fish Cap: Miami Marlins 2, New York Mets 4

2012-10-04T12:53:12Z

Source: FanGraphs

According to Miami Marlins right-fielder, Giancarlo Stanton, “Everyone is happy it is done.’’

The Miami Marlins torturous 2012 season is finally in the books. The season may not go down as the worst season in the teams history, but it sure will go down as the most disappointing.

For the first time in team's history, the fans and the national media had expectations for the Marlins baseball team. Unfortunately, the Marlins were unable to live up to these expectations.

The team ended the season Wednesday evening the same way they started the season, with a loss at their brand-new state of art ballpark. The Marlins fell behind early in this one, and never threatened the Mets in the ballgame.

Tom Koehler's First Major League Start

Tom Koehler has been one of the more consistent starters in the Marlins minor leagues for the past few seasons. While he is likely nothing more than an organizational depth pitcher going forward, with the Marlins deciding to shutdown Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle, Koehler got his chance to make a Major League start.

Koehler had been somewhat impressive in his seven prior appearances with the Marlins, all out of the bullpen. Although he had an ugly 5.40 ERA and 4.54 FIP, Koehler showed good control in his eight major league innings, striking out ten hitters, while walking just two. He did however struggle with home runs.

Wednesday afternoon was no different. In his five innings of work Koehler did not walk a single hitter, struck out three, but allowed two more home runs. Although he did not do much to disappoint the Marlins, he did nothing to prove the scouts that see him as nothing more than organizational depth going forward wrong. The results were actually a lot better than I expected.

Marlins Offense Stagnant, Again

I believe this tweet by Marlins beat writer Joe Capozzi summarizes what Marlins fans felt today:

Gorkys single scores Murphy, meaning #Marlins will finish season with 17 shutout losses instead of a potential 18th
— Joe Capozzi (@joecapMARLINS) October 3, 2012

Although the difference between being shutout and scoring just two runs in a loss is probably minimal, there must have been a sigh of relief in the Marlins clubhouse when they scored that one run. That is how bad the Marlins offense has been in 2012. Scoring a single run in a game sometimes seemed liked a major accomplishment.

Bryan Petersen, Gorkys Hernandez, Donovon Solano, and Donnie Murphy combined for six of the seven hits for the Marlins. That is exactly what you guys envisioned when someone told you at the beginning of the season that the Marlins would be playing October baseball, right?

Giancarlo Stanton went hitless with a walk to end his 2012 campaign. Jose Reyes went one for four with his 40th stolen base. Reyes had a decent season, one in which he was very consistent. The most important number for Reyes in 2012 will be the number 160. That is the number of games he played this season, proving to the Marlins that they were wise to spend the money on him, despite his injury history in the past.

Marlins' Players Thank Fans

After the final out was recorded, the Marlins players went back to the clubhouse. It was not long before all of them took the field again. The players decided to walk over to the railings and show their appreciation for the fans support. The players tossing to them batting gloves, shirts, and bats.

"They stuck with us. They’re just as frustrated as we are,’’ Stanton said. “It was nice to go out and do that for them.’’

Yes, Giancarlo, we sure did stick with you guys this season! But like Ozzie said earlier this month, you were the only real reason to watch Marlins baseball from July on.

Fish Cap: Miami Marlins 0, Atlanta Braves 3

2012-09-27T15:36:55Z

Source: FanGraphs

Another day, Another Marlins shutout

The Miami Marlins offense was shutout for the 17th time this season, the latest pitcher to benefit from facing the putrid Marlins offense, Paul Maholm.

Maholm lasted six innings for the Atlanta Braves, allowing five hits, walking none, while striking out six Marlins. Maholm gathered his 13th win of the season. He has been a strong trade deadline acquisition by the Braves.

While Maholm was hard on the Marlins offense, they did not fare any better against the Braves bullpen. The Braves bullpen limited to the Marlins to just one hit over the final 2 and 1/3 innings, striking out six of the eight hitters that batted.

This included a ninth inning, where Craig Kimbrel struck out four Marlins. Kimbrell struck out Greg Dobbs, then Donovon Solano struck out, but was able to reach first base. Kimbrell recovered and was able to strike out John Buck and Gil Velazquez to end the game.

The Braves have not allowed a walk, so far, in the first two games of the series.

Josh Johnson's Wild Night

Josh Johnson yielded three runs (two earned), struck out seven, but he also walked five hitters. The biggest hit off of JJ, came from the bat of Martin Prado, who hit a solo homerun in the bottom of the first. The homerun turned out to be the game winning run for the Braves.

In his last two starts, both against the Braves, has gone 12 innings, striking out 12 hitters, while walking eight. Like I mentioned in a post yesterday, pay attention to Johnson's next start, which will likely be next Monday against the Mets, as that could potentially be his final start as a Marlin.

Entering the game, Miami was averaging 2.1 runs of support when Josh Johnson Johnson took the mound. After the teams 17th shutout, that figure is sure to go down.

Miami Marlins Need to Make a Tough Decision on Ace Josh Johnson

2012-09-26T13:18:40Z

With Miami Marlins ace Josh Johnson taking the mound against the Atlanta Braves, tonight could in fact be the second to last start for Josh Johnson as a Marlin. The right handed ace will be entering his contract season in 2013, and this off-season could be the last time the Marlins have a chance to cash in the value for JJ.

If the Marlins were to move Johnson, the move would not likely be very popular with the fans, but the front office needs to build a long term contender, not just fill the seats for the new ballpark in 2013. That is why the case for trading Josh Johnson is a complicated one. The Marlins general manager, whether that be Larry Beinfest, Dan Jennings, or someone outside of the organization, will have a very tough decision to make.

Does the team sacrifice it's future to appease the fan base for a single season, or does the front office further alienate the fan base by trading their best pitcher and give up all hopes of making a miracle run in 2013?

As Michael pointed out yesterday, Josh Johnson has been only one in what feels like a million draft prospects under Larry Beinfest's reign that has worked out in recent years. As a homegrown pitcher, it will be a tough decision for the Marlins to make, but the best choice for the Marlins future would be to trade the oft-injured ace. Let's examine the reasons why the Marlins would be better off for trading their ace.

Decreasing Payroll and Unlikely to Contend in 2013

As Miami Marlins beat writers, Joe Frisaro and Clark Spencer, pointed out earlier this week, the Miami Marlins are likely to decrease payroll for the 2013 season.

After going "all in" this season with a franchise-record $95 million roster payroll, the Miami Marlins will likely scale back in 2013 to a more moderate figure, somewhere in the $70 million to $80 million range, sources said.

Multiple sources said the team lost money this season due largely to a high payroll and lower-than-anticipated attendance at the new ballpark. As a result, the Marlins will not be repeating last year’s buying binge, when they spent more than $190 million on free agents.

It is important to note that the Miami Marlins already have 2013 salary commitments of $65.5 million for eight players: Josh Johnson ($13.75 million), Mark Buehrle ($12 million), Ricky Nolasco ($11.5 million), Jose Reyes ($10 million), Heath Bell ($9 million), John Buck ($6.5 million), Greg Dobbs ($1.6 million) and Jacob Turner ($1.175 million).

The Marlins will also have the following players eligible for arbitration:

First time: Chris Coghlan, Brett Hayes, Ryan Webb
Second time: Emilio Bonifacio, Donnie Murphy

Chris Coghlan could still potentially miss the super two cut-off, which could explain why the Marlins did not give him a September call-up. That would help the Marlins keep the former Rookie of the Year around for one more season on a minimum contract. If Coghlan is eligible for arbitration, he along with Brett Hayes and Donnie Murphy will likely be non-tendered.

Which leaves the Marlins with Ryan Webb and Emilio Bonifacio to receive contracts for the 2013 season. Bonifacio is likely to receive a raise from his $2.2 million salary from the 2012 season, while Webb will likely earn a modest salary to pitch out of the Marlins bullpen.

After you take into consideration all these contracts, the Marlins payroll would fall around $70 million, and that is before you take into consideration the 15 players that will earn the Major League minimum salary. Depending how much financial flexibility the team has, the Marlins would not have much left over to make improvements on the holes that the team has at catcher, first base, second base, third base, left field, and center field.

That would of course be unless the Marlins are able to pull of some trades. Josh Johnson is currently the Marlins biggest trading chip and he could bring in quite a haul for the team to fill some major voids, which I will take a look at in just a moment.

Not only would trading Johnson fill some holes for the Marlins 2013 roster, the team would then be able to reallocate that $13.75 million that Johnson would be set to make in 2013 to fill at least one or two more holes that were not addressed in the trade.

One idea is that the Marlins could use the Josh Johnson money to sign Atlanta Braves center-fielder, Michael Bourn, a move that Michael and I are both advocate. Bourn should earn around $13-15 million on a long term deal. Bourn would be the perfect addition to the man center field, as his speed can cover a lot of ground, and his speedy offensive game would fit right into Marlins park.

Even with Josh Johnson, the Miami Marlins are a long shot to contend in 2013 with their current roster and no major additions. With the 2013 season looking bleak, it would be a smart move for the Marlins to acquire talent to fill holes on the team with a Johnson trade, as well as reallocating the money that Johnson would have made.

Filling the Holes

As I pointed out above, the Miami Marlins 2013 team going into the off-season has plenty of holes. The Marlins do not necessarily have the players to fill all of these holes in their minor league system currently, and the trade of ace Josh Johnson could potentially bring in players that could be long term solutions for those lineup spots.

A team that comes immediately to mind that could be a trade partner with the Miami Marlins for Josh Johnson's services could be the Texas Rangers. The Rangers were heavily involved in Johnson talks leading up to the deadline, but ultimately decided that the Marlins were asking for way too much in return.

Though the Marlins would be unlikely to acquire the Rangers number one prospect, shortstop Jurickson Profar, the Marlins would easily settle for a package built around third baseman Mike Olt. Olt's name came up in the trade talks leading up to the deadline.

Michael Olt has the potential to be a superstar in the league, and he could be the perfect player to team up with Jose Reyes and Giancarlo Stanton to build the team around.

From there, the Marlins could potentially ask for left handed starting pitcher Martin Perez and/or outfielder Leonys Martin. Perez could immediately join Jacob Turner and Nathan Eovaldi in the Marlins 2013 rotation, while the team anticipates the arrival of star studded prospect, Jose Fernandez. With Christian Yelich likely to man either center or left field for the Marlins either mid-way through 2013 or the start of the 2014 season, Martin could take the other position, alongside Giancarlo Stanton, to give the Marlins one of the more promising, young outfields in all of baseball.

That is just one scenario with a team loaded with talented prospects in the Texas Rangers. With the free agent market likely to get expensive, the Marlins could have a few more teams lining up to make solid offers for Johnson.

The Off-Season Will Be the Best Chance to Cash in

Some people may suggest that the Marlins could always wait until the trade deadline before deciding to trade JJ, but a few of factors could make Johnson more valuable during the off-season as opposed to the trade deadline.

We all know by now that Josh Johnson has a checkered injury history. Johnson has had a Tommy John procedure as well as shoulder issues each of the past two seasons, before this one. Johnson has only amassed 200 innings once in his career, and will likely fall short of that plateau again.

If Johnson's injury history were to rear its ugly head again in 2013, with Johnson still in a Marlins uniform, the end result for the Marlins would not be too good. They would lose out on the $13 million for that season, as well as lose a lot of ground in the win column, that they would be struggling to keep up with in the first place.

On the flip side, if Johnson has a monster season, and the Marlins are unable to get what they want for him at the trade deadline, Johnson will likely have maxed himself out of the Marlins price range.

Also, during the off-season, more teams are likely to get involved in the JJ sweepstakes, as opposed to the trade deadline, where only the contenders make moves for a big name player. With more teams involved, the Marlins leverage in any trade would go up, which could potentially boost the potential return the Marlins could get.

Lastly, with the way the new collective bargaining agreement is configured, teams that trade for Johnson during the off-season would be at an advantage as opposed to a team that would acquire him at the trade deadline.The way the CBA is set-up, a player has to be with his current team the entire season for that team to be eligible to receive a draft pick if the player leaves for another team as a free agent.

With Johnson set to become a free agent after the 2013 season, any team potentially acquiring him will want the draft pick compensation to make up for the loss of a player as well as the prospects they traded away to acquire the player.

It could be argued that Johnson would be the best starter on the market, including free agent Zack Grienke. Rest assured that teams will come calling the Marlins for Josh Johnson once they see the enormous price tag that will likely be required for the services of Grienke. The Marlins would be wise to listen to those offers, and if the right one comes along, pull the trigger on a trade to improve the future of the Miami Marlins.

Josh Johnson is one of the few successes that Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest has had in the past few seasons, but he could also be the player that potentially saves his job going forward with the Miami Marlins.

Due to those reasons, Johnson is likely to bring the Marlins in more during the off-season as opposed to the trade deadline or if the Marlins decide to let him play out the 2013 season as a Marlin. It may not be the popular move among the fans, but the Marlins need to realize, building a winner for the long term is a much better investment than trying to scrap together a team without a plan, as they did in 2012, as such a move could be crippling to the long term future of the team.

Miami Marlins Heath Bell Disses Ozzie Guillen, Teammates Call Him Out On Twitter

2012-09-25T14:50:44Z

If you thought that the drama surrounding the Miami Marlins ended when the Showtime series ended, you were dead wrong. In fact, constant, idiotic drama has been the only consistent thing going for the Marlins in this 2012 season.

Monday was no different, as Heath Bell stirred up the drama in Miami once again in an interview with The Dan Sileo Show on 560 WQAM in Miami. Bell, who has had a few run-ins already with manager Ozzie Guillen already this season, took another shot at the manager, who is already sitting on the hot seat with recent rumors that he could be fired.

Bell, like Michael pointed out earlier today, has not painted himself as a likeable figure in the eyes of the Miami media and fanbase. His comments on Monday did not help his cause either.

"It’s hard to respect a guy that doesn’t tell you the truth or doesn’t tell you face to face,’’ Bell said Monday during an interview on The Dan Sileo Show on 560 WQAM in Miami.

"There’s probably reasons why. It’s probably one of those things, like you said, if I said something or I did something, I’m going to own up to it. What you see is what you get.’’

"We need a guy that leads us that everybody respects and looks up to," Bell said. "That’s what we need."

Bell is already on shaky ground with the Marlins fanbase, but on Twitter, we learned that it might be the same with his Marlins teammates.

This is ridiculous.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/eye-o…
— Justin Ruggiano (@justinruggiano) September 24, 2012

Ruggiano was then asked to clarify if there is a divide in the locker room over Ozzie Guillen and his management.

@fadedwight this is one persons opinion. We have a very close locker room.
— Justin Ruggiano (@justinruggiano) September 24, 2012

Ruggiano is adamant in that Ozzie Guillen has the support from Marlins players. Which makes sense, as he has always been seen as a player's manager. There were notable stories of him sticking up for his players in Chicago.

Brett Hayes was quick to back Ruggiano and his defense of Ozzie up:

Hahaha the irony. absolutely rediculous RT "@justinruggiano: This is ridiculous.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/eye-o…"
— Brett Hayes (@bretthayes9) September 24, 2012

The irony to which Hayes is probably referring to might be what Michael pointed out earlier today, in that Ozzie Guillen was always supportive of Bell, even when he was at his low point in April. Ozzie gave Bell as many chances as he could to earn his closer role back.

Of course, there came a point when Ozzie had no choice but to remove Bell as the closer, as it was obvious he was not getting the job done and the Marlins had a better option in Steve Cishek.

As Michael also pointed out this morning, Bell has pitched much better in the second half, and as well as Cishek has at that, too. Bell feels that is enough for him to merit his closer role back, but obviously Ozzie does not agree with that.

Should the Marlins Punish Bell?

David Hyde, of the Sun-Sentinel made an excellent point in his blog today:

4. The Marlins should suspend Heath Bell for the rest of the year. OK, so that's just a week. But you can't allow your manager to be ripped like that publicly by a player. What's more, Bell is more responsible for this awful season than Guillen is.

Yes, I know the Marlins are not exactly happy with Ozzie Guillen, especially after the comments he made about owner Jeffrey Loria. Guillen is clearly on the hot seat and in danger of losing his job. But the Marlins need to send a message that this type of behavior will not be tolerated by the team.

Of course, then the argument could be made that Guillen should be suspended for the comment he made that Loria found derogatory.

The Marlins Firing Ozzie Looks Less Smart

I was talking to Michael on Saturday and I pointed out that what was interesting was that, with all the Ozzie Guillen hot seat rumors out there, there had been no players coming out to support him. In fact, all season long, I could only recall a Marlins player sticking up for him after the Fidel Castro fiasco.

The Heath Bell comments added fuel to the fire that I believed that the players were not supportive of the loud-mouthed manager.

Luckily for Guillen, two Marlins players stepped up to his defense on Twitter. As Ruggiano pointed out, the Marlins clubhouse is 100 percent behind Guillen, minus Heath Bell, of course.

That was the only point that I believed gave the Marlins front office a justifiable reason to fire Guillen; if the players were not behind him, there was no point in keeping the manager. But with the players seemingly behind Guillen, I cannot see a way that the Marlins firing him can end well.

The Miami Marlins continue to be a joke in a season that was supposed to begin a new era for the team. The Marlins can really thank the NFL and their replacement referees for taking much of the spotlight off of them right now. The Marlins are a complete mess right now and the offseason could not come any quicker for the Marlins at this point.

Fish Cap: Miami Marlins 4, Cincinnati Reds 0

2012-09-15T16:41:22Z

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Source: FanGraphs

Attendance: 27,111

Player of the Game: Jacob Turner (.313 WPA)

Goat of the Game: Jose Reyes (-..42WPA)

Play of the Game: Justin Ruggiano doubles to score Rob Brantly to give the Marlins a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning (.163 WPA).

Turner Impressive in Unimpressive Start:

In his fourth start as a Miami Marlin, Jacob Turner pitched one of his better games. Turner pitched seven strong innings for the Marlins, while allowing just two hits. Turner also walked two hitters and only got three strikeouts. The seven innings, for Turner, were a new career high in innings pitched.

It would be odd to say that Turner was unimpressive in such a strong start, but that was the case last night. Turner lacked the swing-and-miss pitches last night that the Michael Jong has been concerned about in the past. Turner also got a majority of his outs on popups. He did not induce a lot of ground balls, which with the lack of whiffs, is not the ideal formula moving on. Turner also missed his location a bunch in the game, with the end result of an unimpressive 101 pitches, with only 57 strikes.

Overall, as a Marlins fan, you should come out content with the start Turner provided last night. He is showing improvement in not allowing home runs, but there is still a lot of room for the young right hander to grow. The Marlins have a very promising pitcher on their hands.

Marlins Odd Offensive Night

The Marlins scored four runs on the evening, but the team did so in some very uncommon manners. This included an upper deck shot by, of all people, Greg Dobbs. The Marlins also scored two more runs on an odd sequence of events in the fourth inning.

After Justin Ruggiano and Jose Reyes each singled with one out, Carlos Lee delivered a big two-out single to score Ruggiano from second. Right fielder Jay Bruce's throw to the plate was too late to get Ruggiano, at which time, Lee was caught in a run down between first and second. Reyes took advantage of this run down to dash home from third base.

The throw home was once again too late, but the Reds were still able to throw the ball down to second base and get Carlos Lee out. Lee was apparently hurt on the play, as he exited the game with a neck strain, and was listed as day-to-day.

Ruggiano Stays Hot at Home

In his past ten games at Marlins Park, Ruggiano is 14-for-37 (.378). Ruggiano continued that hot hitting on Friday night, as his RBI double in the third inning, which scored Rob Brantly, was the deciding run for the Marlins in the game. Ruggiano also added a hit in the fifth inning and walked once in the ballgame.

Ruggiano is still fighting for a spot on the Marlins next season, although the team is still not sold, and rightfully so, on the corner outfielders chances of being an every day player.

Miami Marlins Finally Building Team With Pitching Again

2012-09-04T18:00:18Z

The 2012 season could potentially be the best thing that could have happened for the Miami Marlins. Yes, the Marlins are sitting at a horrendous 60-75 record. Yes, the Marlins have traded away the former face of their franchise, Hanley Ramirez. And yes, the Marlins have once again become the laughing stock of the league in the first season at their new stadium.

Marlins owner Jeffery Loria has vowed changes are on their way, as the entire organization, from the very bottom to the very top will be reviewed. Even with the struggles, Marlins fans have something too be excited for in the future.

After underachieving throughout the first few months, the Marlins decided to become sellers. When they did, they were able to trade for right handers Jacob Turner and Nathan Eovaldi. Both have the potential to be key cogs in the Marlins rotation moving forward. Both are pitching to some mild success and a bit of growing pains so far, but the Marlins obviously liked their future potential in order to trade for them.

The Marlins started to move the right way in recent drafts. The team has started to rebuild pitching depth, much like they had done during their most successful seasons. Recent draft picks Jose Fernandez, Adam Conley, and Andrew Heaney, all have stuff that could fill spots in the Marlins future rotation. All three of these pitchers project to be ready sometime during the 2014 season.

The team also has some organizational starting pitching depth in Alex Sanabia, Sean West, Wade LeBlanc, and Tom Koheler, who was recently brought up the Majors as a September call-up.

With Ricky Nolasco and Josh Johnson set to become free agents after the 2013 season and the uncertainty of the Marlins bringing either of those two back, Mark Buehrle is the only Marlins starter signed through 2014. Beyond him, it will be up to these youngsters stepping in and making a difference on the Marlins, which is a similar way the Tampa Bay Rays have recently run their team.

The Rays have obviously had a bunch of success in recent seasons, which makes the model they have been using a plan that should be replicated by more teams around baseball.

With the struggles this season, the Marlins will have a decent chance to continue to add on their pitching depth by adding stronger players during the draft next June. Although many see the class of 2013 as a weaker draft class, the Marlins need to their homework and find the right talent to fit on their future team.

Next week I will take a further look into the Marlins future depth and the decisions the Marlins will have to make after the 2013 season with Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco.

Fish Cap: Miami Marlins 4, Washington Nationals 8

2012-08-30T19:30:17Z

Editor's note: Please welcome Ehsan Kassim, former contributor at Marlin Maniac when I first ran the site and former lead blogger at MM when I left. Ehsan will be contributing once weekly and on Fish Caps on Fish Stripes starting next week.

Marlins&dh=0" scrolling="no">

Source: FanGraphs

Attendance: 24,909

Player of the Game: Jose Reyes (.280 WPA)

Goat of the Game: Jacob Turner (-.260 WPA)

Play of the Game: Bryce Harper two-run home run off of Jacob Turner in the fourth inning to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead (.205 WPA).

Jacob Turner Impressive in rough outing

Despite allowing five earned runs in just five innings, Marlins fans had to come out of Jacob Turner's second start encouraged about the young right-hander's future. Yes, Turner allowed two home runs to 19-year old Bryce Harper, but outside of the fourth inning, where Turner allowed four hits out of the six hits he allowed all game, Turner was pretty impressive. That is, outside of another Harper home run in the fifth inning.

Turner struck out four of the first five hitters he faced and struck out six hitters for the game, while walking no one. Michael Jong did a great job of going over the success and short comings for Turner last night, earlier this morning, for more in-depth analysis on the good and the bad on Turner's second start read the article.

Solano Continues Hitting Streak

Donovan Solano got another three hits on Wednesday afternoon to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. The three hit performance was the fifth multi-hit game of the hitting streak, as well as the second three hit game. With roster spots up for grab for the 2012 season, Solano is making a strong case to make the roster, as a utility player next season.