Fish Bites: Thursday's Turn

Happy Holidays to all readers. And please be nice to me. This is my very first post. And yes, just like Michael mentioned Monday morning, I am excited to be a part of this. With so much "new" going around this offseason for the Marlins (name, ballpark, jersey, etc.), Fish Bites has added new writers to its staff. Including yours truly, the biggest Marlins fan in zip code 33186! I hope to bring a lot of numbers to my weekly sharing. After all, baseball is a numbers sport. But nothing too confusing. Can’t get much worse than College Algebra! Can it???

Here you go:

- When I think of the Marlins offseason up to this point, I couldn’t be happier. However, selfish like we all are, I want more (Prince Fielder, Roy Oswalt, Hiroki Kuroda). Nevertheless, it would be just as nice if we locked up the real deal out in right field: Mike Stanton. Even though #23 does not become a free agent until after the 2016 season, he is as sure as they come. The Marlins could not only afford not to let him go, they can sign him for much cheaper now instead of later. See Hanley Ramirez and his contract friendly deal. Hopefully, the Fish realize that even if its better baseball business to do this later, sometimes it’s OK to do something different and have the core completely guaranteed and focusing only on one goal: the World Series.

- I decided to compare Stanton and three other players after their first two seasons in the majors. No real reason why I picked these three. It’s just fun that Mike has such a high ceiling, by the time his career is over it might be offensive to compare him to these three players (Miggy is still in the majors, I know).

Ruben Sierra 1986 .264/.302/.476 107OPS+ Finished sixth Rookie of the Year

1987 .263/.302/.470 101 20th in MVP voting

Miguel Cabrera 2003 .268/.325/.468 106 Finished fifth ROY

2004 .294/.366/.512 130 All-Star

Bob Horner 1978 .266/.313/.539 124 Rookie of the Year winner

1979 .314/.346/.552 135

Mike Stanton 2010 .259/.326/.507 118

2011 .262/.356/.537 141 Finished 23rd MVP voting

- Yahoo says in Marlins Team Report that Javier Vazquez is still leaning towards retirement. Is there any way the Marlins brass could visit with him in Puerto Rico before the New Year holiday? Unbelievable to think he closed out last year as nasty as he did (29 inning scoreless streak, most in team history). Nothing against Kuroda, Oswalt, or Jackson, but Javy is familiar with catcher John Buck, and it clearly worked after the All-Star break all the way to closing day. So if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?

- Current Carolina Mudcats skipper and former Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez stirs the pot a bit by saying, 'I don't think that was the right move to sign Jose Reyes.' He questions it because the Marlins already have an All-Star shortstop in Hanley. I understand where Edwin is coming from. He never had this kind of roster the last two seasons, so he sits from far away and criticizes his old ball club. Edwin, look at it another way: I’d rather have three All-Star shortstops if I could. More talent means more wins.

Around The League

- Donnie Baseball, please tell me that is not you in that picture ("Mother Ginger" character). Hold on, now that I think of it, he’s having more fun in that picture than managing the Dodgers last year!

At Fish Stripes

- Michael Jong analyzes one of Ricky Nolasco’s glaring weaknesses: holding runners. For the Marlins to be successful this season, they will need Ricky to be good, not great. He cannot have stretches of good play. A more sustained approach will go a long way on this team.

- Could somebody please warm transfer Jose Reyes and Hanley Ramirez? I understand Jose is excited to be here, but he can do us all a huge favor if he gets on the horn with Hanley and convinces him that he can easily be the best 3B on this team.