Fish Bites: 30 days edition

With just 30 days until pitchers and catchers report, that means the inevitable countdown counter must begin. The best news, we are just 30 days from hearing how guys like Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Heath Bell and Carlos Zambrano are doing. Oh and as a former Mets fan, expect Jose Reyes in camp early...he has a knack for that.

Speaking of Josh Johnson, the Marlins ace has some great news. It looks like ole JJ will begin throwing off a mound next week and plans to be ready for Spring Training. His plans for staying healthy all season are up for debate.

In what will probably the first of many Ozzie Guillen stories we will read this season, our manager denies quitting on the White Sox. The question is...who didn't quit on the White Sox? Buehrle did...he's a Marlin now!

Al Yellon of SBNation says the Marlins are the worst thing ever. I don't know about you, but that seems pretty trollish to me. Our fearless leader, again on the top of his game, Michael Jong tackles that issue, here.

Speaking of trolling, Marlins Diehards has the ultimate troll scenario involving Mike Piazza laid out here. But for it to actually work, the HOF voters would have to take the stick out of their nether regions and let Piazza in the hall.

Marlin Maniac had a poll on the Zambrano trade last week, the results can be found here. They also take a brief look at the NL East as Spring Training nears here.

Big news for those interested in Spring Training baseball. Tickets for the Marlins-Cardinals game are now on sale. Better hurry before they sell out. Wait...the Marlins can't even sell out a regular season game. Get your tickets at the game if you decide to go.

The Sun-sentinel blog talks Ozzie's business and 22 players invited to Spring Training. No real shocks in my book.

Around the league

In case you are wondering, here are the Spring Training dates for teams around the league. In all honestly here are the dates you care about:
Feb. 22: Marlins Pitchers & Catchers Report
Feb. 23: First Workout
Feb. 26: Players report
Feb. 27: First Full Workout

In one of the weirder moves this off season, the Red Sox traded Marco Scuataro to the Rockies for basically nothing. Odd.

The Mets are making a run at signing Cody Ross. As Marlins fans know, he's no Carlos Beltran...whom the Mets are trying to replace.

Despite popular reports, there is no deal in place between the Nationals and Prince Fielder. It's no Joe Paterno story, but people really need to slow up with trying to break news on twitter...especially when it's false.

Sabermetrics fans rejoice, one of the most overrated players in baseball is considering retirement. That means we will hear less of the words "scrappy, gritty, heart etc." when we listen to baseball games being called. Praise Talos.

At Fish Stripes

FishNFinz asks how many Marlins games you plan on attending this season. The answer for me is a big fat 0. As a sports writer in Texas, I don't make enough to fly to Florida.