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It is never good to hear that your team seems out of contention enough to sell parts off at the deadline, but it does appear as if the Miami Marlins are reaching that point. The team has lost five in a row, including a sweep at the hands of the second place Wild Card team at the moment, the Pittsburgh Pirates. As clubs begin pulling further and further away, the Marlins' offensive slide has basically left them in the dust in terms of a playoff spot. It may be beneficial for the Marlins to at least consider offers for some players in an effort to restock for a 2013 run.
- To that end, the Marlins may field offers for Anibal Sanchez. The Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers scouted his last start in Pittsburgh, and they saw him pitch well. What could they give up? We looked at that earlier this morning.
- Meanwhile, ESPN's Jayson Stark in his latest Rumblings and Grumblings said that Sanchez is eminently tradable this season if the Fish do end up being sellers, while Josh Johnson is unlikely because of the morale downturn it would cause with the fan base. If anything, the Marlins would trade one and look to extend the other provided the other pitched played well.
- Ken Rosenthal has a video that points out that the Marlins appear willing to trade Hanley Ramirez after their Carl Crawford trade discussion. We will have more on this tomorrow.
- Hanley Ramirez being in trade rumors is funny given the current nature of his injury. He missed all of the Pittsburgh series because of an infection in his hand following the fan-slamming incident. The infection occurred because Ramirez failed to take his medication properly to prevent the infection. Manager Ozzie Guillen was not pleased."How do you forget to take a pill the doctor tells you to take?" Guillen asked. "Hopefully, the doctor finds exactly the right pills, and I will tell him, open your mouth, like a baby, and put them in his mouth and make sure he takes his pills every night."
Patient compliance is a big issue in the medical field, but that does not make this any dumber. Not a smart move by Hanley.
- Larry Beinfest says the team has been underperforming, which is the reason why these trade rumors and selling comments are even being made. Hitting coach Eduardo Perez says the team's failure to hit with runners in scoring position is the problem, but the real issue is that the team is failing to hit at all. If the club hit up to its supposed standard, we should be looking at a .500 team right now at least, and that would put us closer to contention.
- The Marlins may be a little dry on prospects, but one player who has made a huge leap in the eyes of the scouts is Jose Fernandez. Baseball America jumped him from off the list to within the top 10 of their midseason top 50 prospects update. It is worth noting that Christian Yelich ended up 21st on that list as well.
- Speaking of prospects, one to potentially look at now that Fernandez has been promoted to High-A Jupiter from Single-A Greensboro is Charlie Lowell. The Greensboro lefty struck out 14 last Monday and has impressed thus far after making mechanical adjustments to fix his back issues.
- In addition to those potential names, the Fish could be adding one more decent name after picking up the sixth pick in the Competitive Balance Draft Lottery. The Marlins would receive what amounts to a "sandwich" pick between the first and second round, similar to the picks handed out as free agent compensation.
Around the League
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports mentioned that Cole Hamels and the Philadelphia Phillies are progressing on a potential midseason extension, but that Hamels is conflicted on whether or not to sign.
- With all of this Hamels trade / extension talk, The Good Phight decided to simply ask the readers what they thought the contract value would look like.
- The Houston Astros have been busy trading people, first completing a 10-player deal that yielded these famous words by FanGraphs author Dave Cameron:
The first ever 10 player trade with zero interesting players?
— David Cameron (@DCameronFG) July 20, 2012
- Then, the Astros traded Brett Myers to the Chicago White Sox for two minor leaguers as well.
- The Crawfish Boxes has reaction to all of these deals, but here's an interesting piece by David Coleman saying that Astros GM Jeff Lunhow is doing good by acting and not reacting.
At Fish Stripes
- Larry Beinfest really does believe the team is better than it has shown, and the offense certainly could be doing better. The team has lost close to five wins from their starter's projections alone. This doesn't count having to play bench players more often because of struggling starters as well.
- One way the Marlins could improve the team is by playing Justin Ruggiano more often. The club did have Ruggiano play all weekend against the Pirates, but only because it was forced to due to Ramirez's injury.