Fish Bites: Miami Marlins Season Almost Over

Any chance the Marlins had of ending the season on a quiet note has evaporated. We now have the Heath Bell watch over the next few days. Plus, we have the Ozzie Guillen meter on full blast. The media must feel like the next conversation with Guillen might bring the explosion we have all been waiting for. Nevertheless, the club still has to go out and play the Braves in a three game series starting Tuesday night. Hopefully we can just focus on the actual game and preferably, a Marlins win too.

- As a Marlins fan, we hate to see that it has gotten to this point. But it is getting harder and harder to picture a future with the following three individuals: Larry Beinfest, Guillen, and Bell. The three of them are probably gone in the offseason. All three have been talked about recently in the press, including how bad Guillen might have pushed the Marlins into the 'corner.'

- Fredi Gonzalez has decided to hit the high road when it comes to Jeffrey Loria. The Marlins owner called the Braves manager a failure. However, Fredi did not fire back. He only restated what he said about Loria earlier this week. And in reality, Gonzalez is right.

- Heath Bell got a little of his own medicine today when a few players cranked up the volume of a radio in the club house. On it was Ozzie Guillen during his normal weekly spot. He told the host on AM 790 The Ticket that he still respects Bell as a player, but was not sure as a guy. This comes after the comments Bell made about the manager over the last few days.

Around the League

- Brett Gardner has been activated by the Yankees. He has nine regular season games to get into the swing of things unless they strictly use him a pitch runner. We'll see.

- Yu Darvish was scratched from his start on Tuesday night because of a stiff neck. The Rangers, who have a huge game against the Athletics, will start Scott Feldman in his spot.

- Sad news out of Cincinnati. Manager Dusty Baker suffered a "mini-stroke" while he was being discharged from a hospital in Chicago last week. Lucily, and because he was in a hospital setting, he was treated there to minimize the effects. He is doing much better now.

At Fish Stripes

- Mr. Jong refreshes you this week with all of the Miami Marlins draft picks under Larry Beinfest. This has always been a weakness for the potentially soon-to-be former general manager of the Fish, regardless of the few players he actually hit on (Josh Johnson, Giancarlo Stanton).

- Read the following opinion by Ehsan Kassim concerning Heath Bell and the comments he made about manager Ozzie Guillen this week. You will see quickly where the only constant for the Marlins this season has been their tendency to stay in the press, and usually for the wrong reasons.