FishStripes

Games Today

2010-03-16T17:57:30Z

I'm incredibly late getting this posted, but the Marlins are splitting the squad with one going to Orlando to face the Braves. That is on TV right now on the MLB Network. The other game is in Viera against the Nationals.

Both games started at 1:05 p.m.

The Worm was scratched due to sore elbow, nothing serious. Lamb was scratched due to an upset stomach. Cantu still has the flu and Maybin is still trying to work through the groin injury and didn't make either trip. With Lamb and Cantu feeling bad, I hope the flu isn't going to end up infecting everyone in the club house. But I guess if it has to happen, now isn't the worse time.

Don't have time for the lineups. But most everyone who is healthy will see action.

JJ starts against the Braves. RVH against the Nats.

Brett Carroll at third?

2010-03-16T17:45:15Z

Brett Carroll at third?

"...outfielder Brett Carroll was putting in work at third base Monday morning."

At least we know he can throw it all the way across the diamond. I hope if he was working on bunts, the pitchers ducked or he might kill one of them.

Don't read anything into BC working at third, they do this stuff in spring practices.

Marlins interested in Mike Lowell?

2010-03-16T17:35:22Z

The Marlins are scouting Mike Lowell.

Mike Lowell made his Grapefruit League debut on Monday for the Boston Red Sox and the Marlins were among those with a scout on hand in Fort Myers to see the long-time third-sacker try his mitt at first base for the first time.

Lowell's name has come up in discussions within the Marlins organization, but it's unclear what their interest level is in the former Fish. And there would be a number of issues -- financial and physical being two of the primary ones -- that would need to be resolved before any serious thoughts of a reunion could be put into action.

There are a few problems to be taken into consideration. One is Mikey will make $12 million dollars this season, now the question is: who is going to pick up the bulk of that. Earlier the Red Sox tried to trade him to Rangers for a prospect and agreed to take over $9 million of the contract. But the deal was nixed when his thumb injury became an issue.

Assuming he shows himself to be in good health, and the Red Sox are willing to eat the majority of contract, he is an interesting thought. The only way he will agree to be traded to the Marlins is if he is going to be an everyday player. Right now, he is scheduled to be a bench player for the Sox and while it is possible that he might do the same for the Marlins, I somehow doubt it. While Mikey would becoming home, the clubhouse isn't the same as it was when he left. His old pals are gone and there are a bunch of new kids. In Boston, his teammates love him and it is a more comfortable situation.

While I just for nostalgic reasons would love to see him in a Marlins uniform again, and not to mention he is a great presence in the clubhouse. There becomes a time when youth has to be served. Mikey at the age of 36 isn't the future on the Marlins, he is part of the past. And he was a great part of the past. But it is time to see what the young can do.

However, should the Marlins want him as the everyday third baseman, I won't complain.

Mike (The Worm) Stanton

2010-03-16T16:02:27Z

When Mike Stanton was a wee little lad, he probably dreamed of playing baseball in the Majors and getting a real cool nickname like: Catfish, Hoover, Scoops, Captain video... Well, he achieved one part of that dream, sorta.

One day Parcells went over to the Marlins' side of the Abacoa Complex in Jupiter, where he was introduced to their phenom Mike Stanton, who was headed to the University of Southern California as a tight end before the Marlins drafted and signed him. One of the coaches asked Parcells if he'd be interested in having the 6-foot-6, 235-pound Stanton joining the Dolphins.

"You look a little wormy," Parcells told Stanton, meaning that he'd have to put on some bulk to play tight end in the NFL.

Stanton now answers to the nickname "The Worm."

So there it is. Not exactly sure The Worm, was what Stanton had in mind in his boyhood dream, but hey, it beats something like Whiff. For now, at least, on FishStripes if a player is referenced to as The Worm, it's Mike Stanton.

Game Today

2010-03-15T15:34:10Z

The Fish are home today and face the Twins at Roger Dean Stadium. Chris Volstad will make the start for Florida, and Franciso Liriano is on the mound for Minnesota. Game starts at 1:05.

Lineup:

Emilio Bonifacio, CF

Jorge Jimenez, 3B

Hanley Ramirez, SS

Dan Uggla, 2B

Mike Stanton, LF

Cody Ross, RF

Gaby Sanchez, 1B

Ronny Paulino, C

Chris Volstad, P

Wild Wild West Optioned to New Orleans

2010-03-15T14:33:13Z

More photos » Wilfredo Lee - AP

Browse more photos »

Sean West didn't fare so well in Saturday's B game against the Orioles. And by "didn't fare so well," I mean "sucked real bad."

West walked seven batters in just 1 2/3 innings, and he might have walked a few more had the game not been halted--twice--in order to stop the bleeding. Saturday's seven walks brought West's grand total to 10 free passes in just 3 2/3 innings this spring.

Sean must be a glass-is-half-full kind of guy, because after the game, he pointed to his 1-2-3 second inning as a positive take from the otherwise wild outing. The Marlins appear to be a bit less optimistic at the moment, though; they optioned West to AAA New Orleans this morning.

There isn't much doubt that he'll be back at some point, but while West works on his command, the Marlins have at least narrowed the competition for the final two spots in the rotation. Miller, Penn, VandenHurk and Volstad will duke it out for those, because after Anibal's four scoreless innings against the Mets Sunday, the number three spot appears to have his name on it.

In other news, the Marlins optioned Jose Ceda to AA Jacksonville.

Game(s) Today

2010-03-13T16:29:04Z

GAME 1 - 10:00 AM

The Marlins prepped for their regular season home games by being rained out against the Orioles yesterday, so they're playing a 7-inning "B" game today in Sarasota. Sean West will start the "B" game for the Fish, and it looks like John Baker is in the lineup for the first time this spring, as the DH. Former Fish Mark Hendrickson will take the hill for the Orioles.

In back of West, the Marlins will get some work for Dan Meyer, Brian Sanches, Burke Badenhop and Jose Veras in the "B" game. Hitters slated to play in the game include Mike Stanton, Jai Miller, Scott Cousins, Mike Lamb, Jorge Jimenez, Donnie Murphy, Brett Hayes and John Baker.

GAME 2 - 1:05 PM

Ricky Nolasco will start today's game against the Rays in Port Charlotte, and will be followed by Andrew Miller, who was scheduled to start in yesterday's rainout. Derrick Turnbow will pitch in the game for Florida as well. Matt Garza is on tap for Tampa Bay.

Lineup:

Coghlan LF

Bonifacio CF

Hanley SS

Cantu 3B

Uggla 2B

Cody! DH

Sanchez 1B

paulino C

Carroll RF

Nolasco P

Game Today - Postponed

2010-03-12T15:49:43Z

The Marlins are traveling to Sarasota to... watch it rain, from my understanding. Should the weather ever cooperate, they will play the Orioles.

Game time is tentatively scheduled for 1:05 p.m.

Andrew Miller takes the mound.

The Marlins lineup is as follows:

Coghlan, LF

Bonifacio, CF

Ramirez, SS

Cantu, 3B

Uggla, 2B

Cody!, DH

Gaby, 1B

Carroll, RF

Hayes, C

This is the first game the Marlins will use the DH. I guess Cody has been out for so long, he needs to see live in-game pitching. Got no problem with that. But it is sounding like this game will never take place.

Brett Carroll's new approach at the plate

2010-03-12T15:30:54Z

Brett Carroll and Chris Coghlan, besides being spring training roommates, spent a lot of the offseason together.

Carroll and Coghlan trained together at The Winning Inning -- a hitting academy in Tampa that Coghlan has been working out at since he was 14.

At the academy, Carroll started tinkering with his mental approach at the plate.

``I just worked on keeping things simple and having a consistent approach,'' said Carroll, a .208 hitter in 207 career at-bats. ``Whether I'm 10 for 12 or 0 for 20, it's just having that certain approach that sticks and having confidence with it no matter what kind of wave you are riding.''

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Although it's early in the spring, Coghlan has seen a difference in Carroll's work at the plate.

``He's changed a couple of things mechanically that people won't notice, because it's not that big of a deal, but as a hitter it is a big deal,'' said Coghlan, who hit. 321 as the NL's top rookie last season. ``He has more of a fluid swing this year, more of a tuck and load than put your foot down, and I think it's paying off. He's got so much potential hitting, and I think he's starting to realize it.''

Most of the article does the old suspense thing of whether Carroll will make the team out of spring training. He will, or at least he should. The interesting thing about Carroll having a new mind set is that he should be a better hitter off the bench. The few times, and believe me there were few, he got to start games back-to-back he hit pretty decently. And when you couple that with his defensive prowess in the outfield, he showed to be an above average outfielder. But BC isn't used as a starter by the Marlins, and may never be, for some reason, but if he can deliver on his few pinch hitter assignments and keep up the excellent defense, he has a future in the game. Oh sure, he probably won't get a call from the Hall of Fame, but he can have a long, albeit journeyman, career in the game. Then again, who knows, if he ends up in just the right situation he could make some noises.

The Marlins agreement on salary increases

2010-03-12T15:03:52Z

From the best sports business writer in South Florida, Sarah Talalay.

New Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Michael Weiner made the union’s annual spring stop at Roger Dean Stadium this morning to meet with the Florida Marlins.

It’s been two months since the release of the carefully worded settlement agreement among Major League Baseball, the Players Association and the Marlins requiring the team to increase its commitment of revenue sharing dollars to payroll as it moves toward its new ballpark’s opening, scheduled in 2012.

"We’re actually pleased with the way things have played out under the settlement," Weiner said after meeting with Marlins players. "We’ve said publicly what we’re going to say about the specifics, but I have no problem saying that so far, we’re pleased with the way things have played out."

Weiner said, of course, the union has concerns about other teams, which he wouldn’t name. He also wouldn’t say if he expects similar settlement agreements could be forged with other teams.

"I can’t predict that, I can’t say there is the level of attention that we’re paying is the same with respect to other teams as with the Marlins, and if it reaches the stage where we think that kind of agreement is appropriate, we’ll push for it."

It seems they are going after other teams, not that I care. The Marlins really didn't agree to anything they hadn't said in public before. But most other teams aren't in our sorry stadium revenue situation. So it could get interesting, but I don't plan to pay much attention.

So, you ask, what is the point of this post. Well, I'm glad you did, here it is:

Marlins pitcher Andrew Miller, the team’s player’s representative...

Did anyone know that Andrew Miller was the team's player's representative? Because, I sure didn't. Something about him being it, seems a bit odd to me.

FishStripes CBSSports Fantasy League

2010-03-12T14:29:04Z

Okay, I spent some time looking at the league and with a little bit of help from our SB Nation friends, everyone who asked to play is in. It is going to be a 13 team league, so your bench might be a little thin, but that is okay. It will make it more of a challenge, and challenges aren't always bad.

Here is what I need from you, if you requested a spot in the league is this: I need to know your email address so the invitations go to the correct place. Meaning, if you have no problem with it, I will grab the email address you used to sign-up with for the SB Nation. Should you have used a former school or whatever, email address that you rarely check, you need to email me one you check frequently. Emails are how you're going to get trade offers and things of that nature. Should you divulge a different email address than the one used to sign-up with the SB Nation, it will go no further than me. Okay, GameFish will have access to it, but it remains with us. We would never infringe on your privacy. Since that is not how we roll.

Come Monday, I plan to have all the emails addresses entered and you should receive your invitations to join the league very soon after that. More details about the structure of the league and the rules are soon to follow.

I would like to thank everyone who has shown an interest in the FishStripes CBSSports Fantasy League.

And oh, should you want to start a league of your own, I would recommend checking out the CBSSports Commissioner League. They have lots of cool stuff and the initial entry fee will cost you less than other so called free sites, assuming you are playing to win.

CBSSports Commissioner League

Marlins on MLB Network tonight

2010-03-12T11:09:15Z

Lou Barricelli of the MLB Network sent this via email.

FYI, just a reminder that the Florida Marlins will be featured tomorrow, March 12, at 5 & 10pm ET on MLB Network’s Spring Training series 30 Clubs in 30 Days. The episode will feature field reports, analysis, predictions and interviews with Cody Ross, Jorge Cantu, Chris Coghlan and Dan Uggla.

So if you are privileged enough to see the MLB Network, check it out. Personally, I'm not. But I guess I shouldn't complain, we do have intermittent electricity and running water on occasions. So all is good.

FSFL spring training report 3/11

2010-03-12T10:44:22Z

FSFL spring training report 3/11

It is mainly about Uncle Wes. Which is cool.

Game Today

2010-03-11T18:53:22Z

The Marlins are once again playing our spring training roommates the Cardinals. This time we are the home team.

The game started at 1:05 p.m., so this is getting posted a little late. I would give you the initial lineups, but really, most of them are already out of the game by now. It is my understanding the game is being broadcast on 790 The Ticket, so listen in if you can. At the time I am writing this, there is no score in the bottom of the second. So really, you haven't missed much. And anyways, who gets to a game before the second inning? (The last sentence is an inside joke and not to be taken seriously.)

Once again, it is the Fish v. the Red Birds.

Burke Badenhop - Movie screen writer

2010-03-11T09:58:05Z

This a few days old, but it needed to be included.

In a 60 Seconds interview with the Palm Beach Post, Burke Badenhop tells about his hobby as a movie screen writer.

I will grab one question and answer, but read the whole thing.

Tell me about your hobby.

(Marlins equipment manager) John Silverman is friends with Martin Lesak, who works for CAA (Creative Artists Agency). He is Will Ferrell's agent. I got to talk with him when we were in Los Angeles last summer. He said, "Hey, if you're interested in writing movie scripts, let me send you a couple of comedies and you can see what a good script looks like." He sent me first revisions of Talladega Nights, Knocked Up, The Hangover.

We actually knew about the Hopper's hobby two months ago, but we were asked not to release it, and we didn't. There is more to the story, and it is a really cool story, than the interview gets into, but you can do only so much in 60 seconds. I don't think we will be betraying any trust to say, he is further along in the writing process than he is alluding to in the interview.

The Hopper, a man of many talents.

New Jersey Institute of Technology professor - Marlins 76 wins

2010-03-11T09:38:36Z

This is about like all of the projections trying to predict the Marlins seasons, it comes up with a losing season. Granted there are some who predict they will break even. However, back to the good prof's predictions.

The Amazin' Mets will come in third in the NL East, according to Bruce Bukiet, an associate professor of mathematical sciences and associate dean of the College of Science and Liberal Arts at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

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Bukiet bases his predictions on a mathematical model he developed in 2000, one that computes the probability of a team winning a game against another team with given hitters, bench, starting pitcher, relievers and home field advantage. For this season, Bukiet has refined his algorithm slightly, incorporating a more realistic runner advancement model. Whatever that is.

The professor claims to have beaten the odds in six of the eight years he's been using the model. According to his predictions, the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers should all repeat as winners in the National League, with the Atlanta Braves taking the wild-card slot.

Don't have the time to research his past predictions where the Marlins are concerned. Maybe he got them right, but I sincerely doubt it. I would be flabbergasted to learn he had the Marlins in the preseason winning the Wild Card in 2003. But maybe he did.

My guess is that his model is about like all models, suffering from omitted variables basis along with structural flaws. Had he had the proper equation, and nobody does, and estimated it with something like the likelihood function, something I have found to be very hard to estimate, he may have picked up more explanatory power where teams like the Marlins are concerned. Be it known, I have no idea what his methodology is, so I could be flat out wrong about it. But whatever the case, assuming the Marlins don't suffer major key injuries, I think his analysis is short changing the Fish.

Anyways, here is what he came up with for the NL East.

NL East: Phillies – 90-72; Braves – 88-74; Mets – 82-80; Marlins – 76-86; Nationals – 72-90

Let's just say, I'm not buying the results.

FSFL spring training report 3/10

2010-03-11T09:11:15Z

FSFL spring training report 3/10

I don't think Gaby Sanchez or Logan Morrison is trying to win a bench spot. And I'm pretty darn sure, Logan isn't going to be given the Robert Andino Memorial spot on the bench. If they Marlins do that, they are really screwing up.

Game Today

2010-03-10T16:53:00Z

The Marlins are in Kissimmee to take on the Astros. Hayden Penn takes the mound for the Fish followed by a whole bunch of others.

Game time is 1:05 p.m.

The Marlins starting lineup:

Coghlan, LF

Barden. SS

Stanton, RF

Uggla, 2B

Paulino, C

Helms, 3B

Gaby, 1B

Carroll, CF

Penn, P

Let's go Fish!

Stadium News

2010-03-10T16:40:05Z

The Marlins have chosen the names of the levels in the new stadium.

The first level will be the Field Level, which will include the service areas and also the Diamond Club behind home plate. The First Base and Third Base Dugout Clubs also are on the first level.

Two Party Zones are located in left field and right field. La Playa area in left field will feature a swimming pool and bar. It will have direct views of the field and the Marlins' bullpen.

The Bullpen Fiesta Zone in right field offers a direct view of the field and the visitors' bullpen. The Administrative Level will house the Marlins' administrative offices as well as the concessionaire's offices.

The Promenade Level is going to be a state-of-the-art 360-degree concourse. From there, fans will be able to watch the game from all angles. Concession stands and shops will be in this area. The Taste of Miami zone will highlight many of Miami's diverse dishes. The Founders Level will be located directly above it and will house 14 Founder's Suites.

The Legends Level, above the Founders level, will include 14 Legends Suites, 12 MVP Suites, the 1997 and 2003 Championship Suites, six Fiesta Party Suites and the Legends Platinum, Gold and Silver Seats.

Directly above will be the Media Level, which will have the working press box, broadcast booths and the control room for scoreboard operations.

The top level will be known as the Vista Level, which offers views of the downtown Miami skyline. This level will have a Skyline Box and a Vista Reserved Area.

The ballpark also will feature a special Home Run Porch in right field with close to 2,000 seats.

I guess the Fish Tank is one for the history books. Kinda sad really.

MLB Power Poll - Marlins #16

2010-03-10T08:16:37Z

Neon Tommy did their annual power poll for the upcoming season: the spring training edition. Personally, I don't care for power polls/rankings, but yet they still exist.

Here is what they came up with:

16. MARLINS - Aside from the recent slap on the wrist the organization got from Commissioner Bud Selig for being too cheap, the Marlins are on the right path. With excellent, cost-controlled players like Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, Emilio Bonofacio and Josh Johnson leading the team, Marlins fans have reason to be excited. Remember, it was just a few years ago that Florida came out of nowhere with young starters Josh Beckett and A.J. Burnett to win the World Series.

Actually, all that was agreed upon with the commissioner's office and MLPA was that the Marlins would increase the payroll once they made the new stadium home. Which they were planning to do anyway, eventually.

The next thing is: A.J. Burnett only played in 4 games for the Marlins in 2003 before having Tommy John surgery. Perhaps they are confusing him with Brad Penny. Who knows.

Like I said, power polls/rankings do nothing for me. But at times, I do find amusing in a baffling sort of way.