the OFFICIAL CC Marlins thread.

[Hanley Ramirez]

Is this the forum where we would talk about sports?

[muy_thaiguy]

Yes.

[Hanley Ramirez]

ok this thread is now about the marlins.

[DaGip]

GO TWINKIES!

[Gregrios]

Ever since the Marlins have came into existence, they have been a team that's a breed of their own. By this I mean that they are able to win it all and the very next year give away 50% of their talent, then come back the next year and win it again.

The Marlins in my opinion and would be pretty hard to argue have the best management in baseball. They as a team went into the season as a underdog and have performed excellently so far.

I wouldn't be a bit surprized if they win it this year and end up dropping half of their lineup and rotation in the off-season. Don't get wrong, I'm not a Marlins fan, although it probably seems that way, but I do respect such a team with that kind of winning management.

If they do make the playoffs, their gonna have their work cut out for them as there are some damn good teams in the NL this year.

Man, I love baseball!

[Hanley Ramirez]

[jay_a2j]

So, how many games are the Marlins behind the 1st place NY Mets??

[Hanley Ramirez]

2, but that's easy ground to make up.

After all the mets were what 8 games out a month ago?

[Gregrios]

Here's a guy who the so called experts were saying would be a dud going into the 08 season. Boy, were they ever wrong.

....but Uggla did embarass himself and his team in the all-star game. 3 errors in one inning. That's pathetic. Of course his biggest asset is his bat.

[sfhbballnut]

well he failed with that during the all star game as well, really wanted the national league to win it, braves fan btw, so i'm not in a position to knock any team just now..............

[Gregrios]

I didn't expect the Braves meltdown at all. I figured that they'd be competing for division right up to the end of the year. They still might but it don't look good for them.

I think the Phillies are the team to beat in that division. Blanton, although not an ace by any means, is a good pitcher to have if you have a load of hitting and the Phillies have. He should help them out quite a bit.

When did the Mets take the lead from the Phillies anyway? Right before the break or something?

[Sentinel XIV]

Ever since the Marlins have came into existence, they have been a team that's a breed of their own. By this I mean that they are able to win it all and the very next year give away 50% of their talent, then come back the next year and win it again.

It was actually six years between their two championships, and you could make the argument that they bought the '97 championship. Kevin Brown, Al Leiter, and Bobby Bonilla, among others, were all big name free agents signed by them. I think Gary Sheffield was also acquired via free agency. I'm not knocking them, as the goal of each team should be to win. But, you have to admit, they took a page out of the Yankees' playbook for that one.

Also note that they had to off-load a lot of those contracts after that year. They couldn't afford it. They performed horribly between '97 and '03, even going an atrocious 54-108 the year after winning it all.

Personally, I think they're over-achieving this year - which I don't mind because I have Uggla on my fantasy team - and they won't make the playoffs. The Phillies will win that division and either Milwaukee or the Cubs will win the wildcard, but the Marlins are playing well.

Now, if you want to look at a really quality team, look no further than my beloved Mariners.

[Gregrios]

The Mariners have a monster team on paper but simply arn't playing up to their potential. Sort of the same story for my Jays. Good team on paper but terrible on the field.

I used to cheer for the Indians but I lost respect for them over a decade ago when they dropped both Thome and Ramirez. It's one thing to drop one slugger but it's boneheaded to drop two. They've never been the same since. I do still like them but I'm more of a Jays fan now because they're actually putting together a pretty good team.(on paper anyway)

Going into the season I thought the Jays actually had a chance to get the wildcard but that seems quite out of reach now. They do however have one of the better pitching staffs in baseball just like expected.

[jay_a2j]

When did the Mets take the lead from the Phillies anyway? Right before the break or something?

This afternoon (7-24-08). Mets Beat the Phills (took 2 of 3) Now Mets are by themselves in 1st. How long will it last? I'm hoping for another 10 game win streak that started before the break and ended soon after.

[Gregrios]

It literally just happened. Wow! That explains why I never heard anything about the Mets having the divisional lead.

If the Mets want to keep it, they're gonna have to get some pitching. What's their rotation as of now?

J.Santana, J.Maine, O.Perez, - who am I forgetting?

[whitestazn88]

i dissagree with the op saying that they're the best managed team in baseball... they've had various managers throughout the years

their strongest point is an amazing, truly amazing, un-beatable, best in the world minor league farm system

[jay_a2j]

It literally just happened. Wow! That explains why I never heard anything about the Mets having the divisional lead.

If the Mets want to keep it, they're gonna have to get some pitching. What's their rotation as of now?

J.Santana, J.Maine, O.Perez, - who am I forgetting?

Martinez and Pelfrey

[The Weird One]

Is this the forum where we would talk about sports?

Sadly...

[Gregrios]

It literally just happened. Wow! That explains why I never heard anything about the Mets having the divisional lead.

If the Mets want to keep it, they're gonna have to get some pitching. What's their rotation as of now?

J.Santana, J.Maine, O.Perez, - who am I forgetting?

Martinez and Pelfrey

That explains it. The two guys I forgot are the two that they could stand upgrading on. More realistly they should try to upgrade on one of them by picking up someone a little more reliable. Pelfrey is young and inconsistency is expected and Martinez, well I think he's lost too much time from baseball and is not the same Martinez that we've come to expect. He's pretty much blowing chunks this year, isn't he?

If they tryed hard enough, the Mets could probably get Halladay from the Jays. That would be quite a pickup.

[Gregrios]

i dissagree with the op saying that they're the best managed team in baseball... they've had various managers throughout the years

their strongest point is an amazing, truly amazing, un-beatable, best in the world minor league farm system

Yes but minor league systems are run by management. Every promotion, draft pick, trade, and free agent pickup are decided by whatever management they have in place. So really both of us are saying essentially the same thing just in different words.

[Sentinel XIV]

The Mariners have a monster team on paper but simply arn't playing up to their potential. Sort of the same story for my Jays. Good team on paper but terrible on the field.

I used to cheer for the Indians but I lost respect for them over a decade ago when they dropped both Thome and Ramirez. It's one thing to drop one slugger but it's boneheaded to drop two. They've never been the same since. I do still like them but I'm more of a Jays fan now because they're actually putting together a pretty good team.(on paper anyway)

Going into the season I thought the Jays actually had a chance to get the wildcard but that seems quite out of reach now. They do however have one of the better pitching staffs in baseball just like expected.

The Mariners aren't even good on paper. Lopez and Betancourt are possibly the worst combination up the middle in all of baseball. Betancourt can't play defense or hit, and Lopez is an average hitter at best and horrible defensively to boot. Our starting rotation is in shambles. We got screwed on the Bedard deal. The front office refuses to get rid of the useless players (Vidro, Cairo, Batista) on the team. We, the fans, are pretty upset right now. At least, the fans that are paying attention.

The only positive thing I can pull from all this, so far, is that it can only get better.

[Hanley Ramirez]

well he failed with that during the all star game as well, really wanted the national league to win it, braves fan btw, so i'm not in a position to knock any team just now..............

I had 10$ on the American league, so It's almost like Uggla was rooting for me to win that $10.

The Phillies will win that division and either Milwaukee or the Cubs will win the wildcard, but the Marlins are playing well.

To win a tight division race one of the most important things is how well you play against your own division, and how well you play against the teams you're in the race with.

The Phillies are a combined 8-14 against the Mets and Marlins.

The Marlins have the best record in their division against other teams in the division.

It'll be the Mets or Marlins for sure.

[Hanley Ramirez]

i dissagree with the op saying that they're the best managed team in baseball... they've had various managers throughout the years

their strongest point is an amazing, truly amazing, un-beatable, best in the world minor league farm system

That's not true either. The real strength is trades. In the years where they "buy championships" often times they will unload several of the top young players through trades.. that bring in new young talent. It's a cycle. After they firesale all their good proven players to other teams that will pay them the money they deserve they bring in new young talent from their teams(the FO are great talent evaluators). They can pay them next to nothing because they aren't proven.. It takes a few years for these guys to get consistent which is the reason for the poor performance in the years between playoff runs. When they feel they need extra for playoff pushes they will bring in free agents and sign them to very high backloaded contracts. That makes it so that when they trade these players away after they get their championships they don't get stuck with the big bill.

Almost all of their contracts are payed by shared revenue between all of the teams... actually if my information is correct they probably make money off of it.

[Fitzgerald]

Shouldn't this be referred to as the 'OFFICIAL CC Baseball thread' ?

[Fircoal]

The Mariners have a monster team on paper but simply arn't playing up to their potential. Sort of the same story for my Jays. Good team on paper but terrible on the field.

I used to cheer for the Indians but I lost respect for them over a decade ago when they dropped both Thome and Ramirez. It's one thing to drop one slugger but it's boneheaded to drop two. They've never been the same since. I do still like them but I'm more of a Jays fan now because they're actually putting together a pretty good team.(on paper anyway)

Going into the season I thought the Jays actually had a chance to get the wildcard but that seems quite out of reach now. They do however have one of the better pitching staffs in baseball just like expected.

The Mariners aren't even good on paper. Lopez and Betancourt are possibly the worst combination up the middle in all of baseball. Betancourt can't play defense or hit, and Lopez is an average hitter at best and horrible defensively to boot. Our starting rotation is in shambles. We got screwed on the Bedard deal. The front office refuses to get rid of the useless players (Vidro, Cairo, Batista) on the team. We, the fans, are pretty upset right now. At least, the fans that are paying attention.

The only positive thing I can pull from all this, so far, is that it can only get better.

HA HA for you. The A's don't have a good team on paper either, but we are rebuilding. We kinda lucky, our players are doing good though