One Regend

A lot of people attribute Sandy's turnaround being around August 15th when he began a string of great pitching performances all the way to the end of the year. But, for me, that turnaround was way earlier. Turn the clock back to June 3rd, when the Marlins were getting swept by a Rockies team that was on pace to break the modern loss record set by the White Sox the previous year. Sandy had no part in that sweep, giving up only 2 runs in the 6 innings pitched. He then faced the Pirates next, and blanked the league's worst offensive team in 6 frames. These were both bad teams, yes, but these starts undoubtably reshaped Sandy's confidence from this point forward. If you trace every single start from June 3rd up to today, he had a much more digestible 4.07 ERA and a far more pallatable 3.81 FIP. Still a far cry from his Cy Young 2022 season, but numbers you would be fine with seeing from your ace.

Honestly, you don't even need to look that far back for a game like that. The Tuesday game against the Phillies this week on its own was a microcosm of the entire season. -Xavier Edwards stole 2 bases yet none of them counted because Eric Wagaman had the situational awareness of an ostrich. McCullough couldve relayed signs to Wagaman to take the first few pitches to allow Edwards a chance to advance into 2nd base. This was during a time JT Realmuto was visibly hurt and wasn't in any condition to make good throws. -Intentionally walks Kyle Schwarber in the 10th inning. Prior to Wednesday, we held Schwarber to a .182 BA with 0 HRs. The worst he could've done was tie the game with a HR. -Not only did the guy after Schwarber drive a run in, not only did it create a winning run scenario, but McCullough brought in Josh Simpson -- a guy who hasn't proven he can get major league hitters out, to have a lefty-lefty matchup. The problem? The Phillies still had Nick Castellanos on the bench. Those were all rookie mistakes, and I'm shocked they all didn't blow up in McCullough's face. The Marlins ended up winning that game in spite of McCullough's moves.

And that's not how it should work. The players we have played way over their heads, and that's in spite of McCullough pressing all of the wrong buttons. That extra inning game isn't an isolated incident. McCullough has been doing this the entire year. He should not be getting all the credit for something the players did entirely on their own.

Bro, please. McCullough literally tried to throw the game last night. IBBing Schwarber when we've limited him to .182 BA and 0 HRs this year. The worst that would've happened is if he hit a homer, and that only would've tied the ballgame. The next guy drives a runner in and he brings in Josh Simpson -- a guy who has not proven to us he can get hitters out at the major league level -- to face a lefty... When Nick Castellanos is still sitting on the bench. And don't get me started on the Eric Wagaman sequences. JT Realmuto was clearly hurt behind the plate yet Wagaman has the situation awareness of a turkey. It's on the bench (and by extension McCullough) to tell Wagaman to take a pitch or two. X stole basically 2 bases on Wagaman's AB but ended up with zero because Wagaman fouled off NOT ONE BUT TWO OF THOSE ATTMEPTS. Those are things that, if the game led to a loss that subsequently led to playoff elimination, a manager would get fired for. How the hell are we still having "NL Manager of the Year" conversations about Clayton McCullough? Yes we had a +16 win improvement from last year, and surprised everyone with potential playoff contention, but the team did so in spite of McCullough's direction.

I agree with trading Troy Johnston. Joe Mack is on his way here, and he will man the Catcher spot, which leaves Gus without a position to play in 2026, forcing him to be playing 1B, and DH whenever he's not fielding. There will be a logjam at 1B if Troy Johnston is still on the roster, and there's no room for him in the outfield, and his talent will be wasted if placed on the bench and used as a pinch-hitter(runner)/"defensive replacement".

What is this front office doing? Are they actively trying to ruin Edward Cabrera? Shut him down for the rest of the year. There's no point in pushing their luck when, at best, they have the ceiling of a one-and-done Wild Card entry.

I'm pretty sure none of us are going to remember the many times the Marlins insisted on rolling a below-replacement level Matt Mervis for a good 1/3 of the season when they think about why the Marlins fall short. I'm sure most fans here will remember that embarrassing homestand where the Marlins got swept by the Colorado Rockies, at a time when the Rockies were on pace to post a 130-loss season. But you do raise a good point that some players have been repeatedly put in positions to fail. In fact, they're STILL being put in a position to fail. Seriously, why is Agustin Ramirez STILL playing defense at Catcher? I don't think the Marlins will make the postseason, but I'm curious to know how close they will end up. If it's within 2 games, then everyone will look back at that Rockies series. For me, if we don't make it, the next best thing is to see the Mets miss the playoffs. Dear god their collapse has to be rivaling the '07 Mets because that is the funniest chokejob I have ever seen.

I think Heriberto and Victor Mesa Jr can both thrive as a 4th OF and 5th OF respectively. They can fill platoon roles for the 3rd OF spot if Alderman isn't ready yet.

If I recall, Jacob Misiorowski also had control issues prior to his callup. (Including an eye-popping 5.5 BB/9 in 2024...), and he was able to make a name for himself in the major leagues. No reason to believe Thomas White can't do the same with how talented he is.

I feel like 20 wins are going to be a rare sight in MLB. In today's age, early hooks are far more common, especially since a lot of managers today are now aware of the "3rd time through the order" tax. Pulling pitchers 4.2 innings into their outing when the opposing team starts facing them a 3rd time is now commonplace these days. It's sad, but D-Train might be our only 20-game winner for the forseeable future.

Jeremy Hermida had potential, but would never be able to develop. And injuries destroyed whatever chance he had left at developing into an everyday middle-of-the-order bat he had the potential to be. It's a shame, really.

Uh, well, that didn't take long to age like dried milk.

Wow. That was a bullpen implosion for the ages. Are you seriously telliing me that Ronny Henriquez, who wasn't used the previous night, wasn't available here either? Did Lake Bachar walk out on the team or something? Even he would've been a better choice than whoever McCollough trotted out in the 9th. I know Josh Simpson has nasty weapons at his disposal. But until he proves he can get major league hitters out, he should not be pitching in high leverage situations, much less the 9th inning. I gave Don Mattingly crap for his bullpen deployments, but damn, McCollough somehow found a way to one-up Mattingly. Jesus Christ, this is bad.

If the Marlins philosophy for this season is "development", then why is Gus still catching games behind the plate?

Why is George Soriano still with the ballclub when we have bullpen studs in AA waiting for a MLB callup?

I hope that this is the start of a breakout for Agustin Ramirez. It seemed like for the past 2 months, he's been stuck in 3rd gear and treading water, unable to get a good streak going. It's been miserable watching him play in July. That month by itself took him out of the Rookie of the Year sweepstakes. Let's just hope he finishes the year strong and provides us a glimpse of what he can eventually be.

I was honestly expecting one of the bullpen arms to be shipped out, particularly Faucher or Bender. Surprised none of them were traded. I'm also surprised they didn't trade Edward Cabrera. His value isn't going to get any higher, and I sincerely doubt he can repeat this performance year to year. The fact they didn't trade him is purely because they deluded themselves into believing they can be a playoff team sooner than they realistically are. I'll spare you the details. We have literally ZERO depth in AAA that can plug the holes in 1B, 3B, and our COF spots, and our team is playing way above their talent level. Jakob Marsee is being hyped, as usual, because thats what the Marlins social media does, but I don't view him as a superstar. Literally no one in our MiLB system has superstar potential. The Marlins 21-10 stretch fooled everyone else into believing this team can compete with the two-headed Mets/Phillies monster, the two-headed Brewers/Cubs monster, the Reds, and the Padres. But not me. Did y'all suddenly forget this team got SWEPT by THE ROCKIES? This team is nowhere close to ready, and them balking at the deadline might've done more damage than helped. Do you want to see more 76-86 seasons from the Marlins? Because that's what stretches like this and deadlines like this and MiLB system outlooks like this do to a franchise.

Why are the Marlins targeting Spencer Jones? We've had Lewis Brinson, Monte Harrison, Isan Diaz, Lewin Diaz, JJ Bleday... many "top" prospects who strike out way too much to have a realistic ceiling. We have only (briefly) gotten lucky with Griffin Conine. Have we not learned our lesson?

Of the four other players who received at least $6m+ as their signing bonus: -Max Meyer and JJ Bleday are replacement level players that are held back by their own mental problems. -Jacob Berry is literally unable to develop and may soon be finding himself going down the Tyler Kolek path. -Tyler Kolek is among the worst draft busts in Major League history, with not a whole lot of competition. If the Marlins want to emulate the Tampa Bay Rays that they so desperately want to copy, they should be doing a much better job allocating their resources. If they're spending 7.15m on a player that went 7th overall, they better be damn sure that player is a sure thing. Considering the agent they're working with, I'm not surprised it's Scott Boras. This is what he does. Even if everything works out well and Aiva doesn't embarrass himself at the MLB level (or, heaven forbid, embarrasses himself at the MiLB level before then), he's still a Scott Boras client. That means that after 4 MLB years of service passes, and he does ball out, he's either going to be in Pinstripes, or is going to be wearing Dodger blue, while we receive an overrated project that'll the Marlins brass will hype to us as the holy grail (remember Lewis Brinson, anyone?), and a FRk player with a low floor. That is the unfortunate circumstance when dealing with a Scott Boras client. I like the selection, but I have my skepticism that we'll actually be able to develop him. And even more skepticism that he'll be with us long-term.

1. Charles Johnson was a lowkey great find. Hard to find catchers who have spectacular defense and can hit HRs. Look at Cal Raleigh for example. 2. Mark Kotsay had a lowkey good career. He was a solid player who had steady defense wherever he went. Not a guy that can carry a team, but you can do much worse. 3. Josh Willingham was a lowkey great find that had a career OPS of .823. His WAR took a hit because of his defense, though. He definitely would have been the beneficiary of the Universal DH had it been implemented sooner, since his defense was really what held him back. 4. I still think it was a crime against humanity that the Marlins didn't add Mark Canha to their 40 man roster. They really just let him get yoinked in Rule 5. That was almost as costly as trading Johan Santana immediately after getting him from Rule 5. 5. Brian Anderson was overrated AF. He was a guy that had awful swing decisions early into his career, midway through his career, and late into his career. He was fortunate to have been blessed by the BABIP gods from 2018-2020. Those awful swing decisions and his injuries are what led to his rapid decline. That said, when Brian Anderson is your best college bat since being drafted in 2014, you know your analytics are messed up. Here's hoping Bendix doesn't continue this mediocrity trail.

Agreed. Outside of maybe Thomas White, there's absolutely zero players in our system that I can confidently say have legitimate future superstar talent. Jakob Marsee leads our minor league system with 12 HRs. The next closest is 10, from a 27-year-old "too-old-to-be-a-prospect" player Troy Johnston. No one else is even close to sniffing double digits. Bob Seymour has almost double Marsee's total with 22. And if we choose to not include journeyman Jorge Alfaro, there are 17 players in MiLB who have more HRs than Marsee. This is a pathetic showing of our minor league system and this needs a full reset.

If the Marlins trade Nick Fortes, then that means Joe Mack is getting called up, with Liam Hicks backing him up. Worst case scenario, both Mack and Hicks get injured in the same game, Agustin could be the emergency catcher, but let's hope it doesn't get to that point.

2006.

PJ Morlando was a headscratcher the moment he was selected. Even if you give him the benefit of the doubt and say "at least he gets on base", that can't fly for a guy known only for his bat slugging under .400. And that especially won't fly when he's batting against advanced pitching. (IE: AAA, MLB) You'd have to pray he somehow develops a power stroke, and I don't trust the Marlins development team to be able do that. I would've rather drafted a pitcher instead if the pitcher was the best player available.

I'm going to guess that Peter Bendix looked at the top 100 prospect list, saw Starlyn Caba on it, and was like "Yeah, that's our guy" without even looking at what Caba was doing at Low A, and/or without looking at his frame and projecting what he could be. That is the only reason I can think of for Starlyn Caba being the headliner for Jesus Luzardo. What an embarrassment. Just another painful reminder not to rely entirely on Top 100 Prospects Lists. They're an OK barometer of prospect value, but should never be taken as an end-all be-all gospel. You would think we'd learn this lesson after the Christian Yelich fiasco, but nope, we made the same mistake again.