THOMAS JOSEPH

I didn't make a pick this time, but winning the first game is always nice. I also agree with Ely that the middle game with Cabrera feels possible.

Enjoyed the show. Conner must be elated with the O's prospects in the postseason. Although I am not a fan of the Orioles, I'd love to see them in the WS again and win the title if the Phillies, Braves, or Dodgers are the opposition. The question was asked about the turnaround point for Baltimore. I believe it goes back to parting ways with Davis and his horrendous contract. Turning the page on a monster sunk cost, as the Marlins have done comparatively with Garcia, is coming to terms with reality.

Gritty performance by Tyler, other than the infuriating Cowser "infield hit" to Bell. Not a fan of Skip's relief choice - why not let Tyler try for his win with two outs in the 5th? Hoeing did the job, which vindicates the decision, but only one out, and another pitcher is burned. The game ended up as another five-pitcher outing. It's more than evaluation versus record, it's bullpen management and the perfect opportunity for a learning experience with reward ramifications for Tyler, not a no-decision. Glad to see the Marlins put the ball in play with runners on and no outs for runs - the sacrifice fly and the RBI grounder are good signs of situational hitting. Lastly, I hope the Mariners are watching. Chisholm will look good in the sea foam green.

Peterson is tough. The Marlins need to execute a game plan that runs up his pitch count combined with a competitive effort from Chirinos. Winning this wrap-around series would be sweet and kick the Mets back into more uncertainty regarding their trade deadline status. It's encouraging that Lopez is at shortstop, as you suggested on many occasions. This is an evaluative season. I saw Bell was among the league leaders in outs produced. I am more and more convinced that you are also correct that there is little or no interest in Bell, especially with the salary onus. I want to be positive towards Rogers, but his pitch counts are as frustrating as can be. A hundred pitches in less than five innings regularly means Rogers doesn't have or trust his stuff or physically cannot throw a strike on demand, no? It's easy to be simplistic, granted, however, with baseball's anemic offense this year, isn't it more appropriate than ever to pitch to contact and reduce the average number of pitches per batter? Jeff Nelson mentioned this exact issue as a killer for Rogers. BABIP league average is still seven outs to three hits - and it's the Mets, not the Dodgers or Phillies. I'd much rather see a ringing hit or two than suffer through a Cabrera-like five-walk blowup inning or the stereotypical Rogers game.

Yes. The playoffs slot races and series are now compacted into the last three months (maximum). Even with durability issues, he's had his IL stretch for the season.

Oh, for sure, it is a perpetual. I suppose there is a computer program out there that determines MLB-ascension percentages from the draft, probably broken down by each draft slot, HS/college, etc. Team success rates - draftees reaching MLB - are still skewed by length of service, trade implications, and other factors. The overall draft percentage isn't helpful as most of the picks are fillers, despite the anecdotal Piazza stories. As Tommy Hutton said on the air yesterday, baseball is quite different than the other sports in this regard. I venture that draft successes on the whole are akin to the ,300 batting average bar.

Love the "hidden no-hitter" insight. He has been machine-like - just amazing.

Does anyone else find it ridiculous that HS players receive a higher bonus than fifty to sixty percent of the Marlins' current active roster contracts. This is another systemic absurdity as many of these young guys historically will never see major leagues or have any tenure of note. But, then again, it is MLB. Truly, "fugazi" a la Matthew McConaughey's spiel in "Wolf of Wall Street."

Tough loss, especially for a team so desperate for quality starts. The top of the order's LOB numbers stink.

Modern players want more involvement in transaction discussions and team development, as David Samson says, but it is grudgingly given. There's not much leverage. Players on poor-record teams might hope for a chance at a playoff team, but it's the big fish/little pond (sorry for the multi-level pun) syndrome. Rojas to the Dodgers, for example, means opportunities for the playoffs, along with much quicker DFAs because LA doesn't sweat the sunk payroll costs like Miami must. I always think about the scene from "Moneyball," in which Billy Beane tells Peter Brandt that professional players understand about trades. Be short and to the point when the time comes. It's not optional other than to retire. As with every business, someone unable to manage standard industry processes might consider alternatives before new careers are involuntarily thrust upon them anyway.

I had him on my list of five players on the Miami active roster who will be traded because there is value/low risk at $1.3m and an arb year,

Looking forward to seeing the young trade replacements for the last two months of the season.

He has rebounded nicely.

Despite all sources, talking heads, and the like, I believe Marlins fans must give Bendix and his team a chance to implement his strategy. It makes no sense to put this fellow in charge, someone who obviously has a strategy for the long-term competitiveness of the team, and then allow him no slack when he implements the plan - the details of which we are not privy, to note the obvious. We are also unable to assess the financial implications year over year with any certainty. Unlike the government, with competing worldviews, there is one in the Miami organization now that will prove itself fruitful or erroneous over the next few years.

I attended the three-game series in Cincinnati and talked to many Reds fans. Most have high hopes that the team has put together a young core group that can compete in their division. It's interesting to me that I hear the same issues that Marlins fans ascribe to the Sherman ownership group - unwillingness to spend, etc. Of course, the last Reds WS title was before the Marlins were created. Most fans, like their Marlins compatriots, do not connect to the previous championships. I grew up watching the Big Red Machine in Cincinnati (as an Expos fan) but most people I spoke with had no direct interaction with those great days in Reds history. My point: fans are the same all over. High-income team fans are never satisfied either, which is why I love to pester Dodger fans. They boil when I mention it has been over 35 years and billions of dollars since there was a genuine Dodger championship. So much fun!

The unfolding of the Bendix program is fascinating. We will see how smart he and his associates are. I suspect that the baseball powers hope Bendix fails thus creating another Rays-esque competition machine outside their traditional (high-priced) mechanism. It is vital for long-term baseball sustainability that some alternative strategies succeed in countering systemic inequities.

Excellent career.

Ugh. This game was certainly winnable. Games like this and the first game of the White Sox series, to mention recent ones, alternately give me hope and add to the despair. The Marlins can be competitive faster with a few positional upgrades and the healthy starting staff already under team control. On the other hand, the team's chronic issues are not easily solved. David Samson addresses these - which we all know. These issues are intertwined with baseball's systemic problems. So, I conclude that the Bendix strategy truly is the only realistic way to long-term competitiveness. If management is competent, it can work as it has elsewhere for those teams that a) recognize their structural limitations, and b) properly manipulate assets. The methodical/disciplined and (to some fans) a bit ruthless approach to player management, combined with competent personnel up and down the organization, must be pursued.

We all know that player development is a crapshoot, to use the vernacular. Besides a few outliers, baseball requires considerable refinement before competing at the top levels. This doesn't demean or diminish coaching or other improvement expertise - it simply recognizes the complexity of the process. Accordingly, a case like Berry's seems outside the organic growth one expects. Still. there are plenty of anecdotes of later development at the MLB level; not all are pitchers. Some hitters defy the natural curve, and everyone screams about it. A case in point is the current J.J. Bleday situation. It happens. On the other side is the tendency to demote someone as a guru, for example, Mel Stottlemyre, Jr., for many Marlins fans. He certainly has successes, yet we see little year-over-year improvement with players like Eddy Cabrera, who is generally recognized as loaded with natural talent. It's a crapshoot!

Marlins win the series, 2 games to 1. Jazz Chisholm, Jr. Is series MVP.

Let me say, quite honestly, that I struggle mightily with sarcasm. I don't want to be sarcastic, but the world provides too much low-hanging fruit. The temptation is not fair, and (outside of the cesspool of American politics) nowhere is that fruit lower than MLB. The most recent bushel of free fruit for me is the Jason Stark and Eno Sarris article in "The Athletic" (June 21, 2024) with the headline: "MLB offense is nearing all-time lows." Yes, Virginia, it is true. Despite all the offense-minded tinkering, the best-in-the-world hitters have a collective slash line of .241/.311/.390. The trend lines for the 2024 season indicate 1400 fewer hits, 1300 fewer runs, 800 fewer home runs, and 600 fewer doubles. You cannot be serious. Suffice it to say that the new rules are not transforming the game offensively, although the mediocrity is much faster! Yes! Starting with lowering the mound and the DH, MLB wanted/wants offensive improvements at almost any cost. Well, not PEDs, but almost any other cost. The problem is, of course, they forgot to tell or throttle the pitchers. You know, the pitchers that are dropping like flies from elbow and shoulder issues. Those guys of the prevailing litany that there is a shortage, the "injuries can't continue like this," and that a dozen or so superstar hitters are worth $350 million a season. And then, there is Ohtani and Soto. I know, thirteen-year contracts will do the trick! We can't have expansion with this dearth of pitching! Dilution! Dilution! Sorry about the sarcasm. Not. So, as usual, what are the real issues? Sigh. Let me intone the mantra: hitting a baseball is very hard (oh, most certainly), pitching training/kinesiology has exploded, hitting improves when it gets hot, blah, blah. Probably all true, but my why-hitting-sucks list is much duller and quite typically Boomer. Oh, no, gramps! Read it and weep, young whippersnappers: Lazy, uncoachable players - What did you say? I'm busy thinking about my stock portfolio, endorsements, and after-game conquests. No interest in situational hitting - My home run numbers are my meal ticket. I ain't hitting the ball to the right side. Laughable fundamentals - Bunt? What the hell is that? I don't wear all this jewelry to bunt! Lack of aggressiveness - Hey, I want to watch that homer...oops...it's in play, so I better run! Management/Coaching failures - They didn't learn that in the minors? Oh. Well, I can't disrespect a guy up here now. I could be wrong. As the "Animal House" line goes, "Well, sir, we're hoping that our midterm grades will really help our average." Sure, they will.

I think Cabrera is moved this month.

Interesting. He does have the Marlins factor in his favor. As the pundits used to say about the Expos, it's a good organization for MLB fast tracks. We'll see and that's the fun of it.

I heard that the Marlins were willing to kick in a large selection of bling for Chisholm to dole out to his new teammates as a way of ingratiating himself. They also have several hundred signed video games still in the warehouse.

Doesn't matter what the record is or who the Marlins played - that was fun!