Slacker Mills

With his good first half showing as closer and Tanner Scott way out of sorts, Puk should be destined to close at the start of the season. The only alternative may be Bender.

I don't see the value in comparing himself to his "old self". You have to compare him to the rest of auditioning pitchers. He looks great to me and is very colorful on the mound. I'll settle for watching him come out of the pen but would love to see him work up to starter or at least a two- or three-inning opener.

How about the fact that every Luzardo pitch was down the middle and belt high ...

We seem to have gotten a preview of the Marlins offensive alignment last night ... and I found it to be very offensive. Three snails at the top of the order? Tim Anderson's missing bat in the heart of the order? What's going on? One thing is for certain: Xavier Edwards belongs in the everyday lineup and ideally in the leadoff spot. Other things: You don't put Anderson on the field because he used to be pretty good. He's performing just like he did last season. Jesus Sanchez and De La Cruz should fill the three hole, depending on the arm they face. Sixto is my favorite story out there. I would be prepping him to start so he can entertain ala Pedro Martinez.

Weathers hasn't proven he's as good as Soriano or Hoeing ... so making him an All Star is more than a reach.

What ever happened to him? Haven't seen him pitch at all.

Certainly something to talk about.

In Gray, do the Marlins have a Kyle Schwarber who can play SS?

Tristan has a swing that's a joy to watch. Flicks it with fury. He's already beaten everybody out for starting SS (if I'm making the decisions). People would pay to see that swing.

Let's break it down. Starting pitching: Safe to say there will be a drop from last season. Who will replace the 185 quality innings from Alcantara? Can Luzardo or Garrett match their career-best years? Can Roger return to his form of a couple years ago? Can Cabrera throw the ball over the plate? Lots of questions and probably not a lot of good answers. Bullpen. Bender could be a big add. Maldonado might work out. Scott and Nardi should be solid but will be hard-pressed to match last season. Puk might be pressed into the rotation. I don't see anything else to hang a teal-colored hat on. SS and C were the glaring weaknesses. Catching has been dealt with by adding Betancourt, a catcher any team could have added if they wanted him basically nothing. SS has been addressed by hiring the worst offensive AND defensive SS in baseball last season. Burger was a good add and will be better if he isn't deployed defensively at third. Probably some regression due from his bat. Same story for Bell. He's an up and down guy. The team could improve by playing Edwards at second and Arraez at first, but it seems that Bendix and company have rejected the X Man. Acquisitions Brujan and/or Gordon will probably replace him on the roster. Neither runs as fast or strikes out as little as Edwards. The OF will be the one area of improvement in my eyes. Sanchez and DeLaCruz seem like fair bets for modest improvement and Jazz for more innings could only help. DH? That's where the team takes the hardest hit. I assume that Bell will wind up there. All in all, I foresee maybe 70 wins. da teal-colored cap on.

More on Tristan Gray though. Last year in spring training for the Rays, Gray hit four homers in 46 ab and had an OPS of 1200.

It's a good debate and I wouldn't mind arguing either side. Taking the ownership side is my norm and I don't see the Marlins contending now or even in the immediate future w/o some new personnel. Among the pitchers, Luzardo is the top trade bait. However, I want a big return - something like Duran, Rafaela and Teel from Boston. Arraez and Scott are more must-trade-now guys from a payroll perspective.

Does anyone realize that Avisail Garcia and Tim Anderson have identical career OPS and OPS+ figures? Does anyone realize that they crashed to identical extents at age around age thirty? Avisail Anderson. I promise to never say another word about the Anderson acquisition. Well, just one other thing. SS Tristan Gray hit two HR in five major league at bats last season. Anderson hit one in over 500 at bats.

Patience Pays? Needed to upgrade the SS position? Wow. At SS, we all know that defense comes first. A great fielding SS can save 25, even 30, runs a season. Of all major leaguers that played SS last season, Marlins Berti, Wendle and Hampsons all made positive (albeit modest) contributions with between one and four defensive runs saved. Anderson recorded a league-worst MINUS 16 (tied with Amed Rosario). Some of that was the result of a loss of speed. Instead of being a top 10 percent speed guy last season, as he had been during his productive days, Anderson dropped beneath the 50th percentile. Ouch. The bat was as bad as the glove for Anderson. He was about the worst hitter in the game. pretty much matching Joey Wendle in that department. Berti and Hampson were vastly better. So, when Peter Bendix says that Tim Anderson will be an asset to the Marlins on both sides of the ball, he means that ... I don't know what the heck he means. What a silly ass interview.

Vidal Brujan is a puzzler to me. He has performed miserably in big league appearances in each of the last three years. His speed is negated by consistently poor rates of successful base stealing attempts. I'd much prefer Edwards on the roster. In addition to being a switch hitter who doesn't strike out much, he is a better baserunner. In a fair competition this spring, I am confident that he outshines Brujan (and Gordon).

I'll go out on a limb and project that Sixto makes the roster. The Fish On First staff unanimously diss that possibility, but he seems to have found a delivery that allows him to pitch without strain ... a happy medium. Even when Sixto threw 98, his fast ball was straight and hittable. He had less than 7.6K per 9 in his major league innings. Like he says, he still has his change. Can he get by with mostly confidence and guile? I've got a gut feeling that he can.

The bullpen will likely be very different. Ideally, it will not feature Chargoit or Brazoban or Cronin. They all walk too many hitters. We have no idea what to expect of Bender ... just the fact that we all like him. I'm guessing that Maldonado will be there. Definitely Puk, Nardi and Scott. Because the starters mostly tend toward short outings (rarely more than 5 IP), there is a need for at least three multi-inning guys. That would be Puk, Soriano, and possibly Meyers. If a starter goes down this spring, Weathers is a logical replacement.

Agree on Brujan and Edwards. Xavier needs an everyday job and the spot is 2b. His bat is light years ahead of Brujan and Gordon. Arraez can move to 1B.

The consensus seems to be that Sixto is no longer a major league pitcher. Why is that? At 92-94 mph with his heater and a nasty change, he seems to be at least on par with most major league pitchers. Seems to me that he only sucks because he's being compared to himself a few years ago. Fact is, no starting pitcher stays at 97 mph for long.

Given the fact that Anderson had a 14M team option to play for last season (ie. all the motivation in the world) it's impossible for me to objectively see much if any advancement in his play from last year. Apparently the Marlins are willing to accept low grade defense at SS in return for one homer every 500 at bats. Given that Anderson basically matched the play of Jean Segura, who the Marlins couldn't dump fast enough because of it, it's impossible for me to understand why Marlin fans are lauding a move that they should be panning with conviction.

This commentary came from MLB Pipeline in 2019 regarding the Diamondbacks #3 prospect Jazz Chisholm Jr.: There is little question Chisholm can stay at shortstop, with good hands and actions to go along with a strong arm and a knack for making highlight-reel plays on a nightly basis. Those loud tools on both sides of the ball in turn give him an exceptional ceiling as a big league shortstop, but he'll need to tighten up his overall game along the way. When Jazz was acquired by the Marlins, he was presumed to be franchise SS for years ahead. He started at 2B only because Miguel Rojas was still manning SS with Gold Glove ability. However, after Rojas left in the Dodgers trade, Chisholm remained at 2B, where he was named an All Star. When Arraez was acquired last season, Jazz moved to CF. The question I have been unable to find an answer for is: Why the heck isn't Jazz the Marlins SS?

What were the results of his twenty pitches? Apparently he fanned Arraez and Hostetler. Did he walk anyone? Did he give up any hits? All eyes were on him but not much information was conveyed.

I'm surprised that Sixto is being dissed for "not throwing like he used to." Of course he had to change his delivery, to take the violence out of it, If he didn't, he would continue to tear his arm up. I think he is a smart and capable pitcher that can be a very serviceable major league arm. If he gets 20 or so innings this spring, I think he will fare well.

1) Jazz 2) Brooks Lee (Wait, the Fish drafted Berry ahead of one of the best SS prospects in the game) 3) Rosario (Wait, that was Bendix old team that signed him) 4) Amaya. You have to play defense when you are pitching-centric team!

Not done. Where in the lineup do you put a guy with a 60 OPS? 10th? 11th?