From the moment I watched my first game of baseball, I was mesmerized by the importance of the pitcher. To win games you need to have a consistent pitcher, something that Dontrelle Willis wasn’t for the Detroit Tigers or the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Dontrelle Willis was the most exciting lefty pitcher to watch from 2003 to 2007, when he played for the Florida Marlins.

With the Florida Marlins he played magnificently, winning the Rookie of the Year and leading the Marlins to their second World Series title in 2003.

During his five-year tenure with the Marlins, he was by far one of the best pitchers in the game. In 2005 he posted 22 wins, a 2.68 ERA, and completed seven games with five shutouts. He came second in the NL Cy Young race, losing to Chris Carpenter.

In his five year career with the Marlins he posted a 3.78 ERA, won 68 and lost 54 games, and to top it off, he had a 2.20 strike out to walk ratio, demonstrating strong command.

Since his time in a Marlins uniform, he has yet to show his dominant form again, and it’s a true shame.

After a rather sub par 2007 season, the Marlins decided to sell some of their best ball players in the offseason, due to rise in payroll.

Dontrelle Willis along with Miguel Cabrera were dealt to the Detroit Tigers in an eight-player trade. 

The trade was rather upsetting to Marlins fans as they had to say goodbye to one of the best batters in the game, and one of the finest pitchers the Marlins franchise had ever had in a Marlins uniform.

Two weeks after the trade, Willis was inked to a three-year $29 million contract with the Tigers, and sad to say that almost every penny of that contract went to waste.

Dontrelle Willis in a Tigers uniform went through baseball hell, he could not throw a pitch for a strike.

In his first two outings of the 2008 season with the Tigers, he had already walked nine batters and struck out none.

Later on that season, he was placed on the Disabled List with an injured left knee, and after his DL stint, manager Jim Leyland tried to use him in a relief role, but that came with no success.

After his struggles, the Detroit management decided to send him down to single A ball where he could practice and get control of his pitch command.

Willis was called back to the Tigers during the September roster expansion, where he recorded one loss and two no decisions leaving some possible hope for a comeback next season. 

The comeback never took place.

In March 2009, Willis was placed on the DL with an anxiety disorder, which left him inactive until mid-May when he was placed back on the active roster and made a few starts, but with poor results.

After his abysmal May, he was then reinstated to the Disabled list, with the same anxiety disorder, leaving him away from baseball for the rest of the 2009 season.

To start the 2010 season, he was placed in the starting rotation where he showed many improvements especially in command, but it still wasn’t enough for the Tigers leaving them no options left.

After a lot of thinking, the Tigers made the bold decision of designating Willis for assignment.

On June 1, the Arizona Diamondbacks traded starting pitcher Bill Buckner for Willis.

In his arrival to Arizona, he decided to switch his jersey number back to 35, thinking that maybe changing his number could help him find success back in the National League. 

He had one good start with the Diamondbacks, where he pitched six shutout innings, but he couldn’t remain consistent and still didn’t have command of his pitches. 

So on July 4, the Diamondbacks new management made the decision to designate Dontrelle Willis for assignment. 

Dontrelle Willis is a player who has gone through so much, and he has yet to find success. 

It is sad to see this happen to Willis and he needs to find solutions to his command problems. 

Right now I hope that the Marlins will give Willis a try, and let him find himself where he last had success.

If he does find success it definitely won’t be in the starting rotation, it would probably be in the bullpen as a left specialist where he could reinvent himself.

Willis was the best and he has the raw talent to return as a top lefty pitcher, and I hope that he can get on the right track so we don’t see his talent go to waste.

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Many times after jumping out to a sizable lead, the Florida Marlins’ bullpen gives fans a reason to be nervous; no matter how many innings the starter pitches.

The bullpen hasn’t been properly address by Flordia’s front office. 

Most good teams have a strong bullpen. In 2007 the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series thanks to a stellar bullpen. They rarely let leads slip away.

The exact opposite is happening to Florida this season.

In my opinion, the Marlins’ pen is just stuffed with useless Triple A rejects, that we frankly have never heard of. If these guys could produce then it would be a different story, but they don’t.

The Marlins just cannot find a consistent seventh to eighth inning guy, something that needs corrected in order to start a mid-season comeback..

Its time for Florida to stop thinking about the offensive and management problems and invest its time in finding some consistent bullpen help.

Sounds easy. Well it really isn’t that hard.

The Marlins are full of young talent, including some prospects that I consider expendable or useful for trades. I say now is time to make a trade giving the club a strong lefty pitcher, and a well known eighth inning guy.

For the lefty I would like to make a controversial move: get Dontrelle Willis.

He was traded to the Arizona Diamond Backs and he hasn’t found that much success there. He also has recently been moved to the pen. 

If the Diamond Backs aren’t pleased with his progress, I would strongly suggest for the Marlins to trade for him.

Willis could go back to where he was once successful and maybe make a new name for himself as a lefty specialist. If he progresses, who knows maybe a spot in the rotation awaits.

The other move that I would make involves signing a free agent.

David Weathers would be an option for me.

To sign him, it would mainly depend on what his physical conditions and throwing ability. If he proves that he can throw strikes, then the Marlins should definitely let him rejoin his old team. 

The Marlins last season signed Brendan Donnelly, a 40-year-old who had almost run out of options, but when he came to the team began to producing.

My last option is not a very realistic option, but it should be heavily considered.

The Marlins have always had big interest in Matt Capps, and he is having a banner season.

The problem is that the Washingtpn Nationals are certainly hesitant to trade him. But if the Nats are out of playoff contention, then the Marlins should definitely inquire about him.

He may not be the closer for the Marlins, but would be a definite lock for the set up man role. That would give Florida a great level of stability.

All of the options mentioned are part of some wishful thinking, but the Marlins definitely need to get serious in order to get to the playoffs.

If the Marlins can get back on track then we should see a lot more consistency on the field.

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The Mid-Summer Classic is an event that baseball celebrates to determine the better of the two leagues.

So far this season we have seen outstanding pitching, especially in the National League. For this reason, I would like to list the five most-deserving pitchers to start this years’ Mid-Summer Classic.

Here we go. Hope you enjoy!

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Since the departure of manager Fredi Gonzalez, there has been a great deal of uncertainty regarding who will be the Florida Marlins manager, until Tuesday when Jeffrey Loria announced that Edwin Rodriguez will be the manager for the rest of the season.

This means that Bobby Valentine and Bo Porter are officially out of the running for the big job. 

The announcement of this came right before the Tuesday game, Jeffrey Loria huddled the players together and made the announcement, he made the decision because he felt that it was something the players wanted, and rightfully so they applauded and celebrated the new Rodriguez era.

This week so far has been extremely special for him, as he has become the first Puerto Rican manager in the history of the sport, he is celebrating the joy of being with his family, and has officially been named the Florida Marlins manager. 

Doesn’t get better than that Edwin.

Being that he has been named manager there are great expectations of him, and right now the Marlins are swinging the bat better and the pitching is starting to get rock solid. 

If the Marlins want to push for a playoff position Rodriguez needs to fight hard for this team, and make the right decisions.

Also this Marlins team needs to start winning games, and so far in the San Juan series they have been looking solid offensively. Hanley is going back to his RBI producing form and the team is going through a power surge. 

Though Rodriguez isn’t my favorite choice to manage the team, I’m sure he’ll give his best in order to lead this team to at least a winning record before the all-star break.

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Earlier, I was posed with the question: What is the toughest, most entertaining division in baseball?

After shortly processing it, I came out with the answer—the NL East.

There are many interesting and intense divisions out there, especially the AL east, but for many reasons, the NL East is superior.

So here it goes—the top five reasons why the NL East is the best in Major League Baseball.

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The Marlins’ recent decision to fire Fredi Gonzalez has not worked out so far. They were just swept by the Padres, and on top of that, Bobby Valentine, their primary managerial target, will probably not join the squad because of philosophical differences.

What does this mean to Marlins fans?

It means the Marlins will probably not land a top-notch manager for the rest of the season. Let’s discuss two in-house candidates, including the current interim manager.

Edwin Rodriguez has been abysmal in his first four games. He has lacked authority while talking to umpires, and making hard decisions. It seems as if he isn’t comfortable when having to fight for his team.

Bo Porter may just land the top job. He used to work with the Marlins as a third base coach, and he is the favorite now, I say this because of his experience with the players and the front office.

Porter and Rodriguez have already interviewed formally for the position, so if Valentine hasn’t been formally contacted or interviewed in the next few days, I’d consider him permanently out of the running.

Right now, the Marlins are staying with Edwin Rodriguez, but if their play continues to be sloppy, I wouldn’t be surprised if they demote him back to Triple-A, and call in Bo Porter.

Bobby Valentine may still end up managing the Marlins because he has a good relationship with owner, Jeffrey Loria.  You never know, they could sign him out of nowhere. 

A similar about-face happened during Josh Johnson’s recent contract negotiations. There was an impasse, until surprisingly, the Marlins resigned him to a lucrative deal.

So keep an eye out! The Marlins front office is rather unpredictable, and we could be surprised yet.

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The Florida Marlins have struggled this season, and Fredi Gonzalez could have been one of the many reasons why.

Florida has faced many problems. Some of the biggest involved the bullpen and the lack of offensive production.

Yet, I do not think any of these issues have to do with Gonzalez and his managing.

The rumors of Gonzalez getting canned have floated around since last year, once Bobby Valentine started looking for a job. I took this as a great surprise since Fredi, with almost nothing, nearly took this team to the playoffs.

Gonzalez has been fantastic for the Marlins, taking control and helping this young team through consistent growing pains. Yet, as Marlins fans, we have to ask ourselves the question.  

Is the change necessary?

From my point of view, the change will do some good. If the Marlins land Bobby Valentine, they could possibly change things in a positive way. Taking new approaches to situations could pull this Florida team in another direction. 

A similar situation happened in 2003.

Jeff Torborg led  Florida to a terrible start. Then along came Jack McKeon, who gave the Marlins new life. He also guided them to the playoffs, where Florida eventually beat the Yankees to capture a World Series title.

I don’t want to say firing Gonzalez will be all fine and dandy. We won’t know the outcome for a few weeks. But from my point of view, firing Gonzalez wasn’t necessary.

What was—and still is—necessary is getting the Marlins decent bullpen help. 

The other thing that grinds my gears is that if Jeffrey Loria invested more money into this team, we would not be having any managerial issues. Instead, we would probably be the best team in the league.

But since we are stuck with the worst owner in baseball, they shouldn’t be pinning all the blame on Gonzalez, one of the finest managers in the National League.

To answer the question of this article, the Marlins are not making a mistake. Instead, they are heading in a different direction, and I’m sure Fredi understands this.

Although this action isn’t necessary, it will hopefully give this Marlins team new life, and the opportunity to make wrongs right.

Gonzalez won’t take this so hard.

After all, he has a job in Atlanta waiting on his doorstep.

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The Marlins season so far has had up and downs that include losses to the Nationals and a four-game sweep of our division rival the Mets, and I can’t help and notice that a lot of success is due to good pitching, but it is also due to great progress by the rookie Gaby Sanchez.

Gaby was recognized as one of the top prospects in the Marlins farm system since 2008 when he posted amazing numbers that included a .316 BA, .404 on-base percentage, 17 HR, and 92 RBI in AA. At that time Gaby presented a excellent future and was probably pinned as the starting first baseman for the 2009 season.

Unfortunately the Marlins organization made some bad trades and acquired Emilio Bonifacio who had a good spring prior to the 2009 season and left Gaby out of the plans for that season, so they sent him down to AAA ball where he sustained injuries and had limited playing time. 

Gaby did get some time in the big leagues in 2009, and he hit a few HR but it really wasn’t that much.

At the end of the season the first base position was open after the departure of Nick Johnson and the starting position was between Gaby Sanchez and Logan Morrison, and through spring training Gaby won the position. 

So, for the first time in his career, he was going to be the starting first baseman on opening day.

So far Gaby has been a rookie success for the Marlins, not so much for his numbers posted so far, but for his maturity on the field and above average defense.

He has .275 BA, 18 RBI, and hit four HR. They aren’t off the chart numbers, but after that four-game series with the Mets that he had, they are going nowhere but up.

Gaby represents a player that plays hard and produces good at-bats, he has a nice compact swing, and he likes to make pitchers work. 

His plate discipline is possibly the Marlins best at the moment, since Chris Coghlans’ struggles, and he is always thinking what is best for the team. 

Gaby is not the best rookie out there, and probably isn’t even being considered a candidate for the Rookie of the Year. But he does deserve some credit since he has pulled together a nice stretch offensively and defensively and unlike many players he is proving to be one of the most consistent out of that Marlins lineup.

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We are all aware of the recent situation between Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez and Manager Fredi Gonzalez, and the good news is is that progress is being made as Hanley said to ESPNDeportes that he was willing to apologize to his team in order to move forward and get along with the season.

Henley’s fight with Fredi left a lot of mixed feelings and confusion to the team and fans, and Hanley is doing what a true athlete and person should do and that is recognize their mistakes and move forward. 

I think all of this commotion made Hanley think about his teammates and the organization that has brought him up to the success he is today. He recognized that he is the leader of this Marlins franchise and that he is going to pull this team through to the playoffs with his bat and glove, and for the marlins to win they need 25 people giving 100 percent every day.

Hanley is a once in a lifetime player and has the chance to become a legend, that we’ll tell our grandkids about, yet he is still growing in many ways, and this so called fight with the media is something that I expect will let the team grow and make them realize that to win and be the best they can be they have to depend on each other and give it all they got. 

This two-time all star short stop is the face and the pride of the Marlins franchise, and he made a mistake, a bad mistake, but as fans and writers we need to give Hanley credit for everything he has been for the marlins, but we shouldn’t only give credit to Hanley.

We should give it to every player and coach, that has given a damn to this team. 

Hanley I respect you, and I respect Fredi, ….. I respect the Marlins.

Thank you for everything and lets have a successful 2010 season!

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