Kuzul

It’s no secret the Miami Marlins were in heavy pursuit of free agent slugger Albert Pujols this past offseason and dangled nearly $200 million for 10 years to get him signed, sealed and delivered to sunny South Beach. 

Fast forward to May 15 and the front office should be breathing a sign of relief they missed out on him, but maybe kicking themselves that they didn’t deal their own first baseman, Gaby Sanchez, after an All-Star season in 2011. 

Here is the tale of the tape on both Sanchez and Pujols this season (via ESPN): 

Sanchez, who had a 2.4 WAR (wins above replacement) in 2011, currently has a WAR of -0.8. And while Pujols is getting all the headlines—and with good reason after signing a massive contract with the Angels—Gaby’s struggles have gone under the radar. 

A deeper look reveals Sanchez’s struggles could be tied with an increased tendency to extend the strike zone. 

According to Fangraphs, his O-Swing percentage (percentage of pitches a batter swings at outside the strike zone) has increased this season from 31.9 percent to 37.7 percent this season, and that’s when you take into consideration the average is 30 percent.

And while Sanchez has made more outside contact than last season (75 percent in 2011 versus 76.7 in 2012), you can tie that to his emergency swings down in the count that usually end up being fly ball or pop outs. 

So why the drastic change? Well, pitchers have been able to dominate Sanchez when ahead or even in the count (.181 batting average, 20 strikeouts in 84 plate appearances) as opposed to when Sanchez has gotten ahead in the count (.250 batting average, .400 on-base percentage in 35 plate appearances). 

Furthermore, Sanchez has not has much success with off-speed pitches.

According to Fangraphs, where a negative score indicates poor, if any success on a particular pitch, Sanchez has struggled on changeups (-2.20), sinkers (-5.88), and curveballs (-5.05). This has allowed pitchers to blow Sanchez away with their fastball in certain situations (-2.36). 

The Marlins will probably ride Sanchez a couple of more weeks before making a somewhat permanent change at the hot corner. At this point, Sanchez has little to no trade value. An injury-riddled team like the Brewers could use him, but he isn’t hitting better than what they have in Travis Ishikawa.

Perhaps a Francisco Rodriguez for Sanchez trade might not be far-fetched if Heath Bell continues to struggle (10.03 ERA). 

But as it stands, the Marlins face a tough decision with Sanchez as he enters his first year of arbitration. Logan Morrison, whose defense has been iffy at times in the outfield this season, looks certain to make first base his immediate future if the front office declines to offer Sanchez a contract. Morrison came up through the farm system as a first baseman, but Sanchez derailed that possibility.

The Marlins could explore signing a bat in free agency, and it should be interesting since there is somewhat of a deep market for outfielders this offseason.  

The front office could choose among the likes of switch-hitting Shane Victorino (32 years old at time of free agency), Melky Cabrera (28 years old), or Nick Swisher (32 years old). The Marlins could also target B.J. Upton (28 years old), or if they want to take a shot at the best free agent on the market, Josh Hamilton (31 years old). 

For now, Sanchez has to get better for the Marlins sake and his own. Ever since donning the All-Star jersey, Sanchez is hitting a miserable .216 (74-for-342) and has slugged nine home runs as opposed to the 11 the first half of 2011. 

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Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen has decided to pull offseason acquisition Heath Bell from the closer’s role “for a few days,” reports Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post.

Bell, who signed a three-year, $27 million contract this offseason with a team option for 2015, has been nothing short of terrible in 2012 upon his arrival from San Diego.

Through 11 appearances, Bell has compiled a gaudy 11.42 ERA and four blown saves in seven chances. His WHIP of 2.885 is not what a team would like to see out of any pitcher, let alone their closer.

Bell was a part of the Marlins’ flurry of acquisitions this winter. Guillen, Bell, Jose Reyes, Carlos Zambrano and Mark Buehrle figured to all be keys in the Marlins reversing their losing ways.

Instead, Bell has been a key contributor to the team’s subpar play and disappointing results (13-14, fourth in NL East).

Technically speaking, Bell hasn’t officially lost the closer’s job.

When you’re making $9 million a season, you have to be terrible for quite an extended period of time to justify being yanked from a prominent role.

Once the 34-year-old Bell regains his old form in a much less important role, he will be given the job back.

It will be a closer-by-committee situation in Miami for the time being, with Steve Cishek, Edward Mujica and Randy Webb getting a majority of the opportunities.

Guillen did mention, however, that if Bell were not ready to regain his role by next week, Cishek would be the team’s primary closer.

It’s a good sign for Bell that Guillen isn’t giving up on him.

“He has been the best closer in the game the last three years, number-wise, and that’s why I think we have a lot of confidence in him,” said the Marlins manager.

With that kind of statement and vote of confidence, there’s a very good chance that we’ll see Bell closing out games for the Marlins in the not-so-distant future.

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Just when we thought there’d be no more questionable quotes to come out of Miami Marlins, president David Samson came up to bat.

General Manager Ozzie Guillen is making his return from suspension after making pro-Castro comments, infuriating the strong Cuban-American fanbase located in Miami.

Guillen apologized for his comments, served his time and is back in the dugout for Tuesday’s contest versus the Cubs.

But off the field, another member of Marlins management had an interesting choice of words for the media.

Monday night featured many pitches getting whacked, only for them to die in the outfield.

“We’re not worried about the dimensions,” Samson said, according to CBSSports.com’s Danny Knobler. “We’re still learning this ballpark, and so are our fans and players.”

And there’s nothing wrong with that. A new stadium takes a while to get used to, even for its own tenants. Besides, if the walls are in fact too far back, it isn’t out of the question for them to be moved up a few years down the road, a la Citi Field.

But then Samson decided to continue talking for God knows what reason:

“I want home runs hitting people in bikinis. That’s my No. 1 marketing plan. You know how they have people in San Francisco chasing home runs in kayaks? We’ll have people snorkel to the ball surrounded by bikini-clad women. If that’s not Miami…”

Really? Really?

Look, I love girls in bathing suits as much as the next guy, and yeah, sex sells. But the comments come off more sexist than they do…whatever Samson’s intended goal was.

If this was some zany scheme to promote the fact that there’s a pool in the stadium, there’s a better way to do that. Like saying you have a pool in the stadium.

Maybe I’m looking too much into this, but I would figure a team that was just in hot water over comments a staff member made would be more careful in watching what they say.

Of course, Samson’s comments aren’t on the same level as Guillen’s were, but the point still stands.

I fail to see what this accomplishes. Maybe you’ve convinced, at most, four people to buy a ticket hoping to swim with beautiful women and grab a home run.

Meanwhile, I’m left scratching my head. I’m sure a bunch of guys fighting over a ball in a swimming pool isn’t the most appealing thing to “bikini-clad women.” 

I’m also sure being called “bikini-clad” isn’t too high up on the list either.

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Ok, Ozzie, you made your outlandish statement for the year, now it’s time to focus on the Miami Marlins.

The city of Miami and thousands of other Cuban-Americans across the country were enraged when Guillen praised dictator Fidel Castro for staying in power despite many attempts to get rid of him. He was suspended for five games and will be returning tonight against the Chicago Cubs.

While the team is prepared for protesters, all three home games this season sold over 30,000 tickets, so it’s not like the outrage will be altering the checkbook of the Marlins’ front office. It’s time to move on from one ill-advised quote and concentrate on the new-look franchise.

It’s a new era in Miami and the fanbase needs to focus on the production on the field and not the manager that holds controversial opinions. Marlins broadcaster Cookie Rojas has been around the game for years after coming over to America from Havana. He is ready to forgive, and hopes others will as well (via latino.foxnews.com):

I’ll tell you something about Ozzie. As long as I’ve known him, he never before felt sorry saying, ‘Please forgive me.’ This is the first time really that he had to admit he was wrong and made a mistake. Let’s get over with it and play ball. I hope they realize this is done with.

Guillen has stuck his foot in his mouth on multiple occasions over the years, but making controversial comments like that when your stadium is located in Little Havana did cross a line.

But after a heart-felt apology that seemed incredibly genuine…what else do you want? He has learned a hard lesson and will surely never utter positive words about Castro again. It was a mistake, but fans shouldn’t look at this as a deal-breaker.

And they won’t.

If history has taught us anything, it’s that winning cures all that ails. Right now the Marlins are a disappointing 4-6, but the have 152 games to change that. As long as Ozzie is able to successfully turn the ship around and make the Marlins a contender for the National League East title, all will be forgotten.

Well maybe not forgotten, but swept under the rug.

Fans don’t ask a whole lot from their managers, but winning is at the top. So if the Marlins are in the bottom of the division come August, then we’ll have some real problems.

For now, fans need to forget about the comments and focus on their resurrected franchise and a first World Series title since 2003. 

Follow Eric Ball on Twitter.

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After the Ozzie Guillen uproar last week, are you ready to see him and the Miami Marlins in the new season of Showtime’s The Franchise?

A sneak preview of the new season will be shown this coming Saturday at 9 p.m. ET. The series will premiere on July 11.

And yes, the Guillen-Fidel Castro situation is part of the show. How could it not be, right? Drama! Oh, that’s another network, isn’t it?

Sun-Sentinel beat writer Juan C. Rodriguez has provided clips from the show on his blog. Here is a trailer for the show.

Who knew Hanley Ramirez could be such a sore video game loser?

But I like that the show will apparently give us a behind-the-scenes look at the final construction and rollout of the new Marlins Park. Have we really seen that sort of thing before? Plus, maybe we’ll get some more in-depth stuff on the home run sculpture and the choice to go with a lime-green interior.

Judging from the trailer, we’ll also get some insight on the decision to include Muhammad Ali in Opening Night pregame festivities. (Though it’s probably too much to hope for some genuine candor on the matter.) 

The dynamic between Guillen and Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria also looks like it could make for some good TV moments. But do we really want to follow Loria around while he’s acquiring art?

I know that’s how he made his money, but let’s just keep those cameras rolling around South Beach instead. That’s an off-field environment unlike any other in baseball. 

You know, if Showtime really wanted to juice things up, it could have a crossover with Miami’s fictional righteous serial killer. Ozzie and Dexter out on the town would be must-see TV. 

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Wednesday night is the regular season debut for Marlins Park, the new home of the Miami Marlins. (The Marlins and New York Yankees played exhibition games there on Sunday and Monday.)

Plenty of attention (and snark) has been given to some of the ballpark’s more notable features, such as the home run feature in left-center field and aquariums behind home plate. 

But the Marlins players will also enjoy several new features that are vast upgrades from what they had at Sun Life Stadium. Some of the new home benefits, as reported by the Sun-Sentinel’s Mike Berardino, include a batting cage directly behind the Marlins dugout. Previously, Marlins batters had to clomp out to a cage in right field, walking with spikes on concrete. 

Other features touted by the players were a bigger weight room and swimming pool, an underwater treadmill (man, I could use one of those) and a new video room that includes a coaching area with floor-to-ceiling mirrors that allow batters (and eventually, pitchers too) to get a look at what they’re doing from virtually every angle. 

But the simple things shouldn’t be overlooked, either. For outfielder Logan Morrison, having bathroom stalls with doors that close is the improvement he appreciates most.

“Couldn’t shut it all the way, couldn’t lock it,” Morrison told Berardino. “It’s not like you have any privacy anyway in a clubhouse, but still, it wasn’t a perk.”

The importance of this really cannot be overstated. Some athletes are able to focus on the task at hand, regardless of the environment. Others can’t perform at their best with distractions and conditions that are less than ideal. And so many of us, whether we’re professional athletes or not, just want a little privacy.

Kudos to Jeffrey Loria for providing his players a little bit of privacy for less than dignified moments. 

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As you probably know, there’s plenty of down time for major leaguers during spring training.

When ballplayers aren’t working out or playing a few innings in exhibition games, they might be playing golf. Or fishing. Or in the case of Florida Marlins reliever Edward Mujica, they’re making t-shirts for teammates.

As described by MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro, Mujica had orange t-shirts designed with the words “Sup Girl” on the front. The phrase is above a drawing of the top half of a baseball.

In what could probably be classified as a team-building exercise, Mujica printed up seven shirts for his teammates, each with the individual’s nickname and jersey number on the back.

Is there any chance Mujica will have a t-shirt made for the former Leo Nunez, Juan Carlos Oviedo? Oviedo is still in the Dominican Republic, waiting for a work visa after immigration officials discovered he was in the United States using a fake name. Joking aside, he and Mujica are good friends, so maybe Oviedo does have a t-shirt waiting for him.

Maybe this was Mujica’s way of celebrating his new role as the Marlins’ eighth-inning reliever, setting up closer Heath Bell. More than anything else, the t-shirt is a personal statement for Mujica, as he told Frisaro.

“That’s my favorite phrase ever,” said Mujica, one of the fun-loving players in the clubhouse. ”Sup, how you doin’? The shirt is like baseball, and my favorite [saying]. I want to get everybody’s nickname, and make 18 more t-shirts.”

I suppose we can all be grateful Mujica’s favorite phrase isn’t “WAASSSUP???“

Mujica will make 18 more t-shirts for the rest of his teammates, but is waiting until the team’s regular season roster is set.

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During his last few years with the Chicago Cubs, new Miami Marlins starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano made headlines for his temper tantrums more than his work on the mound, but the change of scenery will bring Big Z back to relevancy in 2012.

Zambrano is an interesting name for fantasy managers every season. On one hand, he knows how to strike batters out and is a solid veteran; on the other hand, he can be a monster headache with all his random outbursts and foot-in-mouth type of comments.

That being said, the Marlins didn’t go out and acquire the former Cubs hurler without thinking they can control the big man. Who better to control Big Z than manager Ozzie Guillen, right? Exactly.

While I don’t expect Zambrano to pull any more of his usual outbursts during his first year on a new team, if he tries that stuff with Guillen, he’s going to get an earful and then some. There’s no way the new Marlins skipper is going to put up with temper tantrums from anyone but himself.

Zambrano had his worst season in MLB in 2011, and he still posted a 6.2 strikeouts-per-nine-innings ratio. The native Venezuelan is a proven strikeout producer, and he’s a guy I’ve seen go either in the last round of drafts or undrafted in many fantasy leagues.

The newest Miami Marlin is only two seasons removed from a double-digit win year in 2010. Oh, and over his 11 seasons in the big leagues, Big Z strikes out an average of almost eight batters per nine innings.

If you’re sitting there questioning whether or not this former Cubbie is motivated, he’s actually spent the offseason working out according to the Miami Herald. Yes, you read that right: Carlos Zambrano has been working out!

The Herald stated that Zambrano has dropped an estimated two or three pants sizes since we last saw him take the mound. In fact, Big Z told reporter Clark Spencer that the only reason he didn’t keep shedding the weight was because his wife said he was beginning to look ill.

“She says I don’t look good, like I have cancer” the starting pitcher told Spencer.

I’m sure there have been plenty of managers who have been burned by this guy in recent seasons, but you can’t write off a proven veteran who boasts a career average of almost 200 Ks a year.

While I wouldn’t advocate drafting Big Z in, say, the 14th round of your draft or anything, he’ll be available in the final round most likely, and that’s a steal.

Now your league mates aren’t going to pat you on the back or scold you for taking their potential pick when you draft Zambrano, but you’ll have them kicking themselves later in the year when the Marlins hurler becomes one of your biggest strikeout producers.

While the congratulations are nice, it’s much more fun to watch your fellow managers wonder why they didn’t pick Big Z when they had the chance.

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There was a time when Hanley Ramirez was among the elite players in the game and, if he lasted past the third or fourth selection, it was a shocking development.

But after a 2011 filled with injuries and controversy, he suddenly looks like a potential second round bargain. There’s no arguing that he’s a highly risky selection, but the reward is quite hefty as well.

So now the question facing fantasy owners is what to expect from him in 2012. Is he going to rebound or should we bypass him in the second round, opting for a safer selection? Before we answer that question we need to look at the numbers he actually produced last season:

338 At Bats
.243 Batting Average (82 Hits)
10 Home Runs
45 RBI
55 Runs
20 Stolen Bases
.333 On Base Percentage
.379 Slugging Percentage
.275 BABIP

There were countless issues, but it would be a significant mistake to harp on the details. It was a down season and there isn’t going to be one simple explanation for why the poor performance. You can point to the injury, a lack of effort, or a number of other issues.

Some will want to say that we should simply expect those things to continue. Others will say that Hanley’s move to third base will cause controversy, something that will lead to a repeat of last season’s effort deficit and overall struggles. 

It’s impossible to know how the position switch will influence him for sure, but adding 3B eligibility will obviously add to his fantasy appeal.  We all know that the position is generally the weakest in the game, so adding another potential stud is certainly not going to hurt anything.

You also have to look at the additions of both Ozzie Guillen and Jose Reyes. I know Reyes spurred the position change, but he also helps to significantly upgrade a lineup that now should look like this:

• Jose Reyes
• Emilio Bonifacio
• Hanley Ramirez
• Mike Stanton
• Gaby Sanchez
• Logan Morrison

How can you not like someone hitting in the middle of that lineup? It should provide both opportunities to drive in and score a ton of runs, assuming his bat comes back to him.

The one thing we never have to worry about with Ramirez is the ability to steal a base. There’s always the concern that when someone moves lower in the order that they aren’t going to get as many opportunities to run. Last season Ramirez stole 20 bases, 16 of which came with him hitting either third or fourth. He may not be the 50 SB threat he was earlier in his career, but he’s stolen at least 27 bases every year he’s reached the 500 AB plateau (2011 was the first time he didn’t).

Last season there were two 3B to steal at least 15 bases, Eduardo Nunez and Ryan Roberts. Right away, Ramirez gives any owner who gets him an advantage on that part of the stat sheet.

The power, however, has become a major concern. While we don’t know how the new ballpark will play, we have seen a disturbing shift in his groundball rate in recent years.  From 2006-2009 his high was at 45.8%, but also posted years of 40.1% and 38.6%. That meant more line drives and more fly balls, which obviously helped to lead to more home runs.

Over the past two seasons he’s posted groundball rates of 51.0% and 50.9%. If it was just in 2011 we could probably come up with a few excuses to help explain the problem. However, with Ramirez’ ground ball issues stretching back to 2010, there’s no way to deny that there is an issue here. Unless he can reverse that trend, his power is going to take a serious hit. Seeing him exceed 18-22 HR may be a stretch.

Obviously if he adds 25 SB no one will care. Just keep in mind that we are not talking about a 30/30 threat, but more of a 15/25 type player.

You put it all together and you get the following projection:

.292 (146-500), 18 HR, 95 RBI, 85 R, 30 SB, .325 BABIP, .368 OBP, .478 SLG

I don’t think anyone would complain about a player posting that type of line, especially since you could argue that it’s more of a floor than a ceiling and comes from a player who will quickly gain 3B eligibility.  We’ve seen what Ramirez is capable of when he puts it all together and you could definitely think that he is going to be motivated to show everyone that 2011 was an aberration, not the new rule.

You couple that with the new position eligibility and I would say Ramirez is worth the risk in the second round in all drafts.

Make sure to check out our 2012 projections:

• Bumgarner, Madison
• Goldschmidt, Paul
• Lawrie, Brett
• Strasburg, Stephen
• Stubbs, Drew

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With all these soft openings, the Marlins are starting to realize their interesting creation in left-center field might pose a problem for batters. 

Already, the batter’s eye in straight-away center field has been repainted black from the green color that is evident throughout the walls of the outfield. 

The home run feature, which goes off when a Marlins player launches one over the fences, was designed by renowned artist Red Grooms. The nearly 75′-tall structure has an abundance of color from aqua to pink to green and everything in between. It also features moving waves along the bottom and spin cycles of Marlins, seagulls and flamingos. 

Corner infielder Greg Dobbs, a left-handed batter, also already voiced his concern in an interview with the Miami Herald and what could await what most fans consider a “hideous” structure. 

“If it is an issue, it can no longer be there,” Dobbs said. “I won’t be the only left-handed hitter saying something. If other teams have a problem with it, they’re definitely going to voice their concern to the league.”

However on Tuesday night, Marlins prospect Christian Yelich, a left-handed batter, went 2-for-3 including a game-tying RBI in the ninth inning against the University of Miami.

For fans rejoicing that the sculpture is on life support please don’t keep your hopes up. The sculpture cost an estimated $2.5 million to build and won’t be torn down or moved as that would exceed costs and enter territory that David Samson and company vowed they wouldn’t enter. 

President David Samson voiced his opinion on the matter and stated it’s “not an issue whatsoever” after Major League Baseball inspected the ballpark, specifically on the batter’s eye last week. 

If it indeed becomes a problem, the only viable option would be to install a tinted retractable window to cover the sculpture, essentially dimming its characteristics and have it come down during the celebration. Furthermore, a window, especially one made with hurricane proof resistance could help against home run blasts by Giancarlo Stanton who seems like a perfect candidate to take apart the sculpture bit by bit with his majestic power. 

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