Marlins Appear to be Purging Again...

The baseball season has been over for a few weeks and free agency starts next week. The Marlins are already on the move trading away several key plays from the last couple of seasons - Scott Olsen, Josh Willingham, Mike Jacobs, and Kevin Gregg.

Sun Sentinel columnist Mike Berardino makes an argument in today's paper that the Marlins are following the Tampa Bay Rays' formula for success - better defense and speed. I agree that those are important factors. The Marlins do need to imporve their defense.

I understand the Jacobs trade (and agree with it). You get a possible closer of the future. You also have Gabby Sanchez on the verge of being ready to take over (a potent bat with defense that Jacobs never had). Letting Gregg go also makes sense after his meltdown last season.

But Olsen and Willingham trade does not make much sense. You trade a solid (not spectacular) left-hander and a dependable bat (who could play the corners on the infield besides LF) for a 2B who has not hit in the majors and a couple minor leaguers. (2B Bonifacio might be the hand writing on the wall for the end of the Uggla era too...)

I think we should be following the Cleveland Indians model of the 90s - sign younger, talented players to long term (below market) deals before they become arbitration eligible or free agents. We signed Hanley Ramirez long term, but players like Dan Uggla are going into arbitration and the Marlins will not be able to keep them long term.

Instead we have a team that resembles the Pittsburgh Pirates. They get a good player and trade him for minor leaguers or let them depart in free agency to get extra draft picks. They are always sub-mediocre as a result.

This is team with limited revenues when you compare them to the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, or Cubs. They cannot buy any player they want, but they do need to spend more to keep a competitive team and attract fans. I have probably been to 400+ games through years and I am not interested in somebody who is not competitive.