Daily Links - Bye Bye Sanity: The Miami Marlins Story

by Matthew Kory on Dec 8, 2011 7:01 AM EST in Daily Links

The Winter Meetings inhabit some crazy alternative universe. The Red Sox, Yankees and just about all the other big spenders in baseball have sat on their hands while the Florida Marlins, a franchise that wouldn't exceed last year's Red Sox payroll if they totaled their last three seasons together, spend like a man who knows he's about to eat an on-coming bus. Dropping $191 million on Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell is notable in and of itself, but what makes it truly nuts is that they tried to sign two other players in Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson to contracts that would have added roughly $270 million more to that total. OK, sure, maybe if they'd signed one they wouldn't have signed the other, but still, at a minimum that would have been a total outlay of $250 million in one off season. You'd could add Marlins' player payroll together going back through 2005 before you'd surpass that figure.

Link time!

In true Winter Meetings fashion, David Oritz accepted the Red Sox offer of salary arbitration. Or not. Wait, he did. Um, or he didn't. No, yes. Or, maybe no. (I can go on like this.) The end result is that Ortiz is, in fact, coming back to the Red Sox next year. He did accept salary arbitration which ties him to the Red Sox for the 2012 season, though as Baseball Prospectus' Ben Lindbergh notes, the two sides could still work out a multi-year (read: two year) agreement. In the end this was best for both sides. The Red Sox wanted him back, he wanted to come back, and now he's back, so there it is. For a freer take on the signing, here's Hardball Talk's Matthew Pouliot and here's Fan Graph's Eno Sarris.

The Red Sox were a whole lot of talk during Ben Cherington's first Winter Meetings. (Not that that is in any way a bad thing.) The Sox joined the Yankees in talking to Hiroki Kuroda, ex of the Dodgers. Our own Marc Normandin has that story here. The Sox also spoke to the White Sox who it seems are in full sell mode. According to ESPN Boston's Gordon Edes (hat tip to the previously mentioned Mr. Pouliot) the two teams talked about White Sox pitchers Gavin Floyd and Jon Danks. What came of that meeting likely won't be known for a while if ever.

WEEI.com's Alex Speier has another beauty up. This time he tackles the reasons behind the Red Sox moving slowly this off season. The comparison to the Tampa Rays of last off season is particularly interesting.

In un-vital news, the Cubs and Red Sox will attempt to sort out the issue of compensation for Theo Epstein after the Rule 5 draft which takes place today. So, yeah, we kinda knew that.

Remember yesterday when the Red Sox won the bidding for Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, then twenty minutes later it was revealed that actually, no, they didn't? Turns out it was the Yankees that won the bidding.

There was some Red Sox news on the day. Now ex-Sox Erik Bedard ended his exceedingly short Red Sox tenure by signing a one year deal with the ~~Florida Marlins~~ Pittsburgh Pirates. The Red Sox apparently never seriously tried to bring Bedard back according to the Providence Journal's Tim Britton.

Finally, the Winter Meetings are very very dangerous, so if you ever go make sure to actually look where you're going.

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Marlins Nuts?

Or,they decided to honer their promise to the taxpayers to put a winning team on the field after getting a new park. Or, they were tired of placing a bad team on the field with 12,000 diehards in the stands ever year. Or,perhaps ,they remembered how Miami filled the stadium in 97 and 03 when the Marlins spent ,and were rewarded in the end.
Congrats to the Marlins for not giving rats @#$% what the media, or the rest of Baseball thought,and chose not to talk about “budgetary concerns” ,or cry poormouth (like one team we know of) and used the surest way to the WS,which is spending what it takes for quality baseball players.

by Robert57 on Dec 8, 2011 8:00 AM EST reply actions

Spending money isn't the surest way to the WS.

by aubatron2011 on Dec 8, 2011 9:46 AM EST up reply actions

True

But selling off all of your established talent isn’t necessarily the path either.
Admittedly, the Marlins have done extraordinarily well
But having Pujols at first base probably wouldn’t hurt them.

by CelticPride on Dec 8, 2011 10:02 AM EST up reply actions

They've pissed off one of their best players.

Who’s asked for trade. Even with the addition of Buerlhe, their pitching has not shown it can stay healthy. Every team has questions. The team who’s healthiest or have the depth necessary to deal with their injuries usually goes furthest. Had the Red Sox had Buchholz, or somebody comparable to Buchholz, they would have made the playoffs, and after that, nobody can predict what would have happened.

by aubatron2011 on Dec 8, 2011 10:11 AM EST up reply actions

Gaby Sanchez isn't exactly a bad first baseman.

Most teams in the league would jump at the chance for him.

I'm a 7 WAR player in bed.

by TheLoneDavid on Dec 8, 2011 12:47 PM EST up reply actions

Now, it’s yet another new group running the show down in the capital of South America. How soon until Buehrle, Bell and Reyes are on the trading block?

by The Bat on Dec 8, 2011 10:27 AM EST reply actions