Larry Beinfest and David Samson, oh how I love thee![1] A few years ago, I wrote a scathing letter to the editor of the Miami Herald regarding trust and the Florida Marlins. A few years later and a World Series championship ring later, those words still ring true. I complained then and I complain now that these guys cannot be trusted.
First, yes, they got us a stadium. Throw your hands up in appreciation, Miami! David Samson, however, spent the years trying to get a stadium criticizing and alienating anybody that enjoyed the Marlins. He is a patronizing little guy with a Napoleonic complex that should credit the power of nepotism for having any sort of career in this sport (and does anyone other than myself hate that guy’s voice? So smarmy!). Oh yeah, that guy helped lie about the Marlins’ profits and those profits secured the Marlins a stadium (and destroyed the only constant in Miami sports, the Orange Bowl, along with it). If the Marlins were publicly traded we might have some sort of legal action taken against those fraudulent clowns.
Now onto the good stuff. Why does everyone think that Larry Beinfest is some sort of magician? What has he done for the Marlins? Yes, the Marlins won the world series in 2003 and he made midseason trades that helped seal the deal. Does anyone not realize how lucky the Marlins were in 2003? Pudge was signed last minute. Miguel Cabrera blossomed early. Dontrelle Willis was the next coming of Fernando Valenzuela. But were we really expecting Jack McKeon to save us from the disastrous season? He brought in Braden Looper was the game-winning pitcher in Game 4 of the World Series for God’s sake! Did we really expect Mike Lowell, Alex Gonzalez, Juan Encarnacion, Juan Pierre, D-Lee, and pretty much everybody to have a career year? Really, it was the perfect storm. But, let’s take a closer look. Whose players were they? Mostly Dave Dombrowski’s.
Derek Lee was acquired in a trade for Kevin Brown after 1997 World Series. Luis Castillo signed as an amateur free agent in 1992. Alex Gonzalez signed as an amateur free agent in 1994. Mike Lowell traded to Marlins from Yankees in 1999. Brad Penny was acquired for Matt Mantei in 1999. Josh Beckett was drafted in 1999 and Cabrera was signed in 1999. Mark Redman, Mike Redmond, Carl Pavano, Juan Encarnacion, Chad Fox, Jeff Conine, D-Train, Juan Pierre, and Ugueth Urbina were Larry Beinfest decisions (the list is not exhaustive). That infield I just mentioned was responsible for the third best defense in terms of errors, Beckett was the World Series MVP, and Cabrera provided a much-needed spark in the outfield. The rest is history.
Although that does not seem like such a lopsided matchup, history has since shown that Larry Beinfest is mediocre at best. Luis Castillo was traded for a pitcher with a dead elbow or was it his dead shoulder? Pudge was replaced by… wait for it… wait for it… the sexual assault king Ramon Castro. Derek Lee was traded for Hee Sop Choi, the Korean pop enthusiast sensation. Juan Pierre was traded for Ricky Nolasco, a solid, potential-filled contributor, but not a crazy success. While Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett netted Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez, many would consider that trade a wash (Boston went out and won some rings, you know). Yes, yes, Beinfest has been known to “resurrect” some bullpen arms, but he has had mixed success. And yes, Dan Uggla was a rule 5 pick (but possibly would have never seen the field if Pokey Reese didn’t go AWOL). I have saved the best of them all for last.
The Marlins traded perhaps one of the top 5 hitters in baseball in Miguel Cabrera, amid rumors that he was a drunk, a clubhouse cancer, and overweight. That overweight drunk is currently competing for triple crowns in the American League while actually playing some decent first base. The Marlins got a Rajon Rondo clone without the talent in Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller, Burke Badenhop, the world’s best horrible catcher in Mike Rabelo, Dallas Trahern, and the coolest name of them all, Eulogio De La Cruz. Andrew Miller, the suicidal man’s Randy Johnson was recently traded for denture cream to the Boston Red Sox. Mike Rabelo might be catching in someone’s bullpen by now. Burke Badenhop is a mildly successful middle reliever who was semi-ridiculously dubbed captain of the comebacker by the unintentional comedy tag team duo of Tommy Hutton and Rich Waltz. Eulogio De La Cruz is the best Eulogio in MLB history, I think. Currently playing first base is the super solid Gaby Sanchez. Meanwhile, the Marlins are trying to pay Dan Uggla franchise player money despite the fact that he is not as talented as Josh Johnson or Hanley and is severely one-dimensional. But, get this, Uggla is trying to help the free world by rejecting 4 year, 48mil offers. Thank God for Uggla. Maybe we will trade him for more hot dogs.
[1] The Marlins are my favorite professional sports team. This column is about my hate for them.
And now the jury will be out on whether Uggla for Infante, Dunn, and essentially John Buck was a good trade. On paper, it has the ability to be a disaster. Buck has a career .301 OBP. But, as Larry Beinfest implied, we got him at 6 million per because of his handling of the pitchers. Has the makings of a poopoo classic. Infante was an all-star last year but he has to put together a full season as a starter and repeat that year to provide value. And Dunn is a young lefty with little experience and a little renyel pinto-itis (ball 4 is a common theme, except he struggles against righties, not lefties).
ReplyDeleteOh well, Uggla is off living with Fredi the Great Gonzalez, hoping that his weird relationship with Fredi and Cody Ross blossoms into a five year contract worth 71 million (Hanley got this kind of money and is younger, why Uggla, why?).
His agent must be giving him bad advice. That's my take on it. For some odd reason they believe he can get that money.
ReplyDeleteIf this is true http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5820406, then we may have made excellent use of the money. Vazquez is very good in the National League (and bigger ballpark) and Pavano had a very good year last year. I prefer Vazquez.
ReplyDeleteNot a bad deal at all. I am satisfied with this.
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