Series 6-Pack: “It’s just begging for tons of fish to be randomly killed.”

I came up with questions to send to Jays Journal for one of these and then forgot.  So here are some extra-good ones I got Michael Jong from Marlin Maniac to answer.

1.  Gaby Sanchez, seen here getting eye-fucked by Eduardo Perez, was just put on the All-Star team.  Why?

Two reasons:

1) Sanchez is pretty good. He is hitting .296/.369/.478, good for a .368 wOBA. He is sixth among first baseman in FanGraphs Wins Above Replacement (fWAR) with 2.6 wins so far this season. That’s also good for third in the National League behind MVP candidates Prince Fielder and Joey Votto. He doesn’t grab headlines, but he has always been solid.

2) No one else was really worth selecting, and the Marlins have to have a representative. Anibal Sanchez is the only other player worth a possible selection, but they decided to pick Ryan Vogelsong (who?) instead. Neither player would have been unworthy, but it just turned out this way. In fact, the only unworthy player among the three listed in this paragraph is Ryan Vogelsong.

2.  A journalist recently referred to Jack McKeon’s situation as “materializing in a burning cockpit.”  How possible is it for anyone to get out of the 2011 Marlins season alive? And as a follow-up, how ingrained in the culture have “Jack McKeon is old” jokes become down there?

It hasn’t been a fun season (really, just wasn’t a fun month last month). I don’t really want to talk about it. Let’s just say that Jack McKeon isn’t going to save anyone from the sinking ship, no matter how cool his old-school mannerisms may be. Also, he’s old, have you heard?

3.  Is it fair to say the Marlins have given up on the year? I just ask because every time the topic of a bounceback period is brought up, people just turn the other way and start talking about the new stadium.

“Giving up” in the sense that there is very little likelihood of contention? Yes. “Giving up” in the sense that there’s nothing to play for? Not really. I think it’s important that the team check out the talent they have and see whether guys like Hanley Ramirez and Javier Vazquez can continue to bounce back. But yeah, we’re not competing for the Wild Card after that June barring a miracle.

4.  So, uh, how ’bout that new stadium?

It’s swell! I can’t wait to see that backstop aquarium! I’m actually wondering when the first “wild pitch -> backstop aquarium” disaster is going to occur. It’s just begging for tons of fish to be randomly killed.

5.  A magazine just told me that the Marlins are no longer “buyers” at the trade deadline, and more likely “sellers.”  Who is getting “sold”?  Do you think they Marlins would “sell” Josh Johnson to the Phillies as a joke?  Keep in mind it would be a joke that only we would find funny.

I doubt Josh Johnson would get sold. Honestly, there’s no one on the team to sell other than possibly Anibal Sanchez; the remaining starters are all likely parts for a future playoff team. But Sanchez is as big a trade chip as there may be available in the market. and the Marlins would be wise to at least consider the option. But no, not to you guys, we gave you enough with Wes Helms and Ross Gload.

6.  What was your initial, uncensored, genuine reaction to the walkoff wild pitch at the moment it happened?

OH COME ON!! But I found out the following morning, so it was a more muted response. Then I sort of shrugged my shoulders and thought “When you lose as many games as we have this month, these are the sort of wacky things that happen.”