Series 6-Pack: “Don’t make me do this to you again!”

Time to head on down to South Florida, where the droughts are moderate and the baseball teams are still playing, apparently.  Michael Jong from Marlin Maniac has more on this anomaly, as I hit him with a few particularly blistering inquiries.

1.  So, how’s it going?

It’s pretty good. I can’t complain. It’s a little hot outside.

2.  I’m not so bad myself.  So Josh Johnson is coming back?  That’s nice.

Good to hear. No, I don’t think Josh Johnson’s coming back in 2011. At this point, the Marlins should just rest him and hope for a healthy 2012, because the rotation and team are going to need it.

3.  What are the odds of Greg Dobbs’ foul ball finding the one seat in the stadium that somebody happened to be sitting in?  I know, they weren’t in Florida, but I think the joke still resonates.  Also, don’t you think Dobbs sending the kid a bat was more of a threat than an apology?  Like, “Stay the hell out of the way of my foul balls, or I will find you and hit you with this?“

I think what he did was fine. Had he sent him a dinged-up baseball, perhaps it would have been a bit scarier. “Don’t make me do this to you again!”

4.  Will Ozzie Guillen be the 2012 Miami Marlins manager, and how far into the ground will he drive the team?  How do you see him getting along with Hanley Ramirez?  At all?  Or too much?

I think Ozzie Guillen is the most likely candidate for Marlins manager in 2012. All the signs have been there for some time, and it seems almost like a perfect fit, except for the whole “Loria is crazy and they’re bound to butt heads.” I would actually say that if anyone can make Ramirez “get it” (if there is such a thing to be got), it’s Guillen. Like Miguel Cabrera before him, Ramirez will likely get along with Ozzie pretty well.

5.  What are the Marlins going to do without Randy Choate, and does it even matter?

It doesn’t matter. I might as well be throwing to lefties at this point. This last month is going to be one boring tailspin.

6.  Is Wes Helms’ career over?  What will NL East teams do with that open roster spot they want to waste in the future?  And why did Helms’ role in Logan Morrison’s previous demotion not receive more attention?

I guess no one really saw Helms’s release as a surprise, regardless of the reason. Sure, the release was likely related to Morrison’s recent problem with missing the team photo event, but most fans just wanted Helms out of there anyway. The truth is that when the game passes you by, no one seems to care anymore, and that is something Helms saw. It was a case of the team doing the right thing probably for the wrong reasons.