Phillies Phoes of the Week Part II: Something smells fishy
By Ethan Seidel
Miami Marlins
This isn’t exactly how Ozzie Guillen and Jeffrey Loria drew up the season. The influx of free agent talent was supposed to fill in the gaps and make the Marlins a contender. With the trades of Hanley Ramirez, Omar Infante, and Anibal Sanchez, it’s safe to say the Marlins are out of it. Ramirez became an enigma, unable to replicate his success form earlier in his career. To give you an idea of just how good Hanley used to be, the Marlins of all teams locked him up for 6/$70. The shortstop turned third baseman had shown enough regression to warrant a deal, with the Dodgers picking up most of the dough. His brief stint out in LA has shown a reinvigorated Hanley at the plate (go figure). The Marlins now find themselves with an influx of young talent and salary relief, and are merely playing for pride at this point. The Phillies and Marlins have a lot in common, although I thought they’d be fighting for first not last place.
When We Last Met: The Marlins and Phillies look a lot different from when they met back at the end of June. Anibal Sanchez was still pitching, and Hanley Ramirez was patrolling third base. In case you forgot, the Phillies got swept out of the Marlins new ballpark (doesn’t it look like a set out of The Birdcage?) The Phightins couldn’t muster more than 2 runs in any of the 3 games. Not even Cole Hamels was enough to salvage a victory. The series sweep can be tossed in the growing pile of forgettable moments of 2012.
Series Predictions: 1) Second time’s the charm, as the Phillies finally win a game in the Marlin’s new digs.
2) Cole Hamels continues to struggle against the Marlins. Maybe those ugly uniforms distract him on the mound?
3) Giancarlo Stanton goes deep twice, hitting one of Hamels that knocks one of the dancing dolphins off kilter.
Fansided Perspective: Marlin’s Maniac editor Ehsan Kassim provides the skinny on everything going down in Miami.
1) Given the expectations at the outset, what’s been the biggest disappointment this season?
The biggest disappointment has to be Hanley Ramirez. He was finally healthy and the most important part of the Miami Marlins team. I had a lot of faith in him that he would turn things around.
All along, I was one of the few Marlins fans defending not trading Hanley, he made me look like an idiot. While I still love what Hanley provided the Marlins, and I wish him the best, he was a major disappointment this season. A huge reason why the Marlins sunk so low.
2) Did the Marlins get enough back for Hanley Ramirez? Not too long ago he was a cornerstone player for the franchise.
The Marlins got all they could get back for Hanley, considering teams saw that he was no longer a superstar and now an overpaid player.
The Marlins did really well to acquire a Preseason top 100 prospect, while the Dodgers ate the entirety of Hanley’s contact.
The real test for the Marlins FO lies in where they re-allocate the rest of Hanley’s contact money.
3) What are the team’s plans for Jacob Turner? Will we see him in September?
Jacob Turner was obviously the prize in the Anibal Sanchez/Omar Infante trade. Turner is projected right now to start one of the Marlins double header games on August 22nd. That will the beginning of the Turner era in Miami.