Chatter Up! - Marlins @ Nationals 8-4-09 to 8-6-09
 |
 |
 |
| Welcome to the second edition of Chatter Up! here at NLEC. This week will match up Wally Londo of FishGuts for his second appearance in a week, as his Marlins travel to Washington to take on the Nationals. For our Nationals blog, CenterfieldGate, we have Mark P. representing for this segment. Enjoy! |
| Matt R(NLEC):(via MrNorthJersey) Does it bother FishGuts that they(The Marlins) don’t seem to be taken seriously even though they have won 2 World Series? |
| Wally(FG): Well, it comes with the territory. Do people take Arizona seriously? Colorado? The Rays before last year when they became giant killers? You have to take time to develop a fan base and a tradition, and with the constantly overturned rosters, it’s hard. Casual fans see the Marlins as a joke, but people who know what the front office is doing and what they have to deal with have a great respect for the team. You have to be competitive, have a loyal and large fanbase, and be stable to be taken seriously, and they’ve already got the first down. The new stadium should take care of the rest before long. |
| Matt R(NLEC): Are you happy with the acquisition of Nick Johnson at the deadline? |
| Wally(FG): Ecstatic. Emilio Bonifacio was 2nd to last amongst qualified players in OPS at the time of the trade, and we’ve essentially replaced him with a .200 point increase without losing anything in defense. I’m not surprised more noise wasn’t made about it, but this was one of the hugest net upgrades any team made at the deadline. |
| Matt R(NLEC): What areas do you wish they would have improved upon at the deadline? |
| Wally(FG): For all of the talk about the Marlins looking to upgrade their bullpen, the guys in the pen have been lights out over the course of the season, so I haven’t been worried about that. For me, getting another reliable 5th starter was the biggest thing we could’ve done after replacing Bonifacio, and I can’t help but thing a post waiver move is in the works. We don’t need a 5th starter for a few days, so I won’t be surprised if Carl Pavano is a guy the Marlins look to add soon. |
| Matt R(NLEC): Who is the closer for the Marlins? I know Lindstrom just came back and Nunez took the loss Saturday night, but Nunez has been very solid in replacement of Lindstrom. What should they do from here? |
| Wally(FG): Leo Nunez is the closer now, but they seem hell bent on getting Lindstrom back in there. I don’t mind that, if he can find some control, because I’d much rather use a consistently good guy like Leo as the 7th and 8th inning fireman along with Kiko Calero and Dan Meyer than use him in the relatively low leverage save situations. |
| Matt R(NLEC): As may be a staple with the questions of Chatter Up!, who on the Nats pitching and hitting staff puts the most fear in you and other Fish fans? |
| Wally(FG): Josh Willingham is a man on a mission this season, and he’s really making the Marlins regret trading him and not Hermida. He’s been on fire, and you don’t want to see him right now. Jordan Zimmermann is going to be a legitimate front line starter, and he’s got enough stuff right now to cause any lineup fits. |
| Thanks Wally, we will move on to Mark from CenterfieldGate’s first appearance at Chatter Up! |
| Matt R(NLEC): Do you feel the Nats made the right decision with Nick Johnson’s value? Paying most of his salary for one prospect seems to be a bit much while giving up a player of Johnson’s (healthy) caliber. |
| Mark P(CFG): I was not surprised that Mike Rizzo sent Nick Johnson, but i was surprised that he sent along the money. This is very unusual for the Nats ownership, which likes to sign off on these kinds of things. Despite that, I think that the Nats got good value for Johnson: there was no guarantee he would be back next year and his history of injuries makes every Nats fan skeptical of his value. I think adding the lefthander that they got — Aaron Thompson — was a very good move. He was not the top-rated pitcher in the Marlins’ system, but the Nats scouted him and he’s the one they wanted. They’re stockpiling pitchers, which is what they should be doing. |
| Matt R(NLEC):Overall, are you happy with the moves the Nationals made at the deadline and before? |
| Mark P(CFG): I’m ecstatic, and so are Nats fans. The team, and interim GM Rizzo, piled up a lot of good faith among their faithful with the Milledge and Hanrahan trade. Nyjer Morgan has been exactly what the team needed. But I think the big thing, at least for me, is who they didn’t trade. They kept Zimmerman (of course!) but also Willingham and Dunn. I am a little concerned with the middle infield situation, there’s a real problem at second base. I fear Alberto Gonzalez is still not ready. I’m still steaming that the team didn’t sign a veteran pitcher (Jon Garland) or an infielder (Orlando Hudson) in the offseason. |
| Matt R(NLEC): I noticed what you wrote this weekend in regards to building vs rebuilding. Regardless of what you call it, do you honestly think that this team is close to being a .500 team or better as was quoted, or is that just appeasing the fans by ownership? |
| Mark P(CFG): Are we close — will it only take one or two players? Well, it depends on the players. Let’s be honest: if we get a great infielder to fill the gap at second, we still have one at shortstop. The team says they’re not worried about first base, but they should be. With Johnson gone that’s another weak fielding position. Now we have Dunn and Willingham and Belliard there. That puts Elijah Dukes in the outfield, and not many Nats fans have much faith in him. Including me. So we’re four players away. Still, my bet is that what we’re seeing now (with the Nats climbing to just below .500 since Riggleman took over) is where we could easily be next year. A .500 ballclub can compete for the wildcard. Then too, Nats’ fans have low expectations. We want a World Championship, just like everyone else, but we’ll take a better ballclub, and a .500 ballclub next year. |
| Matt R(NLEC): What is Nationals Ownership’s obsession with starting pitchers? Another starting pitcher from the Marlins, and it seems every single prospect they develop or trade for are simply pitchers and mainly starters! When will they realize that at some point you need to attempt other positions on the field as well? |
| Mark P(CFG): Yeah, I know. That’s right. But if you take a look at what Stan Kasten did in Atlanta in the late 90s, this is the way he does things. Then too, while I am exasperated by the stockpiling of pitchers, I know that for every four good young hurlers, two are going to develop arm trouble, one will never develop, and the other will only be so-so. And there’s this: there’s no guarantee that simply because the Nats have ten young pitchers that “the odds are” that three of them will be good. There are no odds when it comes to pitching. All of them might be busts. I think about criticizing the ownership for obsessing over pitching, and then I remember Ben McDonald, and Ben Sheets, and Mark Prior …. and the list is endless. |
| Matt R(NLEC): What Marlins hitter and pitcher strike fear into you and Nats fans the most? |
| Mark P(CFG): Dan Uggla. I just love Dan Uggla. He’s a Nats’ killer. I always pine for the day that the Marlins’ ownership will get tired of going to arbitration with him and send him on to Washington. I would be at every game. Geeez Louise, if we had this guy at second base we would have some kind of team: he’s a gamer, hardnosed, tough at the plate, just plays and plays and plays. Yeah, I know, he doesn’t hit for average, but he’s got a lot of pop in his bat. Lightstand power. He’s good around the bag at second. He’s only going to get better. And whatarewegonna do? Play Ronnie Belliard? So my advice for Florida fans is — start a petition drive to trade Dan to the Nats. |
Please feel free to email any recommend questions or comments about the segment to mrose@nleastchatter.com or go to this forum topic and post a reply.
Good job guys!