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Fire Bill Robinson
Yes, the Marlins won in 13 innings last night against their rivals the Atlanta Braves. So, what better time to call for the firing of Marlin hitting coach Bill Robinson than now?
Let’s not get all emotional about this. Sure, Robinson has been around for awhile now, even since the Torborg era. Remember that?
And yes, the Marlins have a team batting average of .272 and an OBP of .339. Not bad. But only 329 runs in 75 games? That is only 4.3 runs a game. Our opponents are getting 4.2. The Marlins rank #26 in runs scored in the entire MLB but are #6 in AVG. Interstingly, they are #16 in hits.
The Marlins left 17 men on base last night against the Braves. Routinely, it seemed, squandering any chance to win the game. Sure, they broke through and won it, finally. But they needed to take care of this game when they should have. That is the mark of a good team. And right now, the offense is very inconsistent. The hitters are not advancing the runners – trading outs for runs. Instead, it seems guys forget how to do the basics and are only waiting for the three run bomb to deliver them. This is not the mark of a consistent offense and is certainly not the style of baseball the Marlins are known for.
In the 2003 run, the Marlins were aggressive on the field. They bunted and forced the opposing team to adjust to their game. Then, when they got on base, they ran. And were even more aggressive and daring. Lee, Encarnacion, Pierre, Castillo – pick your poison. They were going to steal on you.
This squad may not run as well as that ‘03 squad, but they have much better hitters in Delgado and Lo Duca than the Marlins did with just Pudge and Lee (the ‘03 model, of course – in fact, Derek Lee’s success could be evidence enough that Robinson wasn’t getting the most out of his players).
Can Bill hit for the Marlins? No, obviously not. But are there tell tale signs that the Marlins are not blossoming under his tutelage? Yes. Here is one more snapshot to consider. LoDuca lead off the 12th inning with a double. He then advanced to third on a balk with NO OUTS. All the Marlins needed was a long fly ball. Encarnacion popped out and so did Alex Gonzalez. Neither hit was strong enough to seriously challenge the Braves to score Lo Duca and Encarnacion looked especially unprepared as he swung at a pitch way outside and was down 0-2 on two bad pitches. This is a situation where you got to think, as a hitter, the pitcher is wild and isnt going to give you anything to drive. Make him work some. Don’t go up there hacking. And that, my friends, is where coaching comes in.
Why dont the Marlins go retro – again?
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Right now, the Yankees are rumored (by the NY media) to be contemplating dealing Gary Sheffield to – gasp! – the Mets for Mike Cameron and Miguel Cairo.
Why not spare themselves the embarassment and get something of real value – a CFer AND a bona fide pitcher? Why not trade Sheff back to his old team, the Marlins, for AJ Burnett and Juan Encarnacion?
Ok, I know what some of you may be thinking – why would the Marlins make this deal? Well, the Marlins cant find a way to score runs. Their pitching isn’t that bad and actually, their statistical averages for hitting aren’t that bad either they just seem to be living and dying by Juan Pierre right now. Lowell is struggling on the whole this year. Encarnacion has been solid for the most part, but replacing his bat with Sheffield’s would be an instant upgrade to a lineup already sporting two potent bats in Delgado and the manchild, Cabrera.
The Yankees would also be getting a stud in AJ Burnett – something they need since their disappointing free agent crop of pitchers this season isn’t living up to billing.
Is this a more attractive deal to the Yankees than Cameron and Cairo? You bet. It will cost them about the same amount of money – the Marlins would obviously demand financial relief in return (Sheff is currently in the 2nd year of his 3 year $39M deal with the Yanks). The Marlins are most likely going to lose AJ and Juan – AJ will probably sign with the Yankees this offseason. Why not give him his druthers and send him there ahead of schedule? Heck, he may not like it as much as he thought and oddly, may opt to return to Florida if the deal is right.
But the fact is, a deal like this would give the Yankees what they desperately need – a CF with great range (Encarnacion can play CF very easily and has a gold glove caliber defense already in RF) and a stud pitcher that could bolster their rotation. It would cost less than Cameron and Cairo, too.
For the Marlins they would be getting the return of an old friend (from that ‘97 champion team) who can flat out hit. Sheffield could man RF and give a huge lift to this anemic Marlins offense and bring us some swagger again. Sure, we lose out on AJ’s arm, but we have enough talent to mend for now. Scott Olsen is the real deal and can pitch at this level right now. You also have Al Leiter seeming to right the ship and Ismael Valdez coming back. Along with Moehler – who has pitched very well but is among the league’s worst in run support – the Marlins have enough candidates to round out the rotation and juice up the offense to make up the difference.
Why not? Get the Sheff some home cooking.
Marlins dealing?
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Recent reports in the media have verified that the Marlins are currently looking to make changes on the field. This is no surprise, but what is surprising is that the Orioles have confirmed that they were in discussions over AJ Burnett. The possible deal was to have AJ Burnett, Juan Encarnacion and Eric Reed shipped to Baltimore for Jorge Julio, Larry Bigbie, and either Ryan Cabrera or Hayden Penn.
Another deal that seems to be brewing is the Yankees interest in Juan Encarnacion. Faced with needing a CFer, the Yanks may look to Encarnacion to fill that void and in exchange would give the Marlins Paul Quantrill. This would save the Marlins some money (about $2.39M) as they would likely get Quantrill for nothing.
The Next Big Thing
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-What About Bob?
-Where’s Waldo?
-Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?
These are the questions we find ourselves contemplating as yet another season is in the books. No, Miami isn’t looking for the fictitious ‘Waldo’ and his scroll in a children’s book–but they do have an inquisition of their own; one that rivals the most glorified and philosophied questions ever asked:
“What do we do next?”
It’s easy to blame injuries and maladies for Miami’s sudden collapse in the Eastern Conference Finals. It’s easy to dismiss Detroit’s victory as nothing more than ‘luck’ or ‘timing’. It’s easy to vaguely say that Miami has much to do in order to capture that ever-elusive championship trophy. But such a luxury as ease cannot be a viable excuse when figuring out the next move.
Yes–it’s going to be difficult, as the pursuit of ultimate victory always will be. But there is a method to the madness…a means to an end that Heat fans everywhere so dearly desire.
So, what’s the answer to the monumental question? How can Miami bounce back and fix the flaw? Two words:
Dorrell Wright.
He’s a kid, he’s got some moves, and he is the key to Miami’s success. Ok, so he’s done nothing noteworthy in the NBA yet, and he rode the bench for most of the season–but his impact, albeit abstract, will help Miami overcome many obstacles on the trail to the trophy. If you think you know where I’m getting at, you have no idea:
1) Drafting the swingman out of high school allowed Miami to try their hand at developing a talented, yet raw, basketball player. He can play both SG and SF, and has great dribbling skills. At 19 years old, he’s still wild, and loses the ball more than not–but he has plenty of time to learn from his mistakes. Miami has another player of similar size and build–but he is roughly 14 years Dorrell’s senior. Yes, you guessed it: Eddie Jones. Mr. Jones has two money-draining years left on his contract. If Dorrell can prove his worth by preseason in October, he may gain a spot on the roster. This could open up opportunities to unleash the leach-like contract of Eddie, and provide Miami with two young, highly talented shooting fowards (Rasual Butler and Dorrell Wright). The youth movement is something Miami must look to follow, and Eddie Jones is quickly losing his edge as he ages.
2) Shaquille O’Neal will be demanding a large (that’s being generous) contract extension sometime next season. Again, if Dorrell Wright can develop into a stud, that would give management a solid reason to rid themselves of Eddie Jones. Eddie’s bloated contract would come off the books just as Shaq receives his rather large sum of money. Miami would get to keep their dominant Center, and continue the youth trend by allowing Dorrell more minutes in Eddie’s absence.
3) Dwyane Wade needs a young costar. Yes, Shaq is the perfect fit right now–but in two or three years, The Diesel will be reaching his glorious end, and Miami will need another dynamic scorer to assist Wade (no pun intended). I might be getting ahead of myself here, but Dorrell has already shown flashes of his potential, and Miami’s coaching staff is among the best out there. Erik Spoelstra has done a phenomenal job developing the jump shot of Dwyane Wade, and Keith Askins knows how to teach defense as an art. With the imfamous Pat Riley overseeing the entire operation, this young kid could really prove valuable in the future.
Basically, Dorrell Wright solves many of the dilemnas that have, currently are, and probably will affect the team. Nobody pretends to know everything, but this seems like a promising situation. We’ll find out eventually…
Youth Movement: How Pat Riley changed the Heat
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On the eve of this 2005 NBA draft, we see a different Heat than we saw last year at this time. Last year, there was so much promise as a young fun ‘n gun Heat team stirred quite a noise – with its loud music and its brash young team – in the playoffs. With a young nucleus that was Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and the emerging Dwyane Wade, the future was bright. We all know what happened next as the Heat have morphed into an Eastern Conference powerhouse.
But how exactly did the Heat get to the point of a young and promising team in the first place? And how exactly was it to happen on Riley’s watch?
That may be a story of greater significance.
Pat Riley, as a coach, was known for his hard-nosed and serious style. He was demanding but asked no more of his players than he did of himself. And Riley was successful. Just as often as his teams won, there was always a player or two that would emerge out of nowhere and succeed in Riley’s system. It demanded execution and discipline – qualities typically found in mature players. Such a group was usually found to be veterans; and that is who Riley looked to as a coach.
That is what made the transition of the 2003-2004 Heat so surprising.
The Heat, in all honesty, had fallen from its late ’90’s hey days. Tim Hardaway moved on and Zo had to face a serious, life-threatening illness. Riley was left to coach his team shorthanded. This was the blessing in disguise.
The Heat, coming into the 2002 draft, had a subpar season. They landed with the #10 pick in the lottery. Pat Riley and Randy Pfund selected a well-known college player – a proven winner in Caron Butler. A lot of the experts felt Riley managed to land a steal with the draft; Caron went on to have a strong rookie season and proved the experts right.
This took Riley to a place he wasnt familiar, well, not since Magic Johnson anyway. He had to rely on a rookie to help his team win. But still, it was not to be as the Heat went through another rough season and ended up with the #5 pick in the 2003 draft.
Riley was now faced with a dilemma. Find himself another veteran player to shore up his team and aim for the playoffs? Quietly, he must have doubted that even then the Heat could go forward and move deep into the playoffs. The desire to win stirred deep within Pat Riley. Perhaps this wasn’t the path. In fact, we have now discovered that there was a deal on the table for the Heat to trade their #5 pick for Wally Sczerbiak: essentially, dealing Wade for Wally.
Then the miracle happened. Riley ruled against the move but instead fought what his natural inclination was and followed through with drafting Wade and embracing in full the youth movement in Miami.
So simple, yet so difficult. For a man who is used to winning and being on the mainstage of his profession, Pat Riley – for the first time – decided to see himself behind the scenes. And to peak from behind the curtains as the performance went on, was not an easy thing to swallow. It wasn’t until Riley handed over the reigns of the head coach position to Stan Van Gundy that the transistion was complete.
This may have been Riley’s greatest substitution of all his career. To actually look at himself and understand his own limitations and seeing that there was a different path to success this time is truly remarkable. Riley could have easily forced himself into following the path of the familiar and traded for Sczerbiak. He would not have been run out of town. Most likely, that team would have had moderate success, too. But it is clear that Riley made the right decision by taking on less responsibility – and ultimately, and quitely, taking responsibility for this franchises success in the process.
Was Riley completely conscious of this transition at the time? Perhaps not at all. Who would have thought the opportunity to trade for Shaq would have presented itself. And if Riley had not decided to reload the Heat with youth, he would have never had the bargaining chips in Odom and Butler to trade for Shaq. And had Riley not given up his coaching duties, he may not have been able to draft Dorrell Wright, either. Or even try and pick up Qyntel Woods.
Now, here we are with the 2005 draft. The Heat dont have one a lottery pick – for the first time in 3 seasons. Let’s see what kind of magic Riley is able to do now.
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