ATLANTA -- Carlos Zambrano made it clear Tuesday he doesn't think he's built to be in the Marlins bullpen long term.
"It's not my role, but I have to do it," said Zambrano, who struggled with control over his last nine starts. "There is no other choice. If they put me in the bullpen, they put me in the bullpen. I have to keep doing my job, and keep trying to come back and being in the rotation again.
"The Cubs tried to do that to me, put me in the bullpen. It didn't work. My arm is not built to be in the bullpen, but I have to do it. I'm at a stage in my career where I've been my whole life as a starter. But I have to do it. I will do it until somebody remembers me."
Asked about the trouble he has had issuing walks, Zambrano became a little testy.
"People walk. It's not only me. Obviously, I'm the one people most see here," he said. "What can I do? Be in bullpen. What can I do?"
> Manager Ozzie Guillen said Tuesday the loss of Edward Mujica won't affect the roles of anybody in his bullpen because "nobody has a role here."
"When that phone rings get up," Guillen said of what his relievers will do from now on. "I can't say this guy is my closer, this guy is my setup. We're going to see the matchups and what gives the guys the best opportunity for success."
> Guillen said he's not going to ask a lot of Wednesday's starter Wade LeBlanc. "Give me three good innings. We'll take care of the rest," he said. "We got Zambrano. We got [Chad] Gaudin. Whatever your going to give me, give me good ones. We'll figure it out for the next time."
> Guillen said he's happy Josh Johnson made it through the trade deadline without being shipped off. "I want JJ here. JJ is a gamer," Guillen said. "This kid is going to give you everything he has on the field. And as a manager and a coach you appreciate that. He don't want to come out of games. He wants to help. He's not that superstar ace that I know [right now]. But this kid goes about his business the right way and that's why I love him."
> Guillen said Jose Reyes "got a bad jump, a bad read" off Carlos Lee's single Monday when he was thrown out at the plate by Martin Prado.
> Guillen said he still isn't sure who will start along with Johnson when the Marlins face the Nationals in a double-header Friday.
> Guillen said if any of his players were worried about being traded before the deadline "they should look themselves in the mirror and ask 'Who wants you?'"
> Guillen was asked about what the Marlins got in return from the Cardinals for Mujica, third baseman Zach Cox: "I don't know. I'm not that type of manager, baseball who guy goes to computer and finds out. I know he's a pretty high round pick. I think the Marlins before St. Louis drafted him they liked him a lot and they had an opportunity to pick him up. He's an athletic third baseman and has an opportunity to help us here in the future. Hopefully he can help us."
As for incoming outfielder Gorkys Hernandez, Guillen said: "So far in the big leagues he's only played defense. He'll have an opportunity to get some at-bats. We'll figure it out. I'm going to play him in centerfield, get him some at-bats to see how he's doing. Then we make decision how we're going to play. It's all about opportunities. We'll move [Justin] Ruggiano to one of the corners."
ATLANTA -- Here is what President of Baseball Operations Larry Beinfest had to say after Tuesday's trades:
Opening comments... “Again, our disappointment with the team continues. As part of the restructuring that began last week in earnest with the Detroit and Los Angeles trade, we’ve been on the phone exploring a number of different things that really brought us right to the deadline.
“We were able to get two separate deals done today that we’ve been working on for the better part of a week once we exited it out of the two deals last week.
“First deal was Edward Mujica to the Cardinals for Zack Cox, highly touted third baseman was a draft pick in 2010, accomplished player at the University of Arkansas. We really like the bat. We’re going to send him to Jacksonville. He’s moved through the Cardinals’ system very quickly. Third base is an area of need for us. We thought it lined up. We love the bat, a left-handed hitting third baseman. A guy we know well obviously spring training with the Cardinals. We’ve seen him in spring training and our scouting people knew him very well out of the draft and thought very highly of him.”
"In terms of moving Edward, he’s done a good job for us. It’s an area of some depth now with Big Z in the bullpen and prospects like Even Reed and A.J. Ramos and Hatcher ready to go. It was an area we felt like we had some depth to make the move.
"The second deal with Gaby, Gaby did a great job here. What’s going on the past year with him offensively is something that’s been baffling to him and baffling to us. He struggled. Having to send him to the minor leagues this year was difficult on two separate occasions. This may be a good opportunity for him to get a fresh start.
"We’re going to get Gorkys Hernandez, a fleet-footed outfielder, can play center field. We’re going to take a look at him out in center field. Defensively we have him well above average. This is a guy again that has upside, does not have a lot of experience in the major leagues. We’re looking to provide that opportunity for him to show us what he can do. Ruggiano will move to a corner and hopefully we’ll get Giancarlo back as early as next week and move on.
"A big part of this is the competitive balance pick. It is the second pick following the first round. We’ve been involved now in a couple of these things. These are very valuable assets. To have access to the 33rd pick in the country is a very big deal.
"Gorkys is a young player we’re going to take a look at and we’ve liked for quite some time all the way back to his days with the Tigers and the Braves.
"That’s how we finished things up. Now we’ll go through the post-waiver deadline and hopefully start to improve on the field and win some games, and take a look at some of the assets we’ve accumulated in the last 10 days."
On how close the Marlins came to making other trades... “You never really know until they’re done. There are so many moving parts and so many teams are talking to multiple teams. I don’t know that you know exactly where you stands. I think trades in general build momentum and you get a good feel if you’re close, but it’s hard to identify. I know you’re looking for something big that may or may not have been close. We had some things percolating. It didn’t happen. Again, I’m not sure the momentum was there any way for things to come to fruition.
“These two deals, we had a pretty good feeling when we got to the office this morning there was a chance these two things could happen.”
On if Logan Morrison's future is at first base... “His future is hopefully back on a baseball field. Obviously the DL is not the goal. We’ve always known LoMo can play first. He’s very good at first. That’s where he came up. We had Gaby and subsequently Carlos Lee over at first base. Let’s get LoMo healthy. I think first base is a reasonable outlook for 2013, but we’ll see. Things can change, etc. The priority is to get the knee healthy, get him back on the field, have him not be a .230 hitter because he’s not a .230 hitter and go from there. It’s reasonable to speculate he could at first base.”
On how quickly Cox could become a factor at third base for the Marlins... “He’s kind of rocketed through the St. Louis system and I guess that’s a good thing. He’s had two injuries of late. One was he got hit in the head by a pitch and had a concussion in late May. Recently he had a mild hamstring strain which landed him on the minor league DL and caused him to miss some time. I don’t think we have a good answer for that. This guy is an offensive performer. Having not seen him a lot of late because of the injuries, I can’t really speak to how close he is, but this guy is in our view and this trade was made with the thought he could be our third baseman in the near future. We just need to get him on the field and we’ll have a better idea of the time table."
ATLANTA -- Gaby Sanchez's career with the Marlins is over.
The former All-Star first baseman and native Miamian was shipped off to the Pirates along with a minor league pitcher Tuesday before the trade deadline for outfielder Gorkys Hernandez and a competitive balance draft pick (No. 2 after the 1st round).
Hernandez is expected to join the Marlins Wednesday in Atlanta.
Hernandez, a 24-year old Venezuelan, made his major league debut on May 21. He hit .083 for the Pirates (2 for 24) with two stolen bases and two RBI. He's spent the last two seasons in Triple A Indianapolis, where he's hit .274 with three homers, 65 RBI and 34 stolen bases in 67 games.
Sanchez -- the third starting infielder for the Marlins dealt within the past 10 days -- welcomed his first child to the world on Saturday when his wife Judy gave birth to Sky Michelle Sanchez. Gaby Sanchez, 28, was sent down to Triple A on July 4th after the Marlins acquired Carlos Lee from the Astros. Sanchez hit just .202 with three homers and 17 RBI this season in 55 games for the Marlins.
The Marlins also sent Double A right-handed reliever Kyle Kaminska to Pittsburgh. Kaminska was 6-4 with a 5.11 ERA in 31 relief appearances in Jacksonville.
ATLANTA -- The Marlins have shipped off reliever Edward Mujica to the Cardinals for minor league third baseman Zachary Cox.
The 6-foot, 215-pounder and 25th overall pick in the 2010 draft was hitting .254 (76 for 299) with nine homers, 30 RBI for Triple A Memphis.
Cox fills a big need for the Marlins, who traded away three-time All-Star Hanley Ramirez to the Dodgers last week for pitching prospects and have little at the hot corner.
Cox, a left-handed hitter, will report to Double A Jacksonville the Marlins have said.
More deals are expected we've been told.
Here's a video of Cox hitting a home run for Memphis on July 20.
ATLANTA -- With less than 24 hours before the trade deadline it's appearing more and more likely the Marlins won't get what they're looking for -- a substantial sum -- in return for three-time All-Star Josh Johnson.
Although Ozzie Guillen said he expects Johnson to pitch in one of the Marlins' two games Friday in Washington, the skipper also said if the team receives a good offer for Johnson at the last minute he can see the team pouncing on it.
"I guarantee you if somebody puts a nice package for him and they like it, it is what it is," Guillen said. "I don’t think they will [give up] JJ for a pair of broken bats and [batting practice] balls. It will have to be a deal to help us. When you’re at this situation, everybody is out there."
While the Marlins have undergone a massive makeover in the past week -- shipping Hanley Ramirez and Randy Choate to the Dodgers and Omar Infante and Anibal Sanchez to the Tigers for younger players, Guillen said the moves the club has made are right.
"I think they start thinking with their brains, not with their heart," Guillen said. "That’s the way we got to move on. We made a few trades and people went 'Wow, Wow, Wow.' Maybe those trades we made in the next cople of years [pan out]. Like I said yesterday, we’re not trading for kids in Single A, rookie league. We’re trading for kids who can help us very soon. That’s a good start.
"I think what they’re doing right now is the right thing. They’re doing a pretty good job of trying to put the best team together for a few years to come."
WEBB SAID THERE IS NO TWITTER BEEF WITH HANLEY RAMIREZ
Marlins reliever Ryan Webb caused a little bit of a stir Monday afternoon when he went on Twitter and complained about former teammate Hanley Ramirez retweeting too many pictures of Dodgers fans doing the 'I see you.'
"Just un-followed him, didn't notice any tweets while he was in miami..then all of a sudden I couldn't get through my feed," Webb tweeted.
Webb said he didn't mean any harm, but caught flak on Twitter for it from fans who thought he was ripping Ramirez. Webb, who has his own telescope and is fascinated by astronomy, said he usually goes on Twitter "to find out is going on with the curiosity rover on Mars and the latest in particle physics."
"I wasn't trying to imply anything at all," Webb said. "I was just trying to get my NASA updates on my twitter feed and all I asked was how to get all these pictures off my feed. I wasn't trying to be a [jerk]. I didn't mean to unfriend him as person. I don't think he's a bad guy. Hopefully, nobody takes it bad."
> As for Hanley's new "I See You" movement with the Dodgers, former Marlins teammate Emilio Bonifacio, founder of the 'Lo Viste', said he has no problem with it -- even if it is sort of a 'Lo Viste' rip off.
"I found it strange," Bonifacio said of the 'I See You.' "The first game with the Dodgers I saw him do the 'Lo Viste.' Then he changed it. It doesn't matter. It's all for fun in the end."
ATLANTA -- The Marlins on Monday moved struggling starter Carlos Zambrano to the bullpen and inserted Wade LeBlanc -- the team's best pitcher this spring -- into the rotation.
How long that lasts, manager Ozzie Guillen said, depends on how both perform. But LeBlanc will start Wednesday against the Braves.
"I think we need to take a look at LeBlanc for a couple starts," Guillen said before Monday's game against the Braves. "It wasn't an easy move.
"I think Carlos -- I don't want to say deserved more than that, but the first two months of the season was outstanding. The last game was weird. This guy was dealing, a very nice game. Then from one inning to another he lost it. I want to try to give him a lot of chances [in the bullpen]. We're going to see how it works."
Zambrano started the season 4-3 with a 2.81 ERA over his first 11 starts with 56 strikeouts and 29 walks. But over his last nine starts he's been miserable, going 1-6 with a 7.62 ERA. He's walked 38 and struckout just 27 over the span.
Guillen said his plan is to use Zambrano for as many as two innings -- or as a long reliever if need be. The Marlins play a double-header Friday in Washington and while Josh Johnson will start one of those games the other starter has yet to be announced. Guillen said depending on how Zambrano is used, he could start the other game Friday. But the more likely scenario is the Marlins will call up someone from the minors -- possibly recently acquired Jacob Turner, who is scheduled to pitch for Triple A New Orleans on Thursday.
"He was disappointed. He was embarrassed," Guillen said of Zambrano went told he was going to the pen. "[He] feels bad because we brought him here and he’s not doing the way he thinks he can do it. When we make moves is not because was want to, it's because we have to. Carlos took it the right way and I expected that. We’re not going to take you out the rotation because you are pitching well. He was fine. And I told him I will give him the opportunity to pitch."
Zambrano waved off reporters while sitting on a sofa in the Marlins clubhouse.
As for LeBlanc, he's excited about getting an opportunity. The 27-year old left-hander went 2-1 with a 1.31 ERA in six Grapefruit League games (two starts) for the Marlins this spring. But he didn't make the big league roster. He's gone 1-1 with a 1.15 ERA in 11 relief appearances (15 2/3 innings) since being called up on July 1. He was 17-21 with a 4.47 ERA as a starter over four seasons in San Diego.
"As long as I'm up here helping this team do something I'm happy -- whether I'm better suited for the rotation or the bullpen it remains to be seen," LeBlanc said. "I'm aware they got Turner from Detroit and they probably want to see what he can do. So, I'm just going to go out there and try to get as many outs as I can and give this team a chance."
The Marlins have placed outfielder Logan Morrison on the 15-day disabled list with what could be a season-ending knee injury.
The decision was made after Morrison met with Ozzie Guillen following Saturday's game and told the manager his right knee was not 100 percent.
"I'm not doing anything to help the team right now, so hopefully I can take a couple of weeks to get it to calm down and be back and ready to go," said Morrison, who has hit just .116 since the All-Star break.
But Morrison said he might also require further surgery if the problem doesn't improve.
"It's unknown," Morrison told The Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post. "Hopefully it takes just two weeks. Realistically it's probably not looking that way."
Asked if he thought he could miss the rest of the season, Morrison replied, "I think it's a possibility."
Morrison played through tendinitis in the same knee last season, and also re-injured it when he slammed into a wall while chasing a fly ball. Following the season, he played with a team of U.S. All-Stars in an exhibition series in Taiwan, during which he re-injured the knee.
He had surgery in early December to repair a tear in the patellar tendon, but missed time during spring training because the injury had not healed completely. He made it back in time for Opening Day, but the knee hasn't been right all season, he said.
"There's good days and there's bad days but, for the most part, there's always something," Morrison said. "It's so frustrating, not even being able to run like I want to, much less hitting."
Morrison said a MRI performed on the knee in late May revealed a new tear in the tendon, but the decision was made to try to play through it.
"The suture that was made to keep the patellar tendon together, because I tried to ramp up activity so much that it opened back up," he said. "Played with it last year, so tried to play with it this year. Didn't work out."
Guillen said that if the injury doesn't heal within a few weeks, he would prefer that Morrison get it taken care of immediately rather than wait to later to have surgery.
"If you have a problem, I don't want you to wait til February to get it fixed," Guillen said. "You get it done now and move on."
Guillen was critical of the decision allowing Morrison to play overseas after last season.
"In the past, they do stupid (expletive) here," Guillen told the Herald and Post. "They let him go to Asia and play and have his surgery knowing spring training is coming up. It ain't going to happen again. They worry about more (expletive) off the field than worry about what happens here. I think it's more important, the Miami Marlins, than the USA team, or whatever he was doing. I think they knew he had this problem during (last season). I'm not going to blame anyone, but think about it. There's a lot of (expletive) we've got to clean up, and that's my job."
Morrison is hopeful he'll play again this season, but not overly optimistic.
"I want to be out there with the guys and battle with them, even though we're probably not going anywhere," he said. "Maybe next year it will be a full, healthy year and I'll be ready to go."
To fill Morrison's roster spot, the Marlins recalled right-handed reliever Ryan Webb from Triple A New Orleans.
The home run sculpture has remained largely motionless since the All-Star break, what with slugger Giancarlo Stanton on the mend from knee surgery and the remaining members of the Marlins' anemic lineup struggling just to lift the bats off their shoulders. But Stanton's days of watching helplessly as the Marlins spin their wheels will soon end (of course, not in time to save this disaster of a season).
Barring any unforeseen setbacks between now and then, Stanton said he expects to rejoin the lineup when the Marlins open their next homestand Aug. 10 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Stanton jogged Friday for the first time on his surgically repaired right knee and said afterward that there was no soreness. He had already been taking batting practice.
The Marlins have hit only three home runs in their eight home contests since the All-Star break. They've scored the fewest runs (32 in 14 games) and hit the fewest homers of any team in the majors since the break, and are on pace to challenge the franchise record for fewest runs scored in a season. That title belongs to the inaugural 1993 Marlins, who scored 581 runs. The current group is on pace to finish with 598 runs, which would represent the second-lowest figure by any Marlins team.
Meanwhile, Hanley Ramirez continues to bring smiles to the Dodgers since joining Los Angeles. Ramirez connected on the deciding, two-run homer in the 10th inning last night as the Dodgers defeated the Giants. Afterward, Ramirez had this to say of Dodgers hitting coach Manny Mota: "Manny spoke to me and told me, "Don't try to do too much. Just do what you know how to do.' Every day he comes and talks to me. I have a lot to learn from him."
Nate Eovaldi, whom the Marlins obtained from the Dodgers for Ramirez and Randy Choate, takes the mound tonight for the Marlins.
Also, worth reading is this article from Forbes, which shows that the Marlins are now projected to finish with the lowest total first-year attendance figure in the new ballpark era.
With Giancarlo Stanton on the shelf with an injury and Hanley Ramirez out of the picture via trade, Ozzie Guillen is trying out a new wrinkle with the middle of his lineup. Leadoff man Jose Reyes is moving to the No. 3 spot while Emilio Bonifacio will lead off. At least for tonight's game. We'll find out later how long Guillen intends to stick with this arrangement when we speak to him during B.P.
With 1,000 plate apperarance in the leadoff spot, Bonifacio is no stranger to the top of the lineup card.
But Reyes is somewhat of a fledgling in the No. 3 slot. Former Mets manager Jerry Manuel stuck him there for 20 consecutive games in April and May of the 2010 season, and Reyes didn't exactly take off at the plate, going 17 for 82 (.207) with only six RBI.
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Today's roster move: The Marlins, as expected, have recalled infielder Donnie Murphy from Triple A New Orleans. He'll take one of the two roster spots vacated in the Ramirez/Randy Choate trade to Los Angeles. Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, who was acquired from the Dodgers and is scheduled to start Saturday for the Marlins, will be the other addition.
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Tonight's lineup for the Marlins:
1. Bonifacio, 2b; 2. Donovan Solano, 3b; 3. Jose Reyes, ss; 4. Carlos Lee, 1b; 5. Justin Ruggiano, cf; 6. Logan Morrison, lf; 7. Bryan Petersen, rf; 8. John Buck, c; 9. Carlos Zambrano, p.
President of Baseball Operations Larry Beinfest and general manager Mike Hill discussed the Hanley Ramirez trade and more Wednesday morning:
What did Hanley Ramirez mean to the organization?
Beinfest: "He meant a lot to this organization, a premium talent, an uber talent in a lot of respects. Looking back on it and what he’s done for the organization, these are tough moves. These are tough trades. But when you underachieve at the level this team has underachieved, and has not won at the level we expected it to, we talked about a restructuring and this was part of it. Maybe it’s time for a fresh start for Hanley, and maybe it’s time for a fresh start with the Marlins. We could not figure out why Hanley and his talent, in his prime, was hitting in the mid-.240s. So hopefully he will do what he’s capable of, which is obviously not a .245 hitter.
"We’ve had certainly a lot of achievements with Hanley. We never got to the playoffs with him. We had some challenges and disappointments with Hanley along the way. But the bottom line is he is an exceptional talent. Are we giving up on the season? I’ll leave that up to you guys. We don’t feel that way. We weren’t winning with the group we had, and we want to make changes."
Any idea why he struggled so much?
Beinfest: "We all kind of beat our heads....there were several guys....this guy is a proven major league player. Why are they performing the way they are. We’re going to try to get to the root of it. Hanley’s in the prime of his career, an exceptional talent. You can see he’s in great shape. Still the same kid we got to know seven years ago. Never thought he’d be hitting .246. Again, maybe it was time for a fresh start.
I think they (fans) should be wondering. I think they should be disappointed in the way we’ve played, where we are in the standings. We’re not going to do something just to do something. These things came together relatively quickkly
Did you get back what you wanted?
Beinfest: "We wanted to bring back a young starting pitcher, that was a goal. If we were going to market Hanley, and Eovaldi fit that deal. Our plan is to put Eovaldi in the rotation. He should start here on Saturday. Wade LeBlanc will stay in the bullpen. We’ll see. We’ve got six days to go to the trade deadline.
Why make the trade?
Beinfest: "We were waiting for it to click, waiting for May to happen again, and we just felt like it wasn’t going to happen. I’m not going to tell you that third base is not going to be a focus between now and next April. I think it will be. I think it should be. We’re going to have to look at other avenues to fortify the lineup. We need Logan Morrison to perform better than he has. We need guys to pick it up. We still probably have some additional work to do. Whether that’s going to happen in the next six days, who knows? But between now and next April, we need to look at the middle of the lineup. We need to look at third base and see how we’re going to move ahead."
Did Hanley have a bad attitude or attitude issues?
Beinfest: "I think some of that stuff has been well documented and again, without getting into specifics, we’ve had some challenges with him. We’ve had challenges with other players too. But because of hype and because he’s a star player and achieved at the level he’s achieved, it’s a little more out in front. Hanley Ramirez is a Marlin today if this team is cranking. If we’re right there in the division, or we’re banging on the door of the wild card, and people are performing up to their abilities....we’re not quite there. They have just underachieved en masse."
What has Jeffrey Loria's reaction been?
Beinfest: "Jeffrey loves his players. I think he definitely had a soft spot for Hanley. We can talk about some of the challenges we had with Hanley. There were tremendous positives with Hanley. He’s an intelligent guy, sweet guy. You get to know him away from some of the superstar persona, there’s some really endearing things about Hanley. Very tough on Jeffrey. He had high expectations. We’re in this brand new building. It’s beautiful. It’s done its job. And the team has underachieved. And he’s very involved in every aspect of what we’re doing. At the same time, this has been difficult for him.
What is the financial component of the trade? Does this mean you will be active in free agency?
Beinfest: "We’ll see. Players all come with something. They come at 500 grand. They come at $15 million. And this trade where we wanted to restructure, this player had a hefty contract that he earned based on how he produced. So there is that financial component. We’ll get with Jeffrey and talk about net year. That’s putting the cart a little bit ahead of the horse right now. No doubt, Hanley had a substantial contract that the Dodgers have taken in total. To find major league starting pitching is very very hard. This kid has the worst run support. He’s a good-looking player. There was money being exchanged, so that was part of the component when you talk about a trade. There was a sliding scale. You take on money and maybe the player dynamic changes a little bit. That’s exactly what happened here. There were multiple suitors for Hanley Ramirez. We were working with them right up past midnight last night. This deal really wasn’t really completed done until 2:30, 3 in the morning eastern time."
What did you get in return?
Beinfest: "We wanted a young, controllable in the rotation starting pitcher. Eovaldi, Jacob Turner. These are major pieces for us going forward. There’s probably been more disappointment than joy. This building deserves better. I think our fans deserve better. We’ve had some challenges. The Ozzie thing was disappointing. There’s no getting around that. The team’s performance other than May has been disappointing, period. We would have liked to have made a better showing. But there is no sugar-coating it. We did not achieve up to our expectations, which I thought were realistic."
Is it hard to fathom what’s transpired since you spent all that money during the winter meetings in Dallas?
Beinfest: "I think we have to fathom it. We had a completely different picture of how this summer would look, yes. Love the talent we brought in. Loved the existing talent we had here. Thought that the team had a little bit of everything to compete in a difficult division: front-line starting pitching, speed and defense, fortified bullpen -- the whole package. And it’s baseball. It’s not always perfect. We were probably, at least to this point, more wrong than we were right. And that’s the way it goes and we are going to try to make things better and win more games. But none of us envisioned where we are today, but we are. So we have to deal with it."
Can you talk about the plan for Jacob Turner?
Beinfest: "I think he’s pitching Saturday in New Orleans. Let’s get him pitching. Let’s get to know him."
Are you guys waving the white flag?
Beinfest: "I think fans and all of you in the media, I think it’s fair to couch this however way you like. I will tell you how we feel internally, and you can buy it or not. Is that it wasn’t working, and if we were wrong, we were wrong. If people want to call white flags, they want to call selling -- however you guys want to do it -- I think it’s fair. But we felt like this thing wasn’t going to click. Jeffrey was very supportive, and he was extremely disappointed. We were all in and now -- we were all in that we needed to make some changes.
"We wanted to target young starting pitching. We think it’s the most coveted thing in the game, toughest thing to acquire. We’re talking about high, top end young starting pitching. And when you’re talking about a jacob turner in the detroit deal, this is one of the top prospects in the game, Widely known. We think he’s going to be a frontline starter for us for a long time, so we were able to achieve that. With Eovaldi, you’ve got a guy performing in the majors leagus, under control, and ready to start for us on Saturday. You look at the rest of the detroit deal with the catcher, left-handed hitting upside offense, profiles out as a starting catcher in the major leagues. Again a commodity that’s very difficult to get your hands on. Truthfully, we’ve had a tough time developing internally, so we’ve had to go externally to find that player. And we did. It’s part of a restructure. And we move ahead with it.
Is there concern about attendance after losing Hanley?
Beinfest: "We’re concerned about everything because of the complete disappointment we have in this ball club. These are difficult decisions we had to make, but we made them. So, yeah, I think we’re concerned about everything. I think we need to look at ourselves in the mirror. I think players need to look at themselves in the mirror, and say, hey, this is where we’re at and either deal with or not, and we’ve chosen to deal with it."
Was there just a big abberation between what you thought you had and reality?
Beinfest: "I think we have to ask ourselves everyday. Did we make a poor evaluation, or did we make poor business deals as far as our contracts? Generally, I do believe in this game, you don’t go from good to bad. You can go from good, to a little decline to mediocre, servicable. However you want to say it. I don’t generally believe in good to bad. And however you want to evaluate it, we’ve had some of that. We’ve had guys that are, we believe, premium, that are not playing up to premium, and we’re going to try to figure out why. Obviously we weren’t able to figure out why in time to elevate ourselves in the standings and have this be a different conversation.
Hill: "The formula that we put together, we expected players with track records, we expected them to do what they’ve historically done. You can’t sugarcoat what the numbers are."
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