Bonifacio: Don't Get Carried Away

Heading into tonight's game against Pittsburgh Emilio Bonifacio was sporting an impressive (for him) slash line of .345/.387/.414. And what did he do tonight? go 2-4 and drive in a run. Not only that, he scored from second base on an infield single by Chris Coghlan (watch the play here - and notice that Bonifacio was sent home by third-base coach Joe Espada. The Marlins really do believe in the whole "his speed helps us wins games" crap). I've only seen that done in a beer-league kickball game. The Marlins have gotten just about as much as they could out of everyone's least favorite super-utility man. He's even made 2 outfield assists.

All of this is to say: the Marlins need to trade Bonifacio now when his value is highest. Let's be serious for a moment. In 956 career PAs, his slash line is 254/.309/.320. He was projected as a .316-.320 OBP guy before the season (with a 20+% K rate) and is solely the beneficiary of a small sample size at this point (37 PAs as of tonight). @Rizzmiggizz told us recently he saw the phrase "Bona fide or Bonifacio" in an ESPN.com fantasy baseball article. He is the literal embodiment of the harshness of a reversion to the mean. We know how the story of Emilio Bonifacio ends in 2011: heartbreak.

It is too late to sell him high (Washington did that when they shipped him to Florida for Scott Olsen and Josh Willingham - and that was all they could get). But, they can sell him for dimes instead of pennies. This is what Marlins fans are resigned to, hoping the team can fool some other dumb team before Bonifacio's other shoe drops. That and hoping no one gets a black eye when it does drop.

See also: When I said the same thing more facetiously last year.

Finally, nice to see the good Ricky Nolasco showed up this evening.