Take That Uggla!

From Twitter via @Marlinsdoit

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So Long, Alfredo

The Marlins have non-tendered super-utility man Alfredo Amezaga, feeling he was too big of a risk coming back from microfracture surgery on his knee. The team could still conceivably sign him at a lower price after March 2 (as per MLB rules), but as Craig points out, Amezaga has "a lot time to prove to the other clubs he is good to go while the Marlins are sitting on the sidelines." So goodbye, Fredo. Your stats were never good enough to start, but you did everything you could for the team, even making yourself Miguel Cabrera's personal celebration dance specialist. You will be missed.

Cue Neil Young...

And once more, for posterity, below is Amezaga's best Ozzie Smith impression.

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So long, Alfredo

Bad news for Alfredo Amezega, who will undergo microfracture surgery on his knee next week and miss the remainder of the season. This is a bummer, and not just because Alfredo is a solid defensive replacement at damn near every position on the field. Hopefully the team will still let him hang out in the dugout and keep the team's spirits up.

Get better, Alfredo. We'll miss you, and your silky dance moves...

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Oh the Possibilities...

Yesterday, David detailed the early struggles of Emilio Bonifacio and Cameron Maybin. This morning he left a comment that linked a Joe Frisaro blog post about Chris Coghlan. I thought it might be good to expand on all the possibilites that the Marlins could do, if guys like Bonifacio and Maybin continue to struggle. For now, I will focus on Bonifacio and the 3B job.

David mentioned that Alfredo Amezaga could be a candidate. On first thought, he seems like a perfect replacement. He is very similar to Emilio and can hit leadoff. It would be a simple move that would seeminlgy require no additional moves in the batting order or in the field. But, like David and many others have said, Amezaga has never really shown to be a great everyday player. He has always been best used as a reserve and getting a couple starts a week.

Now to Chris Coghlan. I love this guy. I hadn't seen much of him until this spring training, but was always impressed with his numbers and always heard he's a pretty good defensive player. Problem is, he plays 2B and Dan Uggla is blocking him at the major league level. Frisaro reports he has played some 3B in the minors but if he were to come up, I'd still say it's a tough position change and you never know what kind of results you will get. He could slide into the leadoff spot if necessary, but since he is regarded as one of our better positional prospects, I'd guess they wouldn't throw him to the fire like that.

Another interesting scenario could be moving Jorge Cantu back to 3B. This would open up 1B where remember Gaby Sanchez was the favorite to start during Spring Training. He had a bad spring that included an injury, but he is doing very well in AAA and it might warrant him finally getting his opportunity. The downside to this move could be two-fold. One, the defense would suffer, as Cantu has been better at 1B and Sanchez isn't the greatest of defenders. Two, we would be replacing a leadoff hitter with a middle/bottom of the lineup guy and we'd have to juggle the lineup and perhaps use a nontraditional leadoff hitter (Hermida?).

Now to a complex scenario, bare with me. I've had a sneaking suspicion since the offseason that Dan Uggla will not be on the team in 2010 (translation: traded during this coming offseason, or before the trade deadline during the season). I could explain my reasoning, but I'll leave that for another day. If Uggla were to be traded, say for relief pitching help, his 2B spot could be filled simply by placing Chris Coghlan there. Or, if you like a crazy musical chairs infield, Bonifacio could move back to his natural position (2B) and then you could fill 3B in any of the options already talked about. It'd be very bold, but this organization has shown they don't mind doing the unorthodox, plus it would seem to fit into their philosophy of better defense and on-base percentage, less errors and strikeouts at the plate. Problem is though, Uggla has to be tradeable, and his sub .200% batting average makes him a difficult sell. He needs to get hot and boost his numbers before teams will be offering deals.

There are a lot of options. I do believe Beinfest when he says they are preaching patience, but one must wonder if the team is in real contention in June and July whether patience will be abandoned for a gamble on different young players. We saw first hand how great it can work in 2003.

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The Honeymoon is Over

With a full month of play finished, I think it's time we took a look at the everyday lineup and identified a few of the weak links. Though Dan Uggla is off to a somewhat slow start, batting .202 and OPSing .696 (OPS+ 82), the two weakest spots in the order are Cameron Maybin and Emilio Bonifacio. Their lines so far this season:

	AB		R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
Bonifacio	112		17	30	6	7	28	.268	.311	.330	.641	69
Maybin	77		9	16	3	7	29	.208	.282	.325	.607	59

Maybin's numbers are worse, but considering his spot in the order (usually eighth) and the fact that he is a franchise player, I am comfortable with keeping him in the everyday lineup a bit longer and letting him adjust to major league pitching (he had less than 100 career PAs heading into this season).

Bonifacio's situation is more interesting. As much as I would not like to let Ken Rosenthal win this argument, a .311 OBP is simply unacceptable in the leadoff spot. Combined with his 28 strikeouts, Bonifacio's production has been abysmal. Simply put, if he stays in the leadoff spot and continues at his current pace, Hanley Ramirez will not have enough RBI opportunities.

Joe Frisaro reported today that Larry Beinfest is preaching patience with Maybin and Bonifacio:

In the eyes of the organization, both have terrific upside, and that's why the team is patient.

"With the young guys, they all have different time tables," Beinfest said. "It's all about making the adjustments, learning the pitchers, those types of things. It happens differently for different guys.

"It's hard to say this guy has this many at-bats, and we know for sure about him. It's not just that. You have to look at the mental aspect of the player. Is he up or down? Is he handling it? Is he making the adjustments."

Because both are handling the adversity, the team is sticking with them.

"Both of them. They're confident in their abilities, and they're working through," Beinfest said.

I have no problem with Beinfest giving a vote of confidence to the media (you certainly don't want him trashing his own players and giving them inferiority complexes). However, at some point, if either of these two does not improve their offensive production, the team must consider benching one or both of them. And they certainly have a lot of options on the table.

Alfredo Amezega is not an everyday player by any stretch, but he can play centerfield and third base, which allows him the opportunity to replace either Bonifacio or Maybin in the lineup. However, I think Maybin's numbers will pick up relatively soon as he adjusts to Major League pitching. With Bonifacio, the Marlins could move Jorge Cantu back to third base and promote either Gaby Sanchez or Logan Morrison to play first base. This has a couple of drawbacks: Cantu's defense is very suspect at third base, and if Morrison and Sanchez were sent to the minors after spring training, then it is clear the team does not think either are prepared to start yet. We shall see if the team's assessment of these two changes if Bonifacio continues to struggle.

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Injury Report

Super-utilityman Alfredo Amezega will miss 4-6 weeks with a sprained left knee. He injured the knee while playing for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic. Larry Beinfest doesn't wan't to blame the injury on the WBC, and I agree. The real culprit in the Amezega injury? Austrailia. They've been mad at the Fish ever since they let Graeme Lloyd walk in 2002. I'm sure they had something to do with Alfredo's injury.

Amezega's injury may open up a roster spot for Robert Andino, who is out of options, but more importantly, it will deprive Rich Waltz of a key source of lame puns (Amezega ≈ amazing). We kid because we love, Rich.

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