Trade Deadline Snoozefest

Yesterday's trade deadline was one giant wet fart. The Marlins did absolutely nothing, though they apparently came close to trading Placido Polanco to the Yankees.

On the plus side, Jeffrey Loria declined to accept a ginormous offer for Giancarlo Stanton from the Pirates (unless he didn't). Either he wasn't willing to repeat the mistake of trading Miguel Cabrera, didn't want another massive fan backlash, or both, but we'll take it.

This brings us to the Trade Pool. With only Ricky Nolasco being dealt this year, everyone who entered the pool is in a tie for first place (since anyone with sense could see that move coming from a mile away). So here is what we will do. Instead of buying all of you a beer, we are extending the trade pool through the August 31 waiver deadline (for a good explanation of the mechanics of waiver wire deals, go here).

This is just a hunch, but the Marlins will place a bunch of their veterans on waivers in August (as just about every team does to test the waters), and we're betting some team will bite and try to work out a deal for Polanco, Juan Pierre, or one of Miami's relievers. So stay tuned...

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Trade Pool Update

On Saturday, the Miami Marlins finally did what everyone was expecting them to do and traded perpetually on-the-cusp starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco. The Dodgers took Nolasco (and the rest of his salary) off Miami's hands, sending them minor league pitchers Steven Ames, Josh Wall and Angel Sanchez in return (as well as international signing bonus slot 96, valued at $197,000).

Literally every single person who made predictions for the trade pool had Nolasco as their top pick. Everyone is tied for first place. Nice work, all.

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Return of the Trade Pool

Now that the Marlins are firmly in "Get Rid of Expensive Veterans with Expiring Contracts" mode, the Diehards are pleased to announce the revival of the annual Marlins Trade Pool.

The rules are simple:

1. Pick five Marlins (all players in organization are eligible, including minor-leaguers) who you think could be traded before the July 31st deadline.
2. Rank those five players, one to five, in order of most likely to least likely to be traded.
3. Points will be awarded based on where the player is in each competitor's list. Number one selections who get traded will get five points, number twos get four and so on down to number five selections receiving one point.
4. Whoever has the most points immediately following the trade deadline wins. Prize tbd, but we'll probably send you a gift card to World of Beer or some such place.

Leave your list in the comments, post to our Facebook page, or tweet at us. 

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Trade Pool 2.0

It's that time again, the heat of trade rumor season which Marlins fans know all to well. Just like last year, we are running a trade pool at Marlins Diehards. Also like last year, we are inviting all our readers and friends of the site to play with us. Winner gets a case of beer courtesy of Ted and me. But first, the rules:

• All competitors will pick five Marlins (all players in organization are eligible, including minor-leaguers) who they feel will be traded before the July 31st deadline.
• Competitors will rank those five players, one to five, in order of most likely to least likely to be traded.
• Points will be awarded based on where the player is in each competitor's list. Number one selections who get traded will get five points, number twos get four and so on down to number five selections receiving one point.
• Whoever has the most points immediately following the trade deadline wins.

Leave your lists in the comments, contest entry closes on June 30. Good luck!

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The Marlins Trade Pool

After a longer than anticipated delay, we have some picks and the Trade Pool Contest is a go. To refresh your memory, look here. I'll list everyone's picks and give a short thought on what I think. The quotes in italics are what each competitor had to say. My picks are at the bottom.

Dave (Marlins Die-Hards)

1. Jeremy Hermida
2. Dan Uggla
3. Dan Meyer
4. Cody Ross
5. Kiko Calero

"Yeah, I feel like either Hermida or Uggla could be dealt if the team falls out of contention... so I'm going all in."

Dave has gone with all major leaguers and it appears to be geared more towards the sellers route. Those two bullpen arms are good choices, because everyone always needs bullpen help.

Craig (FishStripes)

1. Graham Taylor
2. Dan Uggla
3. Jeremy Hermida
4. Hayden Penn
5. Jai Miller

"Wow, this is tough since it depends on whether the Marlins are in contention by the deadline or not."

Craig has a nice mix. Uggla and Hermida are good bets for if the team is selling, but he has rounded out his list with three prospects/projects that could be used as a chip to bring in a necessary Marlins piece if we are buyers.

Igor Mello (AAAYYYEEE)

1. Jeremy Hermida
2. Dan Uggla
3. Mike Stanton
4. Ryan Tucker
5. Gaby Sanchez

Another mixed list but I like the gamble of putting Stanton on there. I also feel Gaby Sanchez is a good choice as you'll see later in my picks.

Adam Smoot (Bright Orange Seats)

1. Hanley Ramirez
2. Dan Uggla
3. Ricky Nolasco
4. Jorge Cantu
5. Andrew Miller

Adam has gone the humor route, thankfully, because he is much funnier than us. Please visit his site and read his writeup, which actually has Tommy Hutton as #3.

Roberto Sanchez (from comments)

1. Jeremy Hermida
2. Andrew Miller
3. Gaby Sanchez
4. Emilio Bonifacio
5. Cameron Maybin

Some interesting picks with Maybin and Bonifacio. I didn't even really consider them, but upon second thought, no one is ever safe in this organization.

Ted (Marlins Die-Hards)

1. Dan Uggla
2. Ryan Tucker
3. Gaby Sanchez
4. Kiko Calero
5. Alfredo Amezaga

I'm going all in with Uggla, but he needs to pick it up to become more tradeable. Tucker and Sanchez I chose because they seem like good prospects we could give up if we are buyers at the deadline, which is looking less and less likely. Calero is a bullpen arm that will be a hot commodity. I chose Amezaga because we always hear how he is the most asked about player when the front office fields calls. So we'll see how this all works out.

Reminder: It's not too late to play. If you leave your picks in the comments, I'll update the post. Feel free to give it a go.

UPDATE: Some new entries...

el Tomas Verde (4th and Fail)

1. Dan Uggla
2. Jeremy Hermida
3. Cody Ross
4. Ricky Nolasco
5. Burke Badenhop

"Dan Uggla is slowly being replaced by Coughlan."

[Dave- Like me, Tom thinks the Marlins will be sellers this year.]

Ohad (Fish@Bat)

1. Dan Uggla
2. Jeremy Hermida
3. Dan Meyer
4. Wes Helms
5. Ross Gload

[Dave- I thought the Uggla/Hermida combination at the top was risky, but apparently not so much.]

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Marlins Bloggers Contest: The Trade Pool

The Idea

It's our fist ever contest here on Marlins Die-Hards and it's so good that we couldn't even come up with it. The fellows over at Rays Index created a Trade Pool (loosely related the The Dead Pool). I'm actually annoyed we Marlins fans didn't think of this first. It seems much better suited for us since we have been in this business longer and have had more fire sales. Anyway, we'll just play copycat and give them full credit for the idea.

All Marlins/South Florida sports bloggers are invited to participate. I'm emailing the sites that list a contact address, but those of you who don't have one (I'm looking at you, Fish Chunks), please leave a comment on this entry with your picks or your email address so we can get in contact.

The Rules

• Each competitor will pick five Marlins (all players in organization are eligible, including minor-leaguers) who they feel will be traded before the July 31st deadline.
• The competitor will rank those five players, one to five, in order of most likely to least likely to get traded.
• Points will be awarded based on where the player is in each competitor's list. Number one selections will get five points, number twos get four and so on down to number five selections receiving one point.
• Whoever has the most points wins.

Prizes

Times are tough and the prize is minimal. But, David has said he will buy a six-pack for whichever blogger wins. I'll offer to split that cost or you can make it a 12-pack if you choose cheap beer and I'm in a good mood. [Dave: We'll just make it a 12-pack of your choice, or some other denomination if you prefer Belgian tripels.]

We'd also like to invite any readers to submit their lists and see if they can do better than us (hint: you probably will). We can't promise you the beer, but the best reader will win a special post written by yours truly about how awesome you are, which will include link-love to your blog or Twitter account or whatever you want really.

So there it is, please have at it. I've already spent a good 30 minutes debating which players are likely trade bait. Note to the blogger participants, I'd like to have the finalized lists on Monday so we can publish each of our picks. I welcome you to also do a write-up on your site if you'd like, which I'd link here as well. Best of luck.

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