Rob of Down the RF Line and Jason Keidel join the Sully Baseball show

Rob from the Marlins YouTube channel Down the RF Line joins the Sully Baseball podcast to talk Marlins.

Then part 1 of a fun, rambling and opinionated exchange with old friend, WFAN's Jason Keidel finishes up the show.

Take a listen, it's a part of the Seamheads National Podcasting Network.


The Sully Baseball Show 01/16 by Seamheads | Blog Talk Radio

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People who hate the Yankees and Red Sox should be happy

Over the last few off seasons, I've heard lots of bellyaching, complaining and people angry at the Yankees and Red Sox for going on wild free agent shopping sprees.

It wasn't fair.
How can teams compete?
The rest of the league is just the farm system for Boston and New York.
And they buy the World Series every year (forgetting that more often then not, neither the Yankees nor Sox are even IN the World Series.)

Well last year the Phillies put their flag in the ground to make it three teams that buy everyone up.

And THIS year?
Hey big spenders in Anaheim and Miami!

A few years ago nobody wanted to sign with the Angels and the Marlins had a payroll lower than what Jose Reyes will make a year!

And the Nationals seem to want to spend money and the Blue Jays want to make a splash. And don't count out the Rangers (who have as many World Series appearances in the last 7 seasons as the Red Sox and Yankees combined).

And did you notice who seems to be sitting this free agent season out?
The Yankees and Red Sox.

They may bid on a Ryan Madson or an outfielder, but the idea of them buying every player is out the window.

There are other buyers out there.
Maybe there will be a "Miami - Anaheim" bias to replace the Northeastern bias.

Rejoice Yankee and Red Sox haters. Your wishes are coming true.

Marlins... Buehrle is spelled B-U-E hrle

Color me impressed.
The Marlins signed Mark Buehrle from the White Sox as he will give the rotation a nice World Champion veteran arm with a few No Hitters on his resume.

Not sure if he has 4 more great years in him, but he will no doubt be a solid influence maybe like Charlie Leibrandt with the Braves in the early 1990s.

I wrote a salute to Buehrle (and Paul Konerko) this August.

But I must say that every single time I have typed his name, I've had to double check how to spell his name.

Is it B-E-U or B-U-E?

It's B-U-E.
Make a note.

I am here to help.

The Marlins, Albert Pujols and Herman Cain

Am I the only person who doesn't buy the 10 year deal the Marlins are offering Albert Pujols?
Am I the only person who thinks it is just a show?

I think the Marlins made their big splash with Jose Reyes and Heath Bell but they want to keep excitement up in Florida... oops sorry... Miami and sell more season tickets in their brand spanking new stadium.

It's kind of like Herman Cain's "Run" for President.
Come on. He was never REALLY running. He was building up his fame and most importantly his ability to charge on the public speaking circuit.

And it worked!
Did YOU know who Herman Cain was?
If you answered yes, I can only assume you are in the Pizza business.

But now we all know who he is now.
Heck he is even in a Sully Baseball post!

And the Marlins are courting Pujols but NOT REALLY!
They are wining and dining him and offering 10 years.
It's 10 years, $40 thousand a year. BUT it's 10 YEARS!

Create the appearance of spending for Pujols... that's all the Marlins need to do.

Maybe they'll take him to Godfather Pizza along the way.

Taryn Cooper and Rob Paravonian join The Sully Baseball Show

With Jose Reyes leaving the Mets and Ron Santo joining the Hall of Fame, there is a lot to talk about today.

I talk Mets with the fabulous Taryn Cooper, creator of A Gal For All Seasons.
Then I got the Cub fan point of view from the brilliant comic mind of Rob Paravonian.

It is the second hour of the Seamheads block on Monday night after What's On Second, the flagship show of the Seamheads National Podcasting Network.

Listen to internet radio with Seamheads on Blog Talk Radio

The Mets and the Marlins pull a Freaky Friday

The Marlins signing Jose Reyes makes one thing clear:
The Mets have become the Marlins and the Marlins have become the Mets.

Like Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris (or Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis) they have switched places a la Freaky Friday.

For so many years the Mets were the big market team that seemed a bit insecure. They weren't as sexy as the Yankees nor did they have the stable organization as the Braves in 1990s or the Phillies in the late 2000s. But they kept spending, kept bringing in big splashy names (even if they didn't fit.)

And it resulted in big huge mongo unmovable contracts stuffing up the payroll.

And yeah... a lot of players played for the Marlins and ended up on the Mets.
Al Leiter, Cliff Floyd, Carlos Delgado, Gary Sheffield, Dennis Cook, Livan Hernandez, Moises Alou, Kurt Abbott, Braden Looper and Luis Castillo all played in the post season with the Marlins before finding their way to Queens.

And don't forget, Mike Piazza came to the Mets not from the Dodgers but after his brief cameo in South Florida.

Well now it is the Marlins who are making the big spending signings, even if they don't 100% fit.

Heath Bell arrived in Florida as a closer in his 30s making big bucks when all logic says "Closers tend to flame out when they reach that age" and "a decent inexpensive pitcher throwing in the 9th will pile up saves".

And now they spend $106 million on shortstop Jose Reyes. Keep in mind, they are ALREADY spending $16 million a year at the shortstop position with Hanley Ramirez. You'd think they'd spend $106 million on a position that wasn't already expensively filled.

So the Marlins are winning off season headlines trying to get fannies in the seats of their new ballpark and getting season tickets sold. Whether or not they will be winning in the fall is another question. And these contracts will no doubt be clogging up their payroll for a while. (Kind of like Jason Bay, Johan Santana and David Wright are doing with the Mets.)

And oh yeah, the Marlins management is under scrutiny for underhanded financial dealings. Maybe not as big as Bernie Madoff, but its not a good way to emulate a big market club.

Meanwhile for years the Marlins were a team that big name players left. They constantly cut costs and dumped players and gave feeble nominal attempts to resign them.

Guess who that is now?
The Mets have an advantage that only the Yankees have. They play in New York. They have the biggest media market to feed from. They should have national exposure for their players. Instead they are a nickel and dime organization going nowhere in a hurry.

Carlos Beltran, Francisco Rodriguez and now Reyes are all gone. And no doubt David Wright, Jason Bay and Johan Santana could be acquired for the right price.

Their payroll is going to be significantly lower next year and a lot of players are going to be on the Mets next year who would normally be in AAA. (Sound familiar Marlin fans.)

Of course the Marlins would have DEALT Reyes at the trading deadline and piled up some prospects. But who knows? Maybe the draft picks will yield the next big Mets star. (Although it would have seemed smarter to get a big league ready prospect.)

Maybe a youth movement is exactly what the Mets needs.
Have low expectations and play all the young kids and they might build on the franchise's two total World Series titles.

Hey!
That's the same amount of titles as the Marlins!

Every time a Bell rings, a Marlin gets obscenely rich

Well up to now, the Marlins have just been putting on a show.
They have new uniforms, an ugly statue, a brand new ballpark and a crazy new manager.

They've wined and dined every big free agent to show their fans they mean to add lots of payroll.

But unless you think of Wade LeBlanc as a big star pick up, they haven't actually brought anyone big in.

(And if Wade LeBlanc is your idea of a star, then chances are you think he played Joey.)

Well that changed a little bit this morning.
Heath Bell made the closer market a little thinner all the while paying all the bills for the rest of his life by signing a 3 year, $27 million contact with the Marlins.

Miami (not Florida) has their closer and will be the first indication to either Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder or most likely Jose Reyes that the checks will indeed clear.

That's good news.

My friend Gar, The Batting Stance Guy, wrote on Twitter "Could be construed as manipulative but Marlins final pitch to HBell included: "Padres still owe us for THoffman trade".

It's also good news for the Marlins that Josh Johnson is starting to throw again. A healthy Johnson in 2012 would be like trading for an ace without giving up any players.

Now it is risky to sign closers to big deals. He's in his mid 30s and relievers can flame out pretty quickly. But it is a safe bet that he'll give the Marlins a good year or two.

(Meanwhile, the Padres get some payroll flexibility and can stick someone like Ernesto Frieri or Anthony Bass in the closer role for a pittance all the while building up their farm system with two more picks. But that has more to do with my thoughts on why the Padres are in better shape that we think... I digress.)

The Marlins are hoping that the Phillies age will catch up with them and Ozzie (plus fans in the stands) can give the Marlins a boost. And with Bell closing games (and 2011 closer Juan Oviedo setting up) maybe they can indeed get back to October.

And remember, the Marlins are the only franchise in baseball to NEVER lose a playoff series. (If the Marlins win the 2012 World Series, put all Indians and Cubs fans on suicide watch!)

Take note free agents.
There could be a new big market big spender in baseball... at least for the next few months.

Like Tony Montana before them, the Marlins are in Miami and ready to spend money lavishly. Get in the game while they are spending.

And maybe they can activate that statue when he closes a game!

This is why I keep dumping on the Mets

I don't dislike the Mets.

I really don't.

I'm always kind of shocked by how they do business.

They have been handed an advantage that only the Yankees have (the New York market) and still they somehow manage to average 86 losses each of their first three seasons at CitiField.

Will 2012 be any different?

They had stretches of solid baseball last year but still just narrowly missed the 90 loss mark.

And at the trade deadline they pulled off a great deal, sending Carlos Beltran to the Giants for Zack Wheeler. Everyone knew Beltran was good as gone and they got one the Giants top pitching prospects.

But they held onto Jose Reyes.

Reyes was more valuable a chip than Beltran.

I questioned their sanity THEN.

If they wanted to sign him to a long term deal, then they could have traded him for a pair of prospects and then when he became a free agent, sign him. You get Reyes AND the prospects.

My friends who are Mets fans said that not signing him was a sign of loyalty and they were confident that Reyes would see it that way and he'd be in New York for a long time.

Well now reports are coming out that he will probably go to the Marlins.

Now mind you, I don't think signing Jose Reyes to a long term deal is a smart move. There is something about peaking on a walk season that strikes me as very J. D. Drew-esque.

And someone whose game is built on speed will be deep into his 30s during a long term contract. Never a good sign.

So in a way, having him walk could help the Mets spend the money wisely.

But they could have dealt him!

Unless they use their draft picks and snag a few stars, they will look back at the trade deadline when a player like Reyes could have been a difference maker and got a few other pieces to join Wheeler and build a new team up... and grind their teeth.

New Sully Baseball Video "Miami Marlins Monstrosity"

Did you see that INSANE new monstrosity that they are putting into centerfield for the new Miami stadium?

It's bonkers. And I kind of like it.
It's the subject of the latest Sully Baseball video.

Enjoy the video.

And as always, you can see all the videos at my ShortForm TV page.