****Official 2012 MIAMI MARLINS Thread****

Give it time. The signing will grow on you.

 

Probably this. I’m not wild about Bell, mainly his ERA, but I can see the reasoning for the signing.

 

4 year deal.....if he vests....

 

I think that's a terrible signing personally.

 

I don't see why it's so bad. At first I was angry considering the fact that he's a reliever, but it does seem this signing is not going to get into the way of signing Reyes and Buehrle/Wilson. On top of that, he's pretty damn good and has been for about a while now.

 

The problem is the track record for signing RPers to long deals is terrible (only Mariano Rivera has ever worked out). Plus he had a big decline in his K rate last year which could be a big problem for him. I don't like the deal, mainly because I just don't believe in giving any RPer a long term deal, it never works out.

 

It is a risk, but I think Bell is a different case. I don't think any of the relief pitchers were as consistent as Bell. Most of the relief pitchers were one yea wonders. That's what it seems like, though. I'm honestly not sure.

 

Did the Marlins overpay? Probably. Is a closer a tough position to have longevity at? Yes. But this guy has been as good a closer as there's been in baseball the past few years and it looks like this signing shouldn't keep others from happening so I don't see what the big deal is. Getting Bell makes the Marlins a better team and is a clear signal they're willing to spend money and are looking to win now.

 

The sad part about signing Bell is, you're basically admitting your farm system sucks, because RP is by far the easiest position on the roster to develop.

(This is where I rub it in by pointing out that the Braves have developed not one but TWO closers who've been ROY, AS and lead the league in saves in the past 3 years)

 

SEC sends subpoenas to Miami-Dade requesting all info on the lead-up to the stadium deal

 

They are also admitting that their closer was playing under an assumed name, was not the age he said he was, and then got deported.

 

We're also showing that we're agressive and we're actually making some agressive moves, unlike some teams. Don't forget that part.

 

Oh and btw, this post proves you don't know very much about the marlins. Our strength last season was relief pitching. Our farm system's strength is relief pitching. Signing Heath Bell was more about signing a dominant closer rather than filling a weakness.

 

I guess strength is a relative term. You don't sign Heath Bell for 9 mill. a year if that's your strength, especially if you're a small market team. If you have a 150 mill. payroll, that's one thing, but unless the Marlins are going to be Top 10 in payroll next year its a head scratcher.

 

And I like Heath Bell, BTW. But good closers grow on trees.

 

It means that even Marlins brass were tired of riding the Leocoaster.

 

a 100 million dollar payroll can easily absorb a 9 mil closer.

 

LOL.

No it's not. It's a verifiable one:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/pitching/split/128

Stop hating dude.

 

I guess THIS is where I rub it in that you haven't won **** in what? 15 years? But hey! Cool man, you guys are on tv all the time, have one of the best 3rd baseman ever, and your pitching staff the last 20 years were some of the best of all time. But thats cool, enjoy being top of the nl east for like 2 or 3 months during the season, yet finishing NOTHING every year......

/Tomahawk chop stolen from Florida State

 

It is a strength. Look at the statistics. We had a very good bullpen last season. However, we had a choice. Pay Oviedo 6 million, or Bell 9 million. Think about that.

 

I would rather bring back Badenhop then Hensley. Still, great bullpen.

If I'm the Marlins, I sign one of Wilson/Buehrle, and trade for Gio.

Btw, I read a report that the Marlins are refusing to add a no trade clause to Buehrles contract, and that's holding up the deal apparently.

 

The policy may have to change.

 

Actually a closer that has that kind of longterm success in baseball is pretty rare.

 

You're right about the Marlins having a strong pen last year. But seriously is everyone ignoring his huge decline in his K rate last year? Its pretty alarming, especially since strike outs are one of the few things a pitcher can control and it's pretty important for a RP to get them. Yes, I realize the guy has been a good RPer the past couple of years but you're paying him for the next 3 (or 4). The track record for a RPer signing a long term deal isn't good, I just fear that the Marlins are paying the guy at the start of his decline.

Plus I know HardKore is getting beat up by you guys but he's got a great point everyone is missing, closers grow on trees.

 

And I understand the Marlins FO wants to make a splash in FA, show fans they're willing to spend, etc. I get all that. But this signing seems to go against everything Beinfest has done since he's been here.

 

LOL wut? Still doesn't change the fact they overpaid for Bell.

 

Rather than spending the entire season not being a factor in the NL East. You have to love it when sour grapes find their way into the thread. The point was that good closers emerge from the minor leagues pretty regularly. See Craig Kimbrel. Who was paid less than a half million last season. Who has a K/9 rate through the roof.

 

Hey! In almost 300 years of baseball, they're franchise has exactly one more championship that we do. So, there.

 

A while is 3 years? I actually think Bell is a good pitcher. However, Bell is 34 years old and has had most of his success in a massive pitchers part. His strikeout rate declined last year, and that is usually a bad sign with relief pitchers and pitchers in general.

If you guys are so deep at Rp, why not promote one of those young guys to the closers role? While he probably won't have the same numbers, with the right match ups your bull pen would probably out put similar success and you could turn around and use that $9 mil a year to go after a Pujols.

Closers are a dime a dozen, being in Florida and seeing the Rays success with many different closer I would think Marlin fans wouldn't be to happy with this. But i guess you could just be happy with spending.

 

The Marlins’ new ballpark is a pitcher’s park.

 

I was actually wondering the deminsions.

Point still remains, you better be 100% positive that this 34 year old is going to be is going to have 3 more extremely productive closer seasons when he's only had 3 seasons prior.

 

I think its more about his pitching style than it is about his declining K rate. On another site, I read he developed a new sinker and was pitching more to contact last season. His velocity didn't drop at all.

And why wait for a closer to develop when you can just sign Bell?

 

Underpaid, actually. Didn't Papelbon get 11 million a season? Isn't Madson slated to get just as much?

 

5 seasons of great production, not 3. I was wrong in my other post.

9 million is a lot to pay for a closer, but he's elite and consistent. Even when his K/9 dropped last season, he was great. Age isn't a big deal because closers are durable. Many closers pitched to their late 30s. So basically the only issue is his K/9 dropped last season.

 

Bell's pitching style is throwing a straight fast ball up in the zone, which plays well in a big ball park like Petco. I never heard nor read he developed a new sinker, my question would be why if true. It's not like he has to pace himself, he's not a SP. I think that might be a little BS to try and justify his drop in Ks especially since his ground ball rate was pretty much the same the past 4 years. But you're correct that his FB velocity hasn't chanced, which makes his drop in K rate alarming and a bit puzzling.

And you don't have to wait to develop a closer, the Braves just threw Kimbrel out there and he did fine (I bet if they gave the ball to Venters he would have been equally as good). Plus you can save money and use that in other places. Just because you have the money doesn't mean you should spend it to spend it.

Both Papelbon and Madson are both younger and better than Bell though. Still think it's crazy to pay RPers that much for the amount of work they do. Papelbon is overpaid and Madson will be too.

 

He did have a sinker. Google Heath Bell Sinker. It will show you.

No, they didn't. He pitched last season and got some experience and showed he can pitch. In the minor leagues, he proved how dominant a relief pitcher he is. We had no such relief pitcher. While we had talented arms, we had no Craig Kimbrel. We could have used Edward Mujica, but why not add to our bullpen? Its expensive but he's talented. This isn't going to cost us a shot at Reyes, or Buehrle/Wilson, anyway.

 

If he did add a sinker it didn't show up in his ground ball rate, his GB rate hasn't changed in 4 years.

My point about Kimbrel/Venters is that they didn't have any experience and they did fine. The "closer" tag, especially established closer, is completely overrated.

And again even though the signing of Bell won't affect whether or not the Marlins add a Buerhle, Wilson, Reyes, Pujols or whoever is irrelevant. It just wasn't a good signing, too much money and too many years for a RPer. The deal just isn't going to work out at the end of the day. But I guess that's just me, I just think its silly to sign RPers to those types of deals.