2016 Batting -- Yellich Yes! Hech No!

Woody Allen said "80 percent of success is showing up."  Here's what Marlins batters did in 2016 -- total bases (singles, doubles, triples, HR) plus walks, plus hit batsman. Note how poorly Hechavarria does, compared to the injured Bour and injured Stanton -- And Dietrich was around for only part of the season.  And Prado was Mr. Steady.

TB  W  HB  TTB

Yelich 279 72 4 355

Prado 250 49 4 303

Ozuna 252 43 4 299

Stanton 202 50 4 256

Realmuto 218 28 5 251

Dietrich 149 32 24 205

Hech        158 33     1     192

Bour  133 38 0 171

A Gloomy Look at Marlins for Next Decade

    Giancarlo's injury isn't just a disaster for this year's play-off hopes -- it's an indication of the worsening disasters that await Marlins fans for the next decade. 
    As I have noted before, Stanton is often a wounded warrior. Last October, I wrote a post based on the Woody Allen comment:  "Eighty percent of success is showing up." Stanton was showing up for work only 75 percent of the time. Pujols in his first years, by contrast, was playing 95 percent of the time.
    Now that Stanton's once again done for the year, we can see that he's averaging 118 games for his six full seasons -- or 73 percent of games played. (All figures in this rant based on numbers from baseball-reference.com.)
    
            Stanton Contract + Attendance = 
                            Crushing Numbers

      But another figure is just as depressing.
    Here's the background: The Marlins have been playing exciting baseball up to this point, even after losing the league's batting average leader of 2015, Dee Gordon, for a lengthy stretch. In the middle of August, they're still in serious contention.
    And yet... yet ... they are drawing a mere 21,753 fans per game (through Aug. 14), down about 500 from the average of 22,220 at this point last year, when the team was pretty damn hopeless.
     Miami is just a crummy sports town, except when a championship is on the line, while people in places like Denver and Chicago get much larger, devoted attendance for all sports, even when the teams are dogs. (And I suspect the attendance is inflated with Chevron discounts, free senior Thursdays and those mid-week day camp games that are listed as 25,000-30,000 but those kids are getting in with group discounts meaning that Marlins average price of ticket-sold is much lower than many other teams.)
  
             Loria Counting on Attendance Boost 

     Here's why this attendance is particularly devastating: Loria, in his infinite wisdom, back-loaded Stanton's contract -- cheap years at the beginning, expensive at the end. Stanton received $6.5 million to start his $325 million contract, $9 million this year and $14.5 million next year. For the decade starting in 2018, he will be receiving $25 million to $32 million a year.
    Loria's theory is that the cheaper years at first would allow the team to build a solid contender around Stanton, creating excitement leading to soaring attendance that would pay for the expensive years later on.
    So not only is Stanton missing a ton of playing time, but attendance isn't soaring -- meaning that in the years ahead, the Marlins won't have the big bucks to build a team and may have to scrimp on other players in order to keep fulfilling the huge Stanton contract.
                 
             As long as I'm ranting... Latos et al.
 
            I should step back to say the organization has made some good moves. Prado is decent, though he doesn't provide the power that championship teams ordinarily have at third base. Dee Gordon had one great year, although long term, I'll still not sure how valuable he will be. I like Mattingly as a manager, with plenty of good ideas, such as finding lead-off hitters while Gordon was out.  BUT ... BUT ...
          Marlins are paying Wei-Yin Chen $12.5 million this year, $15.5 million next year. So far, he's 5-4, 4.99 and injured. 
          The minor league cupboard is close to bare. The big San Diego trade was pretty much a disaster, and I (along with many fans) don't have much confidence in the Marlins executives making the right decisions.
    Just one example: While the Marlins struggle to find starting pitching, they're off to Cincinnati, where on Tuesday they will be facing Anthony DeSclafani, 6-1, 3.11 ERA, earning $540,000 this year.
    You remember that December 2014 trade? We gave up DeSclafani and a minor leaguer for Mat Latos, who was such a disaster with his $9.4 million contract we dumped him to the Dodgers last year in mid-season.
    And who will be the Marlins pitcher facing DeSclafani? As of Monday morning, it's TBA.

Mike Piazza -- What a Deal

       In case you're wondering, I looked it up:

• May 14, 1998: Traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers with Todd Zeile to the Florida Marlins for Manuel Barrios, Bobby Bonilla, Jim Eisenreich, Charles Johnson and Gary Sheffield.
• May 22, 1998: Traded by the Florida Marlins to the New York Mets for Geoff Goetz (minors), Preston Wilson and Ed Yarnall.

       So basically, it was part of that sickening unloading that soured many fans. In the end we ended up with starter Preston Wilson. Zeile played 66 games in 1998 and was gone. Yarnall played two years with Yankees in 1999 and 2000.

       We got Wilson, we gave up Bonilla, Eisenreich, Johnson and Sheffield.  

       But I didn't look far enough. My buddy Sam adds this: "Those deals weren't a complete waste.  We traded Yarnall to the Yankees for Mike Lowell.  We traded Preston Wilson to the Rockies for Juan Pierre and Mike Hampton.  We later traded Hampton to the Braves for Tim Spooneybarger, who got hurt and never did much for the Marlins but at least he had a great name."