Sé que muchos van a querer colgarme por publicar esto, pero la tercera edición del Clásico Mundial de Béisbol está en marcha y, tal como las dos anteriores, no podría importarme menos.
Tal cual lo leen. Esta nueva gesta pelotera global no va a ser algo que me quite el sueño, con la excepción de querer que Japón gane su tercer título. Después de todo, ya tengo más problemas de los necesarios con tener que escribir sobre los Marlins este año. Sigue leyendo
Es un hecho que haber invertido casi US$200 millones en agentes libres durante el invierno pasado no trajo los resultados esperados. Ahora, cuando es un hecho que se vendrán recortes -con lo que la nómina quedaría, por lo bajo, en US$65 millones-, la principal forma que tienen los Marlins para recomponer su roster es a través de traspasos o fichando agentes libres bajo el radar. Sigue leyendo
Image: Wikimedia Commons
I usually don’t write about former Marlins, but considering the current news, I guess I’ll have to make an exception.
Remember Brad Penny? He started his career with the Fish in 2000, and spent four-and-a-half seasons in Miami, before being acquired by the Dodgers in the 2004 trade deadline. He also played an integral role in the 2003 team that won the World Series, getting the victory in Game 6 of the NLCS and winning his two starts in the WS against the Yankees.
And now, after being a journeyman who played for five teams in the last seven years, Penny will pack his bags and go to the other side of the planet. Yes, because the defending Nippon Series champions, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, have signed him to a one-year deal worth 228 million yen -approximately $3MM-, plus performance bonuses.
Aside from the impact a different scenery will have on him, he’ll have huge shoes to fill. The Hawks lost their top three rotation members -which combined for 43 of Fukuoka’s 88 regular season wins- after Tsuyoshi Wada was posted to the Majors and acquired by the Baltimore Orioles, while aces Toshiya Sugiuchi and D.J. Houlton departed to the Yomiuri Giants.
Now that you’ve read my first post about which NPB pitchers could be good additions for the Florida Marlins roster, it’s time to tackle the issue for position players.
Currently, the Fish have major deficits in two areas: third base and the outfield, plus the problem of Hanley Ramírez’s attitude, which has been a recurrent issue, becoming more evident in 2011, an horrendous year offensively for him even by my hitting standards.
Having put this over the table, I hereby present to you my second selection of NPB players. Hope that Loria, Beinfest and Co. are already taking notes of this presentation… Sigue leyendo
Aside from the Major Leagues, Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB, also known as the “Japanese League” for those who don’t bother to search and/or use the correct terminology) has the highest level of competition for this sport in the globe. Sigue leyendo
