Baseball's Winter Meetings: The Look Back
A whole lot of not much broken up by that still wonderfully audacious Tigers/Marlins swap. Two days later, a grateful baseball public still lauds those organizations for giving everyone something real to talk about. As for the winners and losers (as there apparently must always be) from the meetings, Jon Heyman of si.com with a take here.
A sample from the Losers list:
"Marlins fans. If there are any left, they were weeping this week when at least a third bona fide fire sale in 10 years commenced with a double hit. GM Larry Beinfest suggested they'd still compete, ignoring the fact that they have a roster without any experience or nearly enough talent. On the bright side, they may have knocked the payroll below $20 million, meaning owner Jeffrey Loria will get to continue to line his pockets."
That's one take.
Here's a different one. Setting aside the degree to which Jeffrey Loria is lining his pockets, the Marlins remain almost singularly talented at engaging in this kind of tear-down and then re-build. And they came out of the deal with the Tigers with two major-league ready talents (in Maybin and Miller) and, if history is a guide, at least two of the next four prospects who will be difference makers in the next few years. Dontrelle Willis himself waves "hi" as a prospect acquired from the Cubs in a similar deal years ago. And I wouldn't be so quick to slag on Florida's line-up in 2008. I bet they come in north of 75 wins, even with their line-up of baseball infants. A bunch of teams wish they were that bad.
