Speaker 1: They're attempting to be the Rays. You want to know
Speaker 1: what the Marlins have that the Rays don't have two
Speaker 1: World Series Craig, So why do they want to be
Speaker 1: the Rays? Why can't they just be the Marlins?
Speaker 2: Here we go, Craig Mish joining us, always making us
Speaker 2: look bad with the background there, Craig. Great to have
Speaker 2: you on. You can follow Craig at Craig Mish if
Speaker 2: you're listening later it's m I s h. You can
Speaker 2: hear him on sports Grid, also part of Harold Sports Craig.
Speaker 2: Great to Greg.
Speaker 1: And where is that is that Lauderdale? That's not Miami,
Speaker 1: you're not.
Speaker 3: That's clearly Miami, right, Yeah, good call. So I live
Speaker 3: in Hollywood, which is in between Miami and Fort Lauderdale.
Speaker 1: I did.
Speaker 3: I did spend a lot of time in Miami more
Speaker 3: or less grew up there. But yeah, now I'm like
Speaker 3: in in between there, so that I think that I
Speaker 3: think that is like in the Aventura area.
Speaker 2: Actually, yeah, he's living that Hollywood lifestyle, near the scene.
Speaker 1: Him and Mike Napoli, him and Mike Napoli, or near
Speaker 1: the horses right in Hallan. Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 1: So Craig.
Speaker 2: We're gonna have some fun here. We're gonna try to
Speaker 2: obviously spin a little bit of positivity into what it's
Speaker 2: about to begin here for the Marlins, let's hit the storylines.
Speaker 2: Fancy little front end, all right, ten minutes, four topics,
Speaker 2: perpetual rebuilds, they tore it down again. New manager who
Speaker 2: is Clayton McCullough. Coming from a very very winning atmosphere.
Speaker 2: So that's a good sign. Can the Marlins turn themselves
Speaker 2: into the race? Huge, huge question mark, but also massive goal, right.
Speaker 2: That is why Peter Bendix is here. They said, can
Speaker 2: you do that here? It's very close Tampa to Miami,
Speaker 2: and that includes a little Norby and Stours conversation and
Speaker 2: then pitching Haven Marlin's, you know, looking for some starting pitching.
Speaker 2: We had Lancelin on the show yesterday who said they
Speaker 2: haven't called, so it'd be cool if they call called
Speaker 2: him or other veterans for a little depth for that
Speaker 2: starting rotation. Okay, so let's start with the overall outlook here.
Speaker 2: Sandille Contrey's coming back. But since he's pitched Craig, he's
Speaker 2: missing some friends. What happened?
Speaker 3: Well, they started off the season the worst start I
Speaker 3: can ever remember in the history of the Marlins franchise,
Speaker 3: and you know, Peter Bendix, the president of the Marlins
Speaker 3: at that time, who was hired, recognized that very early
Speaker 3: on in the season and decided at that point he
Speaker 3: didn't believe they would make the playoffs. Traded Luis Raia,
Speaker 3: as everybody else got traded in July, and then everybody
Speaker 3: who was you know, sort of left over from a veterans'
Speaker 3: point of view, was traded this offseason. So, as you said, Scott,
Speaker 3: the goal is to do things very differently, and as
Speaker 3: we've seen in the off season, you can hear a
Speaker 3: pin drop. Has been very, very quiet, quietest offseason I
Speaker 3: can ever remember, and I go back to nineteen ninety
Speaker 3: three because I've lived here for a long time. So yeah,
Speaker 3: their goal is to draft, to develop internal structure, infrastructure,
Speaker 3: data analytics, all of the things that some people love
Speaker 3: and some people hate that we love to debate about.
Speaker 3: That's the direction the Marlins are going. And so Sandy
Speaker 3: will start opening Day, He'll start against Paul Skeens. I
Speaker 3: think it's the best pitching matchup in baseball that day.
Speaker 3: What happens after that, I don't know.
Speaker 2: Scott.
Speaker 3: But that'll be a great day.
Speaker 4: I mean, they put in Clayton McCullough. He's done nothing
Speaker 4: but winning in LA. But is there a chance is
Speaker 4: there an opportunity for a manager to help an offense
Speaker 4: that lost Jake Berger and was already in the bottom
Speaker 4: of the league in stats, Because normally a manager comes in,
Speaker 4: you're like, ah, the way he used the bullpen when
Speaker 4: he was over at this team, it could really help.
Speaker 4: But and Clayton McCullough helped the offense.
Speaker 3: Well, Eric, look, I mean their offense was dreadful last year.
Speaker 3: I mean, I honestly don't know how much worse it
Speaker 3: could possibly be. I mean, people forget that even with
Speaker 3: Jake Berger and with Jazz Chisholm, and with Luis Rias
Speaker 3: for a couple of months and Jesus Sanchez and all
Speaker 3: of the names that they don't have anymore, they were
Speaker 3: still one of the worst offenses in baseball. And that
Speaker 3: even goes back to their playoff season two. So yes,
Speaker 3: he's got a very tall task ahead of him with
Speaker 3: this new hidden group that is there. You know, a
Speaker 3: lot of data analytics and new ways to view things
Speaker 3: in terms of course statistical analysis and war and expected war.
Speaker 3: I mean this is just a new day, So I
Speaker 3: mean McCullough from all indications, is very much online Eric
Speaker 3: with the way that the organization sees data and wants
Speaker 3: to implement it in the future from the major league
Speaker 3: to the minor league levels. They've basically wiped out all
Speaker 3: of their minor league coaches too, So this is going
Speaker 3: to be integrated from the bottom all the way to
Speaker 3: the top. And whether or not it works remains to
Speaker 3: be seen. But that's the attempt.
Speaker 1: Speaking of the attempt, they're attempting to be the Raise.
Speaker 1: Peter Bendix came over and he wants to make him
Speaker 1: the Raise. You want to know what the Marlins have
Speaker 1: that the Rays don't have two World Series Craig, So
Speaker 1: why do they want to be the Rais? Why can't
Speaker 1: they just be the Marlins? Why does every smallish market,
Speaker 1: even though Miami's a big market, want to be the Raise?
Speaker 1: Why can't they just why can't Peter Bendix come over
Speaker 1: from the Rays and I know he's going to put
Speaker 1: his own spin on it, but again, Marlins, every team
Speaker 1: wants to be the Let's be the Raise. Let's be
Speaker 1: the Raise. Let's be the Raise. Marlins have won twice.
Speaker 1: The Marlins have never or the race. The Rays have
Speaker 1: never won any times. So how about we just continue
Speaker 1: to do what we were doing building because they had
Speaker 1: skipstre Marker, they had a nice team. Why do they
Speaker 1: want to start completely over from scratch and become the
Speaker 1: Rays from the start?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: AJ, Look, that's the question that I think a lot
Speaker 3: of fans in South Florida have. They look back and
Speaker 3: they see they won the World Series in nineteen ninety seven,
Speaker 3: They see they wanted it in two thousand and three,
Speaker 3: made the postseason in the twenty twenty season, and then
Speaker 3: you remember a couple of years ago with Skip there
Speaker 3: at the Helm, they made it too. But generally, AJ,
Speaker 3: all of those seasons in between were pretty horrible and
Speaker 3: they would like to have it a little bit more
Speaker 3: consistent now. Whether or not that leads to another World Series,
Speaker 3: I think remains to be seen. But it is going
Speaker 3: to be extremely tough for the Marlins to continue to
Speaker 3: go about the way that they have been doing it,
Speaker 3: even with those World Series seasons and compete in that
Speaker 3: division with the talent that is around in that division,
Speaker 3: money that's being spent there. So I think trying something
Speaker 3: different and seeing if it works is definitely the way
Speaker 3: that they're going to go by the way they tried
Speaker 3: this several years ago when they bought the team and
Speaker 3: Derek Jeter took over and traded everybody that they had
Speaker 3: in Stanton and Yelich and Zuna, all these players got
Speaker 3: a lot of young players back in return. Really outside
Speaker 3: of Sandi al contrad at the time, Zach Allen didn't
Speaker 3: really get anything back in return for those players. So
Speaker 3: here we go again. They're going to try it one
Speaker 3: more time, but doing it in a different way again,
Speaker 3: the way that the Rays have done it, you know.
Speaker 3: Again remains to be seen if it'll work or not,
Speaker 3: but that's the attempt.
Speaker 4: Two best ways to improve the young pitching that you
Speaker 4: have in a mire, in a you know, even in
Speaker 4: a Yuri Perez type of way is to keep them healthy,
Speaker 4: but also not overexpose them and put them around veterans.
Speaker 4: So do they have a good recruiting chip in the
Speaker 4: sense that they can tell a veteran, hey, come here,
Speaker 4: recoup your value, gain value in this huge pitchers park,
Speaker 4: or is it something that they're just gonna say, all right,
Speaker 4: young guys, go ahead, play your game.
Speaker 3: As far as pictures are concerned, I think they still
Speaker 3: could potentially be in the market for one. It still
Speaker 3: remains to be seen if they're going to pull the
Speaker 3: trigger there. I don't know the answer to that. Maybe
Speaker 3: a fifty to fifty shot, but I know that they
Speaker 3: really like the first three pictures in that rotation with Sandy,
Speaker 3: Ryan Weathers and as you see there, and Edward Caberra too.
Speaker 3: Beyond that, as you said, Eric gets very much a
Speaker 3: mystery so from behind the plate, as you guys know, yes,
Speaker 3: I do think that they could use, as we would say,
Speaker 3: a one year mercenary innings eat or someone along those lines.
Speaker 3: They still have time, you know, spring training, even though
Speaker 3: pictures and catchers are reporting. This is not unusual for
Speaker 3: baseball at this time where guys do sign late February
Speaker 3: and even into March. So I'm sure as the spring
Speaker 3: goes on they'll sort of determine which direction they end
Speaker 3: up going from there. But they're very content with the
Speaker 3: first three that they have. And let's also not forget
Speaker 3: at some point this season and by the way, I
Speaker 3: know he said July, but I could see Yuri Perez
Speaker 3: coming back sooner than that, and he's a superstar in
Speaker 3: the making, So maybe June for him as well. But yeah,
Speaker 3: I mean, that's not a lot of innings from the
Speaker 3: previous season going into this season, and so they're gonna
Speaker 3: have to figure out one way or the other. They
Speaker 3: were starting anybody and everybody last year.
Speaker 1: At the end, all right, Craig, last thing for you
Speaker 1: to let you go. I don't know if you can
Speaker 1: see your background when we go to a one shot
Speaker 1: of you, do you see the background of yourself? I
Speaker 1: don't know if we can we kick his one shot
Speaker 1: around your little square? Can you see that? What it is? No?
Speaker 1: What am I missing? No? It's the statue? Can we
Speaker 1: bring back the statue? The pleas and left you? I
Speaker 1: know it's outside, but can we bring act I know
Speaker 1: outside in the ballpark it was like the most Miami
Speaker 1: thing ever. If you go to Miami, expect dart Deco.
Speaker 1: They went. They had the green walls, the aquarium. It
Speaker 1: was cool. Now they have the dark blue walls, no statue,
Speaker 1: and they have I don't know what they have exactly,
Speaker 1: have a roof that works forks.
Speaker 3: It's a beautiful stadium. But yeah, a j I don't
Speaker 3: think that's coming back. You know, they spent millions of
Speaker 3: dollars to move that thing out, by the way, millions dollars.
Speaker 1: Right, they could have bought her like a quality starting pitcher.
Speaker 3: For that could have got blow.
Speaker 2: I think that, you know, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 3: Uh But but look, I mean some people loved it,
Speaker 3: some people hated it, and you know, a lot a
Speaker 3: lot has happened in between then and now. But I
Speaker 3: don't see them moving at a second time. By the way,
Speaker 3: every day at three oh five pm, the thing goes off.
Speaker 3: I don't know if you know that. Three oh five, Yeah,
Speaker 3: every day.
Speaker 2: Wow, makes sense. Three oh five that's the air for
Speaker 2: anyone wonder. I do know well, and I do think
Speaker 2: it was super petty, okay, because I know Derek wanted to,
Speaker 2: you know, kind of had his little battle with David
Speaker 2: Sampson and took it out. But not worth the money.
Speaker 2: That money could have gone elsewhere, and it certainly did
Speaker 2: not affect wins and losses on the field. I am
Speaker 2: with aj. I liked it. Derek's tenure was a failure.
Speaker 2: So anyway, Craig, great to have you on. Appreciate the time.
Speaker 2: Everyone go give Craig a follow. He is the guy
Speaker 2: dialed in on the Marlins at Craig Mish. Good to
Speaker 2: see you, Craig, Great to see you guys, Thanks for
Speaker 2: having me. All right, here we go. This is actually
Speaker 2: a good point in our chat from Mark. Behind the
Speaker 2: scenes here. Miami Metro Area's second largest in the Southeast,
Speaker 2: ninth largest in the US, Miami Metro Area largest economy,
Speaker 2: urban economy in Florida. Not a small market, just small minded.
Speaker 2: You know. It actually makes Miami feel small with the
Speaker 2: way that the Marlins operate. I think they're bad pr
Speaker 2: for the city because you look at them if you
Speaker 2: live somewhere else and you're like, oh, Miami must be
Speaker 2: like this tiny little nothing with not much of a
Speaker 2: booming economy. I mean, they can't even afford to sign
Speaker 2: a player for the entire offseason and they have to
Speaker 2: rebuild after one year of the playoffs. Poverty, poverty franchise. Man,
Speaker 2: only there was more action in that area to be
Speaker 2: able to support the team. Oh wait, there's so much
Speaker 2: money in that area. They just can't figure out the
Speaker 2: game plan. The game plan is obviously they need someone
Speaker 2: else to run it. But you can't control that in sports.
Speaker 2: So poor Marlins fans have to keep suffering. I watched
Speaker 2: many Marlins games during my time living in Miami. Anyway,
Speaker 2: quick quote from kode I Senga while we have a minute.
Speaker 2: He did not talk to Roki Sasaki during his recruitment process,
Speaker 2: already was decided where he was going. He said he
Speaker 2: thinks the weather in LA is a big factor for
Speaker 2: Japanese players and the reason why the Mets haven't added
Speaker 2: another top Japanese free agent. This is a great quote.
Speaker 2: We need to build a roof. He's right, guys, especially
Speaker 2: if you're Rokie aj Roki was going to sign for
Speaker 2: about the same money anywhere. He already wanted to join
Speaker 2: his friends in LA and then he does a little
Speaker 2: weather check with La versus New York. He's like, wait,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna have to pitch in rain outs and get
Speaker 2: all screwed up and rain delays.
Speaker 1: No thanks, most as my kids would say, boomer thing
Speaker 1: I've ever heard. Okay, because are you kidding me? Haroki,
Speaker 1: Kroota or not? Coroda? Sorry. Tanaka had no problem signing
Speaker 1: in New York and did great. Matsuzaka went to Boston.
Speaker 1: He did fine. No mo, when you got to Boston
Speaker 1: he did fine. I just think this is a cop out.
Speaker 1: This is a this is this is a terrible take
Speaker 1: by code. I singa. You play in cityfield, which is new.
Speaker 1: They're not putting a roof on it anytime soon because
Speaker 1: Steve Cohen doesn't have another billion to spend. I don't
Speaker 1: think after you spend almost a billion on one soda
Speaker 1: and all the players he's brought in. But this is
Speaker 1: just this is just a bad take. Like, you play
Speaker 1: in the field, you play in and you deal with it.
Speaker 1: That's it. I mean, yeah, of course every team would
Speaker 1: like to play in a don't, but you know what,
Speaker 1: you don't because baseball's meant to play outside and in
Speaker 1: New York, they want their summers. They want to enjoy
Speaker 1: their summers, so you got to put up with a
Speaker 1: bad month here and there. I don't think this has
Speaker 1: effected anything. I just think this is a bad take.