This season has been very disappointing for the Miami Marlins. They showed that they are essentially giving up on hopes for the playoffs this season by trading some of their top stars. Rebuilding mode has already started when this team was supposed to be ready to contend this year. They have a strong focus on pitching in their trades this week, that is a spot they definitely need help in.
The first trade came on Tuesday when the Marlins sent Omar Infante and Anibal Sanchez to the Detroit Tigers. Infante has had a decent season thus far and had led the team to numerous victories. Sanchez has been with the club for a few years and been a reliable starter at times. Sanchez had a rough start to the season but leveled out towards the summer. The Marlins received top-rated pitching prospect Jacob Turner from the Tigers in the deal.
On Wednesday the Marlins traded away a star they coveted very heavily just a couple of years ago. Going into this season no one suspected that the Marlins would not finish the season with Hanley Ramirez. The rumors started floating around last week that the team was looking at offers for the former N.L. batting champion and multiple time All Star. The Marlins made a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers to send Ramirez and pitcher Randy Choate to California. The Marlins received pitcher Nathan Eovaldi and a minor leaguer in the deal.
Hanley Ramirez will never be forgotten by the franchise. He was acquired from the Boston Redsox in the 2005 trade that sent Josh Beckett to Boston. The Marlins had coveted and groomed Ramirez as their big star of the future. He had a few season where he played really well and even one a batting title. But the last couple of years has seen Ramirez numbers drop significantly. The Marlins owe a lot of credit to Ramirez for helping them get a new stadium built in Miami for the club. The team signed Ramirez to a 6 year deal a few years ago to show the city of Miami tax payers that they were committed to building a contender. A lot has changed in the last few years and Ramirez is no longer a Miami Marlin.
The Marlins have got to start building a team built for the future. The team has been out of contention for too long. A lot of the blame falls on pitching but really its everything. The Marlins franchise should have been contenders this year but have shown themselves not to be a team that can contend. The decision to trade some of their top talent is questionable
but at least they are receiving top young pitching talent for the future. The city of Miami will lose their patience with the team really quickly if they don’t get a team on the field that not only looks like contenders but play like contenders.
History Now: LA Clippers Owner Donald Sterling Banned From Basketball For Life
On April 29, 2014 the long time owner of the NBA’s L.A. Clippers franchise, Donald Sterling was banned for life from the game of Basketball. Sterling had purchased the team in 1979 and there had been controversy surrounding him over the last three decades. Much has been covered over the last week since the audio was released of Sterling making racial remarks. In the recording Sterling was speaking with his mistress about not having “black people” associated with he Instagram account. He also made reference to her bringing them to the games as well.
Former L.A. Clippers Owner Donald Serling. (Getty Images)
His own team had reacted very harshly to the comments, which they should have. Their first game since the comments were released the team turned their warm up gear inside out and wore black arm bands during the game. The Clippers lost that game and are needing the relief that this announcement would create.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. (Getty Images)
Much talk had swirled the sports world over what the new NBA Commissioner Adam Silver would do in response to these comments. Today Silver made it clear that these kinds of comments will not be tolerated in the NBA. Silver held a press conference at 2pm ET to made the announcement on how this situation would be dealt with. Along with the life time ban from Basketball he will be forced to sell the team and will be fined $2.5 million. Silver made a bold statement and one that will go down in NBA History as one of the biggest statements ever made by the League’s Commissioner.
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