clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Can you find a closer for the Miami Marlins?

New, 26 comments

Can you find a closer for the Miami Marlins? The catch: it can't be anyone with major league experience, and your job is on the line.

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Marlins have a bullpen problem. Steve Cishek entered the season with the job but hasn't been able to hold the role (a 10.32 ERA will do that) and the Fish are scrambling to find a replacement.

As noted by Chris Schubert at MLB Daily Dish, there are rumors that the Marlins were looking at signing free agent Rafael Soriano or trading with the Phillies for Jonathan Papelbon or with the Brewers for Francisco Rodriguez. It appears that Soriano's asking price is still too high and no trades have been made yet. In the meantime, it looks like a committee will handle the role, with some combination of Mike Dunn, Bryan Morris, and A.J. Ramos switching off as needed until they find someone else.

So here is a community discussion question for you. Let's say that you are running the Marlins. For whatever reason you can't sign Soriano or get Rodriguez or Papelbon, and none of the internal options will work either. In fact, for purposes of this exercise, you can't use anyone in the Marlins system, major or minor league.

Instead, you must acquire any one pitcher in any of the other 29 major league farm systems to use as your closer. Of course, since this is a discussion question, there are some catches:

***it cannot be anyone with ANY major league experience;

***or any Triple-A experience;

***or any Double-A experience;

***You must use them as the closer for the rest of the season no matter how badly they pitch;

***Your ownership won't allow you to tank the season. If the Marlins don't win at least 78 games (one more win than last year), you will lose your job, so you need someone who at least has a chance to pitch competently now.

***You have a guarantee that they won't get hurt, and you can keep them for subsequent seasons.

Put more simply, you have to pull someone out of A-ball from another system and make them your closer, with your job at stake. Who do you pick and why?