The Marlins made an adjustment to their starting rotation on Monday, albeit not the one that has been speculated about over the last several days.

Instead of dealing ace Josh Johnson, who it appears the Marlins are intent on keeping according to most reports, Ozzie Guillen announced that Carlos Zambrano would be heading to the bullpen while southpaw Wade LeBlanc will take his spot.

It’s hard to argue with taking Zambrano out of the rotation, as he has put up some atrocious numbers, especially over the last couple months. Big Z has posted the fourth-worst FIP of any NL starter in the month of July and his numbers from June weren’t much better. The most incredible stat of all is that since June, Zambrano has posted a BB/9 rate of over seven.

After all that I’ve just said, it’s clear that LeBlanc at the very least can’t be a downgrade to what Zambrano was currently giving them. He’s pitched well out of the bullpen this season for the Fish with a 1.15 ERA in 11 games, and now he’ll get a chance to show the club what he can do in his first regular starting role since his time with San Diego.

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Over the past week, we here at Marlins Daily have been all over the Miami Marlins’ latest wheeling and dealing as we approach the July 31st trading deadline. We’ve looked at things extensively from the Fish’s perspective in terms of the players on the way out, but now it’s time to take a look at the players the club has added to their organization to see what Marlins fans can expect to see over the next few seasons.

RHP Jacob Turner

Jacob Turner, rated the Tigers’ #1 prospect entering each of the last four seasons by Baseball America, is a 21-year-old righty with the potential to be a top-of-the-rotation starter in the near future. Despite struggling in his first six career big league starts (three in 2011 and three this season), Turner is still considered to be one of the game’s top pitching prospects. His fastball, which sits in the low-90′s, isn’t overpowering, but it’s Turner’s secondary stuff (curveball and changeup) that garners the most recognition. Turner has also made some changes to his arsenal since last season, ditching the cutter he used during his first taste of the big leagues for a slider that could become another out-pitch for him in the future. It’s worth noting that Turner has faced minor elbow and shoulder issues in the past, including a bout with shoulder tendinitis as recently as spring training. Fortunately for Turner, because the Marlins aren’t in contention for a playoff spot this season, there won’t be a need to push the limits of his arm and will have the ability to shut him down at a moment’s notice. And although the numbers from his major league career may frighten Marlins fans, it’s helpful to keep in mind that Turner is still just 21 years old and if he can improve the spotty command he’s shown in 2012 with some more seasoning at AAA New Orleans, he’ll be a valuable part of Miami’s rotation in 2013 and beyond.

C Rob Brantly

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Recently… And, by recently I mean today, an article was posted by Marlins Daily writer Tony Capobianco about the Toronto Blue Jays interest in Josh Johnson.

This is not surprising. As a Jays fan I’ve learned that GM Alex Anthopoulos is interested in every better than average player made available by any MLB team.

Just sort of expected that every time a player is mentioned as available Jays fans will hear how the Jays have contacted his team’s GM about him.

The article concludes by saying; “Toronto could be the ideal place for the Marlins to unload and even bring in a star third baseman. In a blockbuster trade, the Marlins can send Hanley Ramirez and Josh Johnson to Toronto for a bounty of prospects and young third baseman Brett Lawrie.”

Now, as Dave Gersham pointed out, the Marlins have every right to ask about Brett Lawrie. And, sure, they do. But, the article suggests that it is a real possibility to acquire Lawrie, and that’s where I come into play.

This is a point-counterpoint thing where I will go into why Marlins fans should not expect certain players and then give you some insight into the Blue Jays farm system for names you may actually hear.

First, why Brett Lawrie is unequivocally unavailable.

Brett Lawrie is, without question, the best young player on the Toronto Blue Jays. The team has Colby Rasmus and Travis Snider, two players constantly ranked in the Top 10 prospects when they came through the system (Rasmus in St.Louis, Travis in Toronto). Lawrie is better.

He is hitting a very consistent .280/.326/.415 this season, which though not overwhelming compared to Bryce Harper or Mike Trout is very, very good considering that when you look at it, Lawrie hasn’t had a hot streak all-season. He hasn’t had one month where he has destroyed the baseball and because of it his numbers are inflated. Hasn’t happened.

That is something that 22-year old ballplayers don’t often have. A true level of consistency.

I grant you, July has been bad, but it also has seen 10-less games (part because of the All-Star break, part because it’s only the 24th).

Trading Brett at 22-years old is like expecting the Angels to trade Trout at 20. It would have to take an incredible, beyond belief kind of deal that the Marlins simply cannot offer with a 28-year old struggling pitcher.

Further, Alex Anthopoulos is obsessed with player control. Every move he makes comes with a player who will be under team control for multiple years after the deal. His goal is to bring in high ceiling talent and prospects and only once has he gone against that (the Happ trade last week), and even then he didn’t trade much prospect depth.

Brett Lawrie is under team control for six years… Josh Johnson becomes a Free Agent in less than two. That is a big discrepancy.

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It’s been a rough year for the 2012 Miami Marlins

I think most of us have ‘that’ friend. The one that we have known for years,  perhaps from your childhood, or if you’re my age (26), from high school. The one that, whenever you get together it quickly devolves into a trip down memory lane with one question.

“Remember the time…”

Something like, “Remember the time I wrote about Expectations and how the expectations for the leagues biggest off-season spenders was, and should be, very high?”

That was June 14th and the Miami Marlins were 32-30 and in the middle of a tough losing skid, though still very much in the thick of things. I mean, it was June 14th. Most teams were still in the thick of things.

Unbeknownst to you or I, the Marlins were actually in the middle of what would become an 8-18 month that would see the team fall from reasonable contenders to one of the NL Easts bottom dwellers.

In fact, since that article the Marlins have gone 14-21 and slipped to 11.5 games back of the division leading Washington Nationals.

Let’s try another.

“Remember the time I wrote about Perspective and how ‘On Pace’ is virtually meaningless in May?”

At the time, I was making the arguement that it made no sense to get worried about individual player performance in May.

Well, here’s the thing. It’s no longer May.

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