The Florida Marlins have lost righty reliever Henry Owens for the remainder of the 2007 season and most if not all of the 2008 season after undergoing rotator cuff surgery this week.  That is a shame because Owens looked pretty good early in the season for the Marlins.  He pitched in 22 games this season for the Marlins and he was 2-0 with 4 saves, a 1.96 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP.  Owens is the third pitcher to have surgery this season that will likely cause them to miss the 2008 season with Josh Johnson and Anibal Sanchez being the other.  The future appears to be dimming by the minute for the Marlins.

Reserve infielder Aaron Boone will have arthroscopic surgery on his right knn on September 4th, ending his season.  Boone did a good job for the Marlins as he played in 69 games and he was 54 for 189 (.286 avg, .811 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 5 homers and 24 RBIs.  The Marlins would be smart to bring him back next season but he will probably be too expensive for their taste.

This just shows how pathetic and cheap the Marlins’ organization has become.  They let the Diamondbacks claim Kim off of waivers so that they could save money and then they brought him back after the D-Backs released him after two starts which saved the Marlins about $500,000 bucks.  Kim pitched pretty good for the Marlins this season.  He has pitched in 17 games (13 starts) this season for the Marlins and he is 6-3 with a 4.44 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP.  But in 5 games (3 starts) for the Rockies and Diamondbacks he was 1-3 with a 14.54 ERA and a 2.65 WHIP.  The Marlins probably should use him in their rotation as it has been a really weak part of the team this season.

Miguel Cabrera has even been better in the 2nd half of the season than he was in the first half and I did not think that was possible.  Cabrera has played in 38 games in the 2nd half of the season and he is 46 for 137 (.336 avg, 1.111 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 12 homers and 30 RBIs.  It’s too bad that the Marlins are so bad of a baseball team or Cabrera might be able to win the MVP Award with the way he has played this year.  Cabrera has now played in 123 games this season for the Marlins and he is 150 for 458 (.328 avg, 1.012 OPS) with 76 runs scored, 30 homers and 91 RBIs.

The Marlins have recalled Daniel Barone from AAA to take over in the starting rotation for the departed Byung-Hyun Kim.  Barone has started 23 games this season between AA+AAA ball and he is 8-3 with a 3.96 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP.  In 136.1 innings this season he has allowed 128 hits, walked 32 batters and whiffed 91.  The Marlins have sent reliever Mauro Zarate to AAA to make room for Barone on the roster.  Zarate only worked 1 game for the Marlins covering 1.1 innings in which he allowed 2 hits (1 HR), 2 earned runs, walked a batter and whiffed a batter.

The Marlins have traded AAA outfielder Chad Hermansen to the New York Mets for a player to be named later.  Hermansen has played in 89 AAA games this season for the Marlins and he was 83 for 293 (.283 avg, .800 OPS) with 46 runs scored, 9 homers, 44 RBIs and 9 stolen bases.  Hermansen will likely not be much of a loss to the Marlins because they have passed him up quite a few times when they needed to promote an outfielder.

The Florida Marlins have designated outfielder Joe Borchard for assignment and they have activated Alejandro De Aza from the 60-day disabled list.  Borchard definately deserved to go as he played in 85 games for the Marlins this season and he was 35 for 179 (.196 avg, .600 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 4 homers, 19 RBIs and 4 stolen bases.  De Aza will likely battle Alfredo Amezaga for the starting job in center field.  De Aza has played in 9 games this season and he is 10 for 33 (.303 avg, .769 OPS) with 4 runs scored and 3 RBIs.

28 year old righty swinging 1B/OF Val Pascucci is ripping the cover off of the baseball for the Marlins AAA team.  He has played in 106 games this season and he is 100 for 362 (.276 avg, .954 OPS) with 76 runs scored, 28 homers, 85 RBIs and 8 stolen bases.  He also crushed a homer in the AAA All-Star Game this year.  When Mike Jacobs went down with an injury early in the season the Marlins should have called up Pascucci and seen what he could do.  Hopefully if he keeps hitting like he is right now the Marlins will call him up in September when rosters can expand.

The Marlins have recalled 24-year old righty reliever Mauro Zarate from AAA.  He has pitched well at three levels of the minors this season.  In 44 games this year Zarate is 3-3 with 2 saves, a 1.66 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP.  Zarate has pitched 70.1 innings this season and he has allowed only 45 hits, walked 25 batters and whiffed 68.

The Florida Marlins have placed lefty reliever Reynel Pinto on the 15-day disabled list with a left shoulder strain.  Pinto has pitched in 49 games this season for the Marlins and he is 2-4 with 1 save, a 4.10 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP.  In 52.2 innings this season Pinto has allowed 43 hits, walked 27 batters and whiffed 52.  This will leave Taylor Tankersley as the lone lefty in the Marlins bullpen until Pinto is ready to return and that could spell trouble.  The Marlins have recalled Carlos Martinez to replace Pinto in the bullpen.  He made his season debut last night and it wasn’t pretty as he worked 1 inning and allowed 2 earned runs.  Martinez pitched in 21 games in the minors this season and he was 1-1 with a 3.47 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP.  In 23.1 innings he allowed 24 hits, walked 5 batters and whiffed 19.