Swimmin' with the Fish

It’s not every day that you get to witness history, and for the 12,000-plus fans announced in attendance at Dolphins Stadium - realistically, it was more like half that amount - September 6 was their lucky day. That night, Marlins rookie starter Anibal Sanchez joined Kevin Brown, Al Leiter and A.J. Burnett when he recorded the fourth no-hitter in team history, a 2-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Sanchez is one of four rookies in the surprising Marlins rotation and if you throw out his worst two starts this year, where he combined to give up 15 earned runs over 8 2/3 innings, his season ERA would be an impressive 1.68 instead of a still very respectable 2.89 mark.

After posting a record of 17-34 through the first two months of the season, Florida has gone 53-35 and is smack dab in the middle of the hunt for the National League Wild Card. Absolutely no one expected this team to be doing so well after their second huge offseason fire sale in less than 10 years, and regardless of whether this young team makes the playoffs or not, rookie manager Joe Girardi should win the N.L. Manager of the Year award.

This is in no way, shape, or form the roster that Girardi expected to oversee when he first signed on the dotted line, but the former big league catcher and World Series champion has been able to mold these youngsters into worthy major leaguers.

Who would have ever thought that Dan Uggla, a man who only got called up because he was the lone second baseman the Marlins had in Double-A would become the everyday starter, receive an All-Star nod and likely be named this year’s National League Rookie of the Year?

By the time the last out of 2006 is recorded, Uggla should finish up with a .290 to .300 batting average, about 25 home runs, 90-95 RBI and over 100 runs scored. Simply amazing for someone who, if he was in any other organization outside of the Kansas City Royals or maybe even the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, would still be in the minor leagues!

Uggla isn’t the only middle infielder wowing fans this year. His double-play partner Hanley Ramirez is also shining bright. At just 22 years old, the 6-foot-3 195 pound shortstop has already scored over 100 runs and is on pace for at least 50 stolen bases. He may not have the production numbers that Uggla has, but he can only get better, and I suspect he’ll progress similar to how Jose Reyes has for the Mets, and we all know how great he is.

Here’s something to consider. In the midst of Florida’s fire sale, they traded Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell and Guillermo Mota to the Red Sox for four prospects. Can you guess who two of them were? That’s right. Sanchez and Ramirez.

I wonder who Theo Epstein would rather have now that Boston’s playoff hopes are all-but-dead?

The irony is that Epstein claims he didn’t want to sacrifice the Red Sox future for an impact player at this year’s trade deadline. Well if he didn't want to sacrifice their future, then why has he done just that over the last two-and-a-half years?

Take a look at who Boston used to have and then check out where their big areas of need are now.

P Anibal Sanchez, Marlins: no-hitter, 7-2, 2.89 ERA P Bronson Arroyo, Reds: 12-9, 3.33 ERA P Cla Meredith, Padres: 4-1, 0.79 ERA SS Hanley Ramirez, Marlins: .283, 13 HR, 49 RBI, 104 runs SS Edgar Renteria, Braves: .298, 12 HR, 58 RBI C Josh Bard, Padres: .321, 7 HR, 34 RBI 3B Freddy Sanchez, Pirates: .344, 6 HR, 73 RBI OF Johnny Damon, Yankees: .298, 22 HR, 75 RBI, 103 runs

Notice anything in there?

Sanchez and Arroyo are solid starting pitchers, and Meredith is a big reason why the Padres have been surging of late, thanks to his dominance in the bullpen. The Red Sox have had serious issues to address in all areas of their pitching staff with injuries to Tim Wakefield, Matt Clement Curt Schilling, Keith Foulke and the unfortunate news that rookie Jon Lester is now battling cancer.

~Get well soon, Jon. I know what it's like to fight that disease. A couple of family members have had to go through it, and thankfully one in particular has been able to beat it.~

Ramirez and Renteria are playing solid baseball with the glove, as current Boston shortstop Alex Gonzalez is, but the two cast-offs are also getting it done at the plate.

Josh Bard couldn't catch Tim Wakefield's knuckleball, which is why he was shipped to San Diego, but he definitely would've been a better fill-in than Javy Lopez when Jason Varitek was on the disabled list recently.

Freddy Sanchez is leading the National League in batting average by ten points over Miguel Cabrera.

And of course, there's no question that the Yankees' lineup has been rejuvenated with Johnny Damon at the top of the order, and Boston's lineup has suffered with a combination of Kevin Youkilis - more of a No. 5 hitter - and Coco Crisp splitting leadoff duties. That's one Epstein may never live down. Unless, of course, Damon spends a lot of time on the DL in the third and fourth years of his contract.

Oh well.

CY YOUNG UPDATE

Not only does Santana lead the majors with 17 wins, but as of September 6 he is the only pitcher in the bigs with over 200 strikeouts at 219 and he has the lowest ERA for qualified starters at 2.84. Even if he didn’t pitch a single game for the last few weeks of the season, I would still consider him a lock to win his second Cy Young Award in three years.

Check this out. Since the All-Star break, the game’s most dominant lefty is a perfect 8-0 with 81 punchouts and a 2.63 ERA. And for his career, Santana is a staggering 43-9 with a 2.56 ERA and 506 strikeouts over 481 innings.

Should he keep up this pace throughout his career, he has the chance to join an illustrious group of pitchers with 300 wins and 3,000 strikeouts.

Now, many believe that Randy Johnson (279 and counting) will be the last pitcher to reach 300 wins, and the Big Unit nearly had his third career no-hitter in his final start as a 42-year-old, but if Santana stays healthy, I believe he has the potential to be the next. If you get a chance to watch him pitch, he appears to be nearly unhittable.