What we need is other Pudge

The fault is not McKeon's only. Blame also the Team Managers.

"All of the Marlins agree that the team is underachieving because top players are not performing to their potential. But some players also fault manager Jack McKeon, saying that he sets a negative tone.

'There's obviously something wrong,' said a player, one of five who spoke on condition of anonymity. 'We don't have the same chemistry we had two years ago.''

What the team needs is a player with a proved leadership, capable of setting the strategies to be followed by the other players during the game, and yet most important, a leader who is respected by his teammates. Damn, how much we miss Ivan Rodriguez.

Anyway, a big part of the team's problem is definitely Mike Lowell, who's only two home runs in this season and a shameful average. Gosh, for $7.5MM you may have expected a lot more better than that.

Not everyone in the clubhouse is upset with McKeon's style. They point out that the Marlins went through a recent 2-11 skid in part because players who excelled in 2003 are playing poorly. Juan Pierre entered Thursday's game batting .256, more than 50 points below his career average. Mike Lowell has just two home runs. Through Wednesday, the team was second in the National League in batting average but 12th in runs scored.
....
On Sunday, McKeon brought in Damion Easley to pinch-run for Lowell. Easley scored in the eighth inning and then stayed in the game at third base, his weakest infield position. Easley made a costly error on a hard grounder before Washington's Ryan Church hit a game-winning homer.

Although Easley doesn't seem to play comfortably covering the third base, I think his batting power can overcome that little weakness and make him way more productive than Lowell.

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