The Rays Tank: And So Ends Our Long Love Affair With Logan Morrison

Well, we all knew that trading for Logan Morrison was something of a pipe dream -- and it was such a lovely dream -- but it looks as though we can all take our heads out of the clouds now. The Marlins acquired Carlos Zambrano from the Cubs last night for Chris Volstad, giving them the final starter that they wanted and taking them off the market for Wade Davis.

I'm not entirely sure I like this move for the Marlins; Volstad was a serviceable back end of the rotation starter and he had some upside (3.84 SIERA last year), and they're trading away three years of Volstad for one of Zambrano. It's likely that Zambrano will be the better pitcher of the two in 2012 (which seems to be the main thing the Marlins are concerned about right now), and he does have the potential to go out there and reestablish himself as an ace. But....it's tough to say.

One thing is for sure, though: if the Marlins didn't already have the most personality-filled clubhouse in the majors, they certainly do now. Goodness, it's going to be tough not to pay attention to them this season. They're essentially going to become MLB's first reality TV show: "Ozzie & Friends".

• Fernando Rodney called Topkin to apologize for the time when he threw a ball into the Tropicana Field press box and nearly took out a few reporters. Considering the incident was in 2009, that seems a bit over the top, but it's a nice gesture at least.
• So the Rays were the other finalist for Coco Crisp? I'm not that surprised; Crisp is a valuable player and undervalued by most, and signing him would have allowed the Rays to shuffle around piece internally (e.g. move Joyce to first). I love hearing all the reasons why he didn't end up signing with the Rays, though. He wanted to play for a winner? Yeah right, this came down to the money.
• Joe Poz takes a look at the future of the Hall of Fame, and he makes some very good points about the direction the Hall is heading. These next couple years could be an absolute mess, with few players going on the ballot, creating a logjam of talented players and a boring Hall. And judging from the Hall's history, that could have some unintended consequences that the BBWAA wouldn't be happy about.
• Tommy has a piece up on ESPN Florida, analyzing the Rodney signing. He does a great job framing the good and the bad parts of the deal.