Florida Marlins @ MindSay

Here's some sickening news--New York Yankees third-baseman Alex Rodriguez tops the major league baseball salary list at $28 million, according to a study of contract terms by The Associated Press, making more than everyone on the Florida Marlins combined. The 33 players on the Marlins' opening-day roster and disabled list total $21.8 million.

How has society gotten to the point where a baseball player can be paid such an insane amount of money???  It's sick.

The Oakland Raiders have signed quarterback Josh Booty, the former prep star who has been out of football since 2003 and has never thrown a pass in the NFL.

Booty was one of the nation's top high school quarterbacks in 1993 when he decided to play baseball instead of football. He spent five years with the Florida Marlins but played only 13 games at the major league level.

In two seasons at LSU, Booty threw for 3,951 yards and 24 touchdowns and was taken by Seattle in the sixth round of the 2001 draft. Acquired off waivers by Cleveland later that year, Booty spent parts of three seasons with the Browns.

Booty joins Andrew Walter as the only quarterbacks on the Raiders' roster. The team cut ties with last year's starter, Aaron Brooks, and third-stringer Marques Tuiasosopo signed a one-year deal with the Jets. Oakland has the No. 1 pick in next month's draft and could select quarterback JaMarcus Russell of LSU.

I was a big fan of Joe Girardi while he was playing baseball, so when he became the manager of the Florida Marlins this year, I was super-excited.

 

He did a great job with the team, that's for sure.  No one expected the Marlins to do anything, and yet they finished the season with a 78-84 record.  They still lost more games than they won, but they did a lot better than anyone thought they would.  And Girardi had a lot to do with this.

 

But even so, the Marlins might not bring him back next season because of some discrepancies between Girardi and owner Jeffrey Loria.  In fact, it sounds pretty certain that Girardi will not be with the Marlins next year, and Braves' third-base coach Fredi Gonzalez sounds like he'll become the Marlins new manager.

 

That's just not fair.  Girardi turned the team around, and he had never managed before.  The Marlins were projected to lose 100 games this season, and now Girardi is a candidate for National League Manager of the Year.

 

And he's still getting canned.

 

I hope some other team is smart enough to pick him up (hey, the Cubs, Nationals and Giants all need managers).

 

Second baseman Pokey Reese's contract was terminated Sunday by the Florida Marlins, who said they were disappointed not to receive an explanation regarding his abrupt departure from spring training.

 

Reese went home following a workout Wednesday without notifying the Marlins. They later heard twice from his agent, but not directly from Reese, general manager Larry Beinfest said.

 

"I think that the 72 hours that have passed is more than a reasonable amount of time for him to offer some explanation for his unexcused absence," Beinfest said. "We still do not have that explanation, and we're moving on."

 

The 32-year-old infielder has coped with a succession of tragedies, including the death of his fiancee 13 years ago. His agent, Mike Nicotera, said Reese went home to deal with personal issues.

 

"Pokey is fine," Nicotera said. "He's with family. When personal feelings are involved, it's very difficult to put a timetable on the resolution of those."

 

Nicotera said he hoped Reese would play again. The agent spoke shortly before the Marlins released Reese and didn't return subsequent phone calls seeking comment.

 

It was unclear whether Reese was in his native Columbia, S.C., or in Charlotte, N.C., where he also has family.

 

"The expectations of this organization [are] that as a professional you'd have the courtesy to at least notify us why he left," Beinfest said. "If he was a young player maybe without any experience, you may have a little bit different tack, but this guy's been around. We're extremely disappointed."

 

Reese, a two-time Gold Glove winner, spent all of last season on the disabled list with Seattle following shoulder surgery. He signed with Florida in December for $800,000, and was to be one of the best-paid, most experienced players for the young, cost-conscious Marlins.

 

"It's disappointing," manager Joe Girardi said. "He fit that role that we needed really well, with a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge of playing the position."

 

With Reese's departure, the front-runner for the second base job becomes rookie Dan Uggla, who hit .297 with 21 home runs last year for Double-A Tennessee -- but also committed 25 errors. A trade for a veteran is a possibility, Beinfest said.

 

"As normal, we'll be in touch with our scouts and start to gather information," he said. "I wouldn't rule out anything, but is it a dire need today? The answer is no."

 

Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin said Thursday she has had preliminary discussions with officials of National League baseball's Florida Marlins about the possibility of relocating to Oklahoma City.

 

"It's all very preliminary, but I have received some good feedback from the Marlins," Fallin said in a statement.

The owner of the Marlins, Jeff Loria, is the former owner of the old Oklahoma City 89ers Triple-A baseball team.

 

Fallin said she wrote to Marlins President David Sampson last November after seeing reports that the team was considering leaving the Miami area after local government leaders expressed reluctance about offering public funding for a new stadium.

 

She said she has spoken by telephone several times to with Marlins Vice Chairman Joel Mael and sent Marlins' officials a packet of economic development and demographic information about central Oklahoma.

 

"The Marlins have asked for some more detailed information, and we are working to put that together for them," she said. "I will bringing Chamber of Commerce and local and state government leaders together very soon to begin that process.

 

"Obviously, one strong sales point has been the tremendous success of the NBA Hornets in Oklahoma City this season. We are suddenly on the map for big league sports."