LoMo files a grievance
Back in August, the Florida Marlins sent down their starting left fielder to "work on his game", which happens when your starting left fielder is only 23 years old and in just his second season in the major leagues.
In Logan Morrison's case, however, something didn't smell right. At the time of his demotion, Morrison was arguably the second best hitter on the Marlins roster next to Mike Stanton. Morrison (nicknamed "LoMo") was second on the team in OPS, second in home runs, and third in RBI. He was hitting .249, which was originally sited as the reason for his demotion.
Fine really - Morrison is a better hitter than that. He hit .283/.390/.447 in 62 games the previous season. But generally if you're sending a player down a level in the system, he's doing one of two (if not both) things - he's hurting his confidence by struggling at too high a level, and/or he's hurting the team by taking playing time away from another player.
Well, if you've ever read Morrison on Twitter, he doesn't really come off like a guy who's lacking in confidence. And if you've seen the 2011 Marlins roster, you'd be hard-pressed to find a player who should be starting in his place. Bryan Petersen? Dewayne Wise? Greg Dobbs? Alfredo Amezaga? LoMo thinks it's because he talks a bit too much on his Twitter feed and speaks out on things maybe he should stay quiet about.
Maybe so, but sending him to the minors came off like a parent dumping a kid off to grandma's because he didn't want to deal with him acting up. The Marlins called him back up 10 days later, and now LoMo's filing a complaint through the player's union, saying he was sent down "for disciplinary reasons with no just cause." Essentially, punishment.
Regardless of outcome, it just makes the Marlins look even worse. Three managers in two years, a lack of control and discipline in their players, and a really sad stadium experience (the game I went to was either nearly silent or had most of the crowd rooting for the opposing team - I can't imagine what that must feel like as a player), and the Marlins are a team going totally in the wrong direction. 2012 can't come soon enough for the team (either for their new stadium or for the Mayan apocalypse - I'm not sure which.)