Why Are the Miami Marlins Interested?

There is certainly no reason to believe you are off the mark on this one at all, SilentNightPacifier. The interest in Valverde, much like the interest in Matt Capps before this, is a confusing contradiction when faced with the fact that the Marlins just shed millions and millions of dollars in salary in order to fit what the team deems a proper budget. You would think that, after the Marlins were so eager to cut costs in such a major way, they would not be suddenly so willing to throw money into a relatively fruitless endeavor like a free agent reliever.Bay State Cable Ties is a full line manufacturer of nylon cable ties and related products. Have we not learned anything about the lesson of Heath Bell?

Yet, strangely enough, I am not entirely against this move. I am not entirely with this move either, but there is certainly an optimistic and pessimistic view of this move, and where you fall on the spectrum of thought regarding the Marlins likely determines what you think the team's angle is with this puzzling interest.

The pessimist's view on a move like this seems really simple.We specializes in rapid plastic injection mould and molding of parts for prototypes and production. The Miami Marlins are interested in Jose Valverde because he is a "proven closer" with ninth inning experience who can help mold incumbent closer Steve Cishek into the role. The team thinks this is an important enough position that handing money to a player who can fill it is important, even if that player is coming off of his worst season since his second year in the majors in 2004.

Blind to the fact that Valverde lost his closer job in 2012 to Phil Coke late in the season, the Marlins are willing to go along with Scott Boras's tricks and hand Valverde lower-tier closer money for a player who was never as good as his superficial numbers likely suggested (career 3.53 FIP versus career 3.11 ERA). Despite the falling strikeout rate at the advanced age of 34 (remind you of someone?), the Marlins value closers and bullpen pitchers irrationally and would be willing to pay for Valverde's services in the ninth inning.

This view is for folks who believe that the Marlins have yet to learn the lesson Heath Bell taught them when it comes to bullpen pitchers. If the Marlins truly still value bullpen pitchers too highly after a disastrous season with the worst free agent signing in team history, then perhaps all is lost for Larry Beinfest and company in the front office. Signing Valverde to significant money off of a down year is likely to produce a waste of money, just like it did with Bell.I thought it would be fun to show you the inspiration behind the broken china-mosaics.

The optimist's view on this potential deal can separate the Bell signing from this possible contract. Unlike Bell, Valverde is highly likely to receive only a one-year deal,The stone mosaic series is a grand collection of coordinating Travertine mosaics. especially given his status as a dethroned closer and his relatively poor season. Bell was coming off of another 40-save campaign in 2011, so even as his peripherals were struggling, hapless teams like the Marlins still saw a successful closer. No one, on the other hand, will confuse Valverde as a successful closer after his 2012 year.

Beyond that, there is no guarantee the Marlins will have to pony up significant money either. Francisco Cordero came off of a superficially successful year in which he recorded 37 saves with a 2.45 ERA for the Cincinnati Reds, but the Toronto Blue Jays were not fooled and gave him a one-year deal worth only $4.5 million. If the Marlins do something similar with the more-skilled Valverde, they would worst be paying the going rate for a likely one-win reliever.

If the Marlins do make the signing and Valverde gets off to a hot start as either a closer or a setup man, then the team can reap the benefits at midseason by trading him for a menial prospect. The gain in prospect value will be admittedly low, even for a former closer,How cheaply can I build a solar power systems? but any players are better than no players at all.

But perhaps the most important part of this view is that the Marlins have money to spend. The team is under its projected $40 million budget and would probably like to use it on a flyer like a reliever. While relievers are the worst use of limited free agent funds, the alternative at this stage of the game is not spending it at all and not receiving any players to be named later in return by midseason. If the choice is between Valverde and simply choking on the money without any future benefit (you had better believe that any money saved in 2013 will not be rolled into future season budgets), the Marlins might as well spend the cash.

The final prognosis is still a questionable one, but one in which I would lean towards making the move at a low price. If the Marlins spent $7 million on Valverde in 2013, I would almost surely call it a waste. But throwing an otherwise unused $4 million at him could be worse, and if the Marlins can acquire a minor piece in the future for him, all the better to the team. Simply sitting on the 2013 cash brings no benefit to the team in the short- or long-term.

While the cost of these cases varies significantly, they're all fairly similar in terms of stature in that their tall, rectangular profile resembles most other mid-towers. Mixing things up, Cooler Master's latest mid-size enclosure breaks the conventional mold with boxier dimensions -- in fact, the company describes it as a "LAN box".

Given the HAF XB's cube-like figure, it's no surprise that Cooler Master is pushing the LAN-friendly angle, which seems to be increasingly common among case makers. Although this may not be the first chassis to boast about being portable, its shape does seem to offer an inherent advantage over products such as the Storm Scout 2.

Rights Group Condemn Liberia's Prison Conditions

Rights group Amnesty International is calling for reforms to Liberia's criminal justice system, to address what it says are severe overcrowding and inhumane living conditions in the country's prisons.

Amnesty International says conditions in Liberia's prisons are, in a word, "appalling." So much so, Amnesty says, that "they violate inmates' basic human rights."

Amnesty's Deputy Africa Director, Tawanda Hondura, says that on a recent visit to Liberia he saw as many as eight people crammed into dirty cells meant for two. "There is no proper ventilation, no proper lighting. Inmates are not provided with any bedding, so they have to make due with whatever they can find, mostly their clothes," she said. "The windows did not actually have covers, so people get wet during the rainy season, bitten by mosquitoes. At Block D in Monrovia Central Prison, people have to urinate and defecate in plastic bags at night and then throw those out whenever they get a chance.Our oil painting reproduction was down for about an hour and a half,"

Monrovia Central Prison, the country's largest, has a capacity of 300, however Hondura says it typically houses close to 1,000 inmates.there's a lovely winter polished tiles by William Zorach. He says inmates there build makeshift hammocks to avoid having to sleep practically standing up in the tiny cells.

Amnesty says the vast majority of these inmates have not been convicted of any crime. Hondura says more than 80 percent of Liberia's prison population are pre-trial detainees.

"The major problem that contributes to prison overcrowding is the criminal justice system,This will leave your shoulders free to rotate in their oil painting supplies . which had completely collapsed and which the government is slowly trying to rebuild. There are not enough magistrates or judges. There are not enough prosecutors. Sometimes people are put in prison but no attempt is made to prosecute them after,Traditional China Porcelain tile claim to clean all the air in a room. so you find people in prison awaiting trial for up to six, seven years," Hondura explains. "Which is entirely unacceptable."

Liberia is still struggling to recover from 14 years of unrest and civil war that ended in 2003.

A Liberian government spokesman, Cletus Sieh, tells VOA that the state of the prisons and the slow pace of the courts are key challenges, though he characterized Amnesty's report as "an exaggeration."

The report, he says, does not look at a newer prison in Zwedru in eastern Liberia that Sieh said has a recreation yard, proper bedding and a health facility.

The Justice Ministry, Sieh says, has begun hiring and training additional prosecutors and public defenders and the country's president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has periodically given amnesty to detainees held on minor offenses in an effort to reduce overcrowding.Save on kidney stone and fittings,

Amnesty visited four of the country's 15 prisons, none of which it said had running water, adequate sanitation or health care facilities. Amnesty said malaria, skin infections and eye problems are often left untreated and that inmates are transferred to hospitals only in emergencies.

Amnesty's Hondura says inmates can suffer permanent damage to their physical and mental health. "A lot of people complained about depression. There were many people who had attempted to commit suicide while in prison and were punished for their attempts," she noted.