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I'd imagine that if they go for this there will be a late tri-rail run north...at least I hope so.

The Cuban community already supports this team in large numbers on TV and Radio, as does the rest of the community. For us to come out to the stadium the marlins need to be the talk of the town. Somehow the ballpark needs to be a place where you want to be seen, a status symbol. Start giving away tickets to every celebrity that comes to town, and bring them to the park in a very public, attention getting way. Start promoting yourself with the nightlife at Miami Beach. Get players to go there publically, start passing around tickets...do whatever you can to get that crowd in the stands. Also an indoor stadium would be nice.

complain about a stadium that isn't even proposed.

Girardi certainly deserves a lot of credit. FO doesn't control attitude, and it doesn't control chemistry. Managing in baseball isn't so much X's and O's (though more so in the National League than American), as it is managing personalities. He's done an excellent job managing pitch counts, and keeping these kids focused. Loria certainly has a right to treat this team as his toy, but it won't be good for the fans if he does. He's certainly on pace to being a poorer Steinbrenner.

It only works if the team has a GM of Beinfest's quality. Serious I can't think of another team that can pull off the coup we did. It also helped that the players we traded away were young, by some team's standards cheap, and thus had serious trade value.

Take a pitcher from the dead ball era. 30+win good lord. Walter Johnson's 1913 for example: 36 wins, 243 K's, and 1.14 ERA. His ERA, adjusted to the league, is the fifth best in history. Opponents batted .187 and had a .217 OBP (sixth lowest all-time). He tossed 11 shutouts, completed 29 games, and threw 346 innings - all league bests. But Christy Mathewson, Cy Young, and Grover Alexander all had similiar years.

I'm cuban too, but I love it when the team comes here. Two or three defections, guarenteed.

No, expansion is done for awhile. Rays are locked in st pete for another 25 years. There were rumors during contraction that the Rays would be allowed to leave if the cities were given money and some bookings...the idea being that the marlins would play there part time concentrating on the last part when football season came around....unfortunately the rumor was bogus.

Its sad, but Josh is leaving first chance he gets. His skin and pitching style just can't handle the humidity. He's going to be awesome for somebody else. sigh.

So this makes no sense to me but it was floating around at a bar I frequent. Basically the city of Miami would buy Dolphin stad from Huizinga, and agree to put a roof on it. Then they rent it out to the Marlins and Dolphins at sweetheart deals. I pointed out to the gentleman that there is no way to put a roof when its in use 9 months of the year. He said 4-5 months is enough, but the Dolphins would have to find a temporary home if they make it to the playoffs, akin to what the Bears did. The other thing is that even minus the Marlins revenue, Huizinga makes good money with the Stadium, and I doubt he would part with it. Anyway its an interesting thought.

Wouldn't it be nice if Huzinga would just sell a 50% stake in the stadium to Loria, and they could put a roof on it together

um...Barry Bonds? No doubt I want Delgado to win, but he isn't going to.

If neither Juan or Jeff are traded then the solution is simple. If Juan can hit in line with his career averages (.270+, 20HR, etc) then he should be the RF everyday. If he starts slumping put in Conine. I really like the idea of Conine on the bench, being the primary backup, and a very dangerous backup at 4 positions.

Probably but 80% have been around longer than we have. Still look around and thats usually the rule. Alternatively look at those who mean a lot to the community, and aren't likely to be forgotten soon. Conine was on his way, but all those years away from home hurt. I'm not the owner, but I wouldn't put any of them on the wall.

I don't think there is a marlin who'll get his number retired. Conine just isn't good enough...long shot. Lowell has a "slightly" better chance, because he is a true native, and still has some years ahead. Sheif will get it only if he goes in as a fish, and he's not likely to get in. Cabs has the potential, but I don't want to think about us trying to sign him at his peak. Just look around the league about who gets their numbers retired. Hall of Famers, record breakers, and then those that supported the other two. Conine and Lowell were/are solid players, community leaders, but they are not superstars (we'll not for more than a year or 2 anyway).

McClatchy rips owners for spending, questions if some risking financial wipeout By ALAN ROBINSON, AP Sports Writer January 28, 2005 PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Pittsburgh's Kevin McClatchy lashed out at other baseball owners Friday for a return of free-agent spending that he fears may steer some clubs close to bankruptcy. McClatchy, the Pirates' managing general partner, warned of a growing division between big-payroll and small-market clubs that could lead to contentious owners meetings and a much-harder stance during the next labor negotiations. The current labor deal with players runs until December 2006. ``I don't know what happened, maybe they drank some funny water, but they all decided they were back on the binge,'' McClatchy said. ``When somebody goes out and pays an average pitcher $7 million a year, then anybody who's an average pitcher says they need $7 million a year. That's very difficult, and when you're giving pitchers $18 million in arbitration, that also makes it difficult.'' NL Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens agreed to an $18 million, one-year contract with Houston, a record one-year salary for a pitcher and the equivalent of nearly half the Pirates' projected $40 million payroll. Some teams criticized the New York Mets for giving a $22.5 million, three-year contract to former-Pirate Kris Benson, then for giving Pedro Martinez a $53 million, four-year contract and Carlos Beltran a $119 million, seven-year deal. ``I don't know about the bank vault being open,'' Mets general manager Omar Minaya said Friday. ``We competed for Pedro and for Beltran with other clubs that were right there where we were and pretty much ended up paying.'' The Pirates' payroll is about $10 million less than that of the Washington Nationals, owned by the other major league clubs. After two offseasons with relatively few huge contracts, McClatchy admittedly was stunned with what he called a series of signings that were ``ridiculous -- at best.'' McClatchy's sharp talk mirrors that of the Orioles' Peter Angelos, who said first baseman Carlos Delgado's $52 million contract with Florida reflects baseball's ``fiscal insanity.'' McClatchy also questions how teams that only recently were talking about financial stress agreed to huge contracts. Arizona signed pitcher Russ Ortiz for $33 million and third baseman Troy Glaus for $45 million, both over four years. ``What you don't want to see is some of these teams spend themselves into bankruptcy -- that's not good for any of the league, that becomes a liability on all of us,'' McClatchy said. ``I'm not sure if some of these people are writing checks with money they necessarily have, and that's a negative thing. He added, ``You wonder how, since they were in a tough financial spot, some of the spending is going to work, how they're eventually going to be able to pay their bills. When you're drawing 1.7 million, and you take your payroll up too high, you just do the math.'' The Pirates, by contrast, have signed no free agents to major league contracts and have handed out only two multiyear contracts: shortstop Jack Wilson's $8 million, two-year deal and right-hander reliever Salomon Torres' $2.6 million, two-year deal. McClatchy is rooting for NHL owners to reach a labor agreement that includes a cap or some other harsh salary restraint, something he said baseball badly needs. ``I'm disappointed, very disappointed in the other owners, and I think as we go toward a new collective bargaining agreement, there's going to have to be some sort of constraint put on because these other guys can't control themselves,'' he said. McClatchy, who serves on baseball's executive council and long-range labor committee, is promising to be more outspoken in future owners meetings. ``I've think they've created a hawk,'' he said. ``A lot of us are concerned and are definitely going to speak up.'' Despite McClatchy's glum financial talk and the Pirates' 12th consecutive losing season in 2004, the team's annual Fanfest opened Friday to what was expected to be record crowds. Attendance was way up during the first week of the team's winter caravan, which featured Wilson and promising pitcher Oliver Perez. Season ticket sales are up about 30 percent, partly because buyers who keep their seats the following season get the opportunity to buy 2006 All-Star tickets. Although I'm happy we got Delgado, I've got to agree with these owners. The problem is simple, you've got to win to keep your fan base. But when large market teams are signing the most talented players, its real tough to sell tickets...regardless of how good your farm is. A hard-cap with a large amont of revenue sharing could be the answer, but the union+steinbrenner is simply too powerful. Anyway I've got all my fingers tangled up hoping we get our stadium and our future will be a little more secure.

Great we got Delgado (I still think we overpaid, but that's neither here nor there). Now what? We still got some work to do. What do we do with Conine and Enc? Jeff can't possibly handle RF everyday. He'd be a heck of a backup at 1st, 3rd, LF, and RF...but can we afford him as a backup? Can we afford to trade him again? Is Enc really the best option, or is there somebody ready to take his spot? Free-Agency is dry, so its got to be from the farm or from another team. Knowing that, is it worth packaging Stokes (who will never make it on this team) to unload his salary?

Conine should be the primary backup at 1st, 3rd, Rf, and LF. How's that for utility? He'll get plenty of playing time.

Mags is the better fit. Sends Cabs to 1st, and drop either Enc or more likely Conine to another team. IF teams are as scared as I think they are about his injury, he would be a 1-year contract candidate. Being from Venezuela the Fish would be in prime position to snag him.

I'm not a big fan of rumors, but this forum needs a few more posts...so what the hell. It is interesting with at best a 0.1% chance of happening (which is 1/1000 for those who don't know much math). Also this dates from before Wayne decided to close the Pro to the Marlins after 2010/2011. Regardless, on to the rumor. Selig has privately voiced that the D-Rays won't work long term (no secret here). He'd like to move them. Unfortunately St Pete has a contract stating that the D-Rays are stuck for 30 years from the inagural season. Well should the Marlins fail to get a stadium, Selig wanted (in addition to money) give Tropicana half of the Marlins games, with the Marlins continuing to play the other half at the Pro. Anyway, the way it was described to me is more of Selig sounding off on an idea, rather than anything serious. I don't think anybody (Loria, Wayne, or Selig) would tie us to the Pro for 20+years, with the current terms anyway. And I don't think St Pete is willing to lose the D-Rays. But IF this has any validity (and again I'm not sure it does) it would mean that Selig does not want the Marlins are not moving out of South Florida. It could be because of the market size. But personally I think a more important factor is Miami being the gateway to Latin America. It's a very important city in terms of exposure to the Carribean and South America.

Likely Openings: 0 Starting Position Players 1 Starting Pitchers 3 Bullpen Pitchers (2 MR, and 1 Lefty Specialist) 4 Bench Players (Catcher, Infielder, Outfielder, and a tossup) If Beinfest is going to improve the team's talent its got to be by trade, and I don't see anything brewing. I say that because there simply aren't enough openings. Traditionally most of the offseason trades are made early, shortly after the GM meetings. The one important opening is a starting pitcher, which is a premium this offseason. What I'm getting at is the only way we are going to improve, is to get hot, and I mean really hot. We are not, no matter how much we complain, going to be a more talented team than last year. Kind of depressing. :thumbdown

Pavano we couldn't have won the WS without you. I wish you the greatest personal success, may you be the only bright spot on that team.

Lieter has said he wants to stay in NYC. I read that as the Mets, but now it looks like the Mets or Yanks. Oh well, means we have to work a little harder.

I'm not sure the Fish could or should offer anymore. But he is going to be one of the most expensive players on the market. He's going to get some bigger offers, in terms of years and money.

They'd survive. Mostly because they aren't tied to anybody else. Business whose main issues would be trade and taxes could join the Liberals or the Christian Conservatives. Labor could join either the Chrisitian Conservatives or Liberals. Again its purely academic, just food for thought.