musk

new goal in life: to have a key ring full of keys of teams i root for. Marlins, Dolphins, StL Cardinals, Univ of Miami, Univ of Illinois But first I need to own crap that has keys to it. :confused

I know Hermida really well....he is shy, quiet and stays to himself....ask Chris Resop to get Hermida over to see you and he will accomodate you..they are roommates and real good friends.....they are headed to dinner tonight with Dontrelle Hopefully this solves the mystery about Hermi how do you know hermida really well? i'm not doubting your statement, I'm just curious.

Today at the gym I glanced up at one of the TV screens and saw that it was showing a baseball game. Normally I don't care who is playing unless it's the St. Louis Cardinals, or so I thought. As soon as I saw it was the Florida Marlins vs the LA Dodgers my heart jumped w/ excitement. This caught me totally by suprise seeing as how I wrote off the Marlins last November when the firesale became a reality. I was actually excited to watch the Marlins in action, more excited than I ever was to watch a Cardinals game on television (even though I spent 3 hours online trying to get Cardinals tickets 2 weeks ago). I still don't think we'll be contenders this year, or even next year, but the possibility of seeing some young talent in my hometown uniform is awesome. Then to cap off the entire Marlins-on-TV expirence John "Boog" Schambi was doing the play-by-play. I love Boog. He is THE BEST radio host in South Florida and he is one of my favorite "baseball guys"next to Mike Shannon of the Cardinals. I learned something about myself today. I learned that no matter how ruthless your hometown team can be when it comes to gutting out a franchise, they are still your home town team. You cannot just stop rooting for them, you cannot just stop caring about them, and you cannot stop loving them. I may not live and die w/ the team this year as I did last year, but you will be certain that if I am in South Florida this summer I will be buying tickets to as many games as possible. I will still follow their games and their stats regardless and I hope that in a couple of years, when we rekindle the 2003 magic and come out of no where to be serious contenders, my passion will have grown as the team grows in talent. The name on the back of the jersey means nothing as long as the name on the front of it always reads "Marlins".

it is spring training though. i'm happy because we had some offense and we were hitting the ball well. granted I didn't see the whole game but 8 runs? i don't remember that ever happening in last year's spring training

i actually agree w/ this. They should trade Willis. It will be close to pointless keeping him for another year since they wont have the cash to keep him past '06 and he really won't be making a difference next year seeing as we won't be competitive. If they are wanting to "load up on young talent" then Willis is the guy you trade. His value has never been higher and he is easily a 1,2 starter on any rotation in the bigs.

i'm a huge cardinals fan. all my friends are huge cardinals fan. so i'll be rooting hardcore for the cardinals. i'll get an MLB package and maybe some satellite radio to listen to mike shannon. BTW: Rick Van Horn - Your HR call is f***ING LAME! up up and away this! :banned :putemup :loser

Before going to bed last night I saw the JP report on ESPN. I predicted this was going to happen but I wasn't prepared for it. Somehow seeing JP's highlights on TV sparked feelings of just how he was the soul of this Marlins offense. He has to be one the most exciting players in baseball to watch and when he did well, the Marlins did well (even McKeon admitted this). And now, he's gone. Along w/ JP's departure goes my love for the team. I loved JP and the magnitude of the fire sale didn't hit me until JP left. I seriously thought this management would be different and make wise payroll decisions to keep the club competitive w/ young/cheap players. Thats why I thought the Marlins would be different after the '03 WS win than they were after the '97 WS win. But no, I was wrong. 2 fire sales in less than 10 year?! Are you kidding me? How can you root for a team that guts itself every decade? What is there left to root for? The players are all different. The manager and coaching staff is and will be different. And now the team's motivations (seeking relocation instead of seeking a WS ring) are different. The only thing that is left to root for is the name on the jerseys. AND EVEN THOSE MIGHT CHANGE IN THE NEXT 5 YEARS! So I'm sure a lot of you are going to hate on me and call me a bandwaggon fan and tell me "good riddence". But thats fine. I can no longer bring myself to root for a franchise that does this to its fans. I can not root for a AAA ball club in MLB uniforms knowing that last year we were inches away from the playoffs. A while back someone posted that when they say they are a Marlins fan people laugh at him and he didn't know why. Well, consider your question answered. We are the laughing stock of baseball. If the 1998 team went down as one of the worst pro teams in the past 25 years (ESPN), this 2006 team will be right there with it. I'm not asking for any sympathy or support. I'm just making my feelings heard. Like all of you, my feelings have been crushed. And I just can't find myself to support this team. At least not at the level I was last year. I'll probably go to a couple games this summer, but the amount of love I have for the team this year will be a 10th of what I had last year. I know there are a lot of die-hards out there that just refuse to be realistic about the "new" Marlins. Thats fine. You will be one of the 12,000 in attendence at a saturday night game. For those of you who are being realisitic at the cost of being optomistic, you know where I am coming from and I'm sure a lot of you agree with me. Good luck Marlins (you'll need it). I hope that either a) you find a new home b) find a new stadium or c) by the grace of god become competitive again sometime in the next 3 seasons (although i highly doubt it).

be honest, who didnt see this coming? cubs need a CF and a leadoff man. We have one of the best leadoff men in the league who happens to play CF. match made in heaven? yeah, pretty much. Come on Loria, do it, trade Cabrera and Willis! I dare you!

dude, the trading wont stop until everyone is gone. i keep saying willis and cabrera will be gone after next season but I wouldn't be suprised if they were gone during the winter meetings. They are both grossly underpaid under their current contracts and have the potential to be stars for the next decade. The marlins will not be able to offer them competitive salaries. Don't prolong the inevitable, let them go now. I would hate to see two talents like that go to waste on a club that wont be competitive next year. Yeah, call me cynical and pessamistic. But how many of you really think cabrera OR willis will have a long term deal w/ the marlins when the time is due? Now I'm basing my argument on the fact that they are up for arbitration after this season. If that is not true and they can still play under their current contract for the '06 and '07 seasons then maybe we shouldnt trade them just yet. However, if you take into account Cabrera's recent attitude w/ the septermber slide and the fact that he may continue that if the club is not competitive, hey may become a locker room cancer and might still be traded prematurely.

NOOOOO!!!! DON'T TAKE THAT LAND!!! ITS HORRIBLE FOR A BASEBALL STADIUM! for those of you who are either real dolphins fans or real marlins fans and acutally attend games at dolphins stadium you know exactly what i'm talking about. the surrounding neighborhood/enviroment is NOT conducive to substaining a profitable baseball team. especially one that needs to work on a more loyal fanbase. Take back the offer Wayne, the stadium needs to go in a major metropolitan area not in your ghetto slum hole!

good. im glad he wont return. its the best for HIM. obviously this club will NOT be competitive for at least the next 3 years so leave jeff. you've been good to us but i rather you get the respect you deserve somehwere else

i actually like this idea. yeah, loria won't sell. i think he should just to give the marlins an owner w/ deeper pockets that can build a stadium and field a team Loria can't do both. He doesnt have the money for it. Lets say this guy buys the team (hypothetically), would you be happy w/ having another Yankess/Red Sox organization in south florida? An organization that just pays out of their a$$ for players? and maybe jacks up ticket prices in the meantime?

i wasn't a season ticket holder. if i was i dont think i'd be renewing just because i cant see myself paying for a team that has a strong posibility of losing 5 out of 7 games a week. note: i might be living in kansas city next summer also. So i'm actually facing this delema w/ the royals.

If you fools don't know when you're being manipulated I can't even feel pity for you. We fools don't want your pity! SO THERE! Wallow in your delusional hell all you want. Hopefully all you haters will disappear into your bunkers with your conspiracy theories, hate and misplaced anger, and we can get back to talking baseball. i don't get this. really, how are we supposed to look at this. I like the article, regardless of what analogies he used. Yes, this is a firesale. The only difference from 98 is that the team isnt up for sale. but still, its a cutting of salary to make the team somewhat profitable. How are we being manipulated here? Veterans are being traded for AA and AAA talent. Most teams add talent to make themselves competitve and we are literally giving it away. You're telling me we couldn't get Veteran talent for Beckett and Delgado? Come on. Oh, and btw, this is one of the biggest stories in baseball not to mention in marlins baseball right now. So please, enlighten me on what marlins news you rather talk about? Go ahead, I dare you to put a good spin on fielding a AAA team in a MLB uniform and make them play in Dolphins Stadium next year. Here, I'll give you a start; Parking will be easier and more plentiful and there will be more empty seats for you to put your feet up.

stop saying pierre is going to stay. its pointless to think that. OBVIOUSLY the marlins are trying to get rid of ANYONE who makes 7 figures or whatever. pierre is gone, probably to whoever has the better farm system. I'm looking at the desperate Cubs. They need a CF and a leadoff man. Pierre is perfect. And, that smaller outfield helps him w/ his weak ass arm. Take it easy JP. I can't root for you anymore because you are going to one of my top 5 hated teams.

Really, did anyone not see this coming? Mets need a catcher and LoDuca makes more than $3 a year. 2 All-Stars Left.......

Cabrera is probably one of the top 5 hitters of the league and Willis is probably one of the top 5 young pitchers in the league. I think Cabrera's attitude next season and following will be "get me off this crap ass team" if we end up like the 1998 team or something closely resembling that (basically, not competitve at all). Willis is harder to get a read on because he is more down to earth than cabrera but i also think he'll want to go somewhere else but more so for a team that can compete for a world series. I can see Cabrera leaving for a combination of money and competitiveness. What do you guys think the attitude of these two players will be when a) we are 15 games out of the division lead come july (maybe a little premature but for the sake of argument i want this to be a drastic decline from last year) and b) the season is over?

I think our ptiching will be better than the Rockies I see us with around 65-70 wins yeah thats cus we dont play 81 games in colorado. i'd say if the Nats get off to a fast start again we'll be dead last. if the Nats continue how they were doing towards the end of last season we'll be competing w/ them for last place. and i think im being optomistic here.

thats the first of 4 of last year's all stars gone. lo duca buddy, you're left. (which is sad because i absolutly LOVE your firey attitude)

hasn't it been established already that Girardi had full knowledge that there were going to be payroll cuts? in every industry "payroll cuts" means letting people go. he knew about this. and you know what, i bet jack knew about this to and that helped in his resignation. people are just trying to create controversy.

I dont see why we dont just scale back the cost of the new stadium so as to cover the funding gap.... Miami Arena...... Enough said

i plan on investing more of my money and time on my 2nd favorite team, The St. Louis Cardinals. I go to school in Central Illinois and the Cardinals were the team i was told to like and the Marlins were my hometown team. I was a bigger fan of the Marlins, but now as they are preparing to leave (which i'm almost certain they will) i have to slowly switch my number one team to the midwest.

even if there is a NEW stadium built next to Dolphins Stadium the team will still face it's current attendence problems. The neighborhood around Dolphins Stadium doesn't have the money to buy tickets to a baseball game. Fans in Miami will never make it to weeknight games after work (trust me, I've tried and its tough. especially if you're going 2 - 4 nights out of the week). There is NOTHING to do around the stadium that will create a buzz or an excitement to go to a baseball game (look @: Fenway, Wirgley, and Busch). Finally, public transportation to the stadium in that remote area is non existant making it even harder to get to games. We've been here before on this board and I think it was almost unanimous that a stadium in the current location or near it would not solve attendence problems. The Marlins would basically have a state of the art stadium that is constantly 1/2 full. Also, think of this - Loria does not have the pockets for a new stadium AND a contending team on the field. You have to pick one and go with it. If he does fund the new stadium then how is he going to field a team that can contend which needs a payroll at least over 50mil. Basically I think the Marlins need a stadium in downtown miami or downtown fortlauderdale (yeah, i know its a pipedream). somewhere where there is a high population and support for small business (resturants, bars etc). Opa Locka is not the answer.

This city still needs a lot of "growing up" to do before it becomes a legit city. Downtown is ridden w/ poverty and drug violence, horrible public transportation, horrible high way systems, and lack of traditional culture (performing arts centers, museums, etc). You do not have reputable museums or a plethora of performing arts centers. These are all issues that the city needs to address before the City of Miami becomes a "real city". Don't believe me? Go take a visit to Chicago, San Francisco, or St. Louis and you'll see what I mean. That being said, the city has had a POOR reputation with managing public building projects which have been addressed before in this thread. I personally would like to see the stadium in the park next to AAA. It has perfect access by metrorail/people mover and is close enough to Little Havana to be accessable to the blue colar workforce that IS Little Havana citizens. But lets be honest with ourselves, we cannot blame the cities constiuents (sp) by not trusting the city w/ tax money for this stadium. I don't blame them. I wouldn't trust the city to make my toast let allone handle a quarter of a billion dollar project. These people that say there is a huge list of things that the city needs to address are right. BUT, that doesn't mean the city will address them. My family has been here for almost 60 years and not once has the city been able to make the right decisions. The point I'm trying to make here is that yes, the city has a list of much more important needs, but just because the stadium deal is dead doesn't mean that these items on the list are going to get taken care of. As a matter of fact I can almost assure those people that none of those things will be taken care of.

i hate dan lebatard........BUT he has been on the money when it comes to bashing the fans for the marlins collapse. So I agree w/ all of his current Marlins related articles. But my appreciation for him ends there. He's just a craptastic journalist.