nbace

Marlins will win 70-75 games Team will draw 1.3 million reported, under 1 million actual turnstile count. Jacob Turner wins 17+ games Ricky Nolasco traded at the deadline

For the past two days, Loria has proven just how "tone deaf" he really is. It's hard to take the man as credible when he touts how great the young players are...and can't name the starting shortstop and second baseman. If they had come into this season with a $70-75 million payroll, they would not have this serious perception problem. If this team still had Buerhle and JJ in the rotation...or Buerhle in the rotation with Reyes at short....the perception would be way better. Still could have re-tooled, made a trade or two, improved the minor league system...and go into this season with a much more proven major league roster. While going young *might* have been the best move in the 3-5 year "long run", the timing was incredibly poor and was a bad move for the overall health of the franchise. By the way, I think the Marlins made great "in-season" deals last year....they did well getting Turner and Brantley from the Tigers for Annibal/Omar and I have no issue with the Hanley deal.

I was told today by an employee of another professional sports team in town that the Marlins have only sold 6,000 tickets for OPENING NIGHT. Even after the worst fire sales before, the team always drew over 30k for the home opener. A. Does anybody know if this is true? and B. Will this send enough of a message to Loria/Samson that changes their behavior? I mean, if that stadium is less than half full for the opener....it will be a national embarassment as bad as the trades. Anyone have an idea how many season tickets they've sold this year?

Nobody disagrees that last year was a disappointment. Nobody disagrees that the Marlins needed to make changes and do something different. But this ownership is so tone deaf that they completely "nuked" the payroll after promising to field middle of the pack "competitive" payrolls with the new ballpark...and now they are trying to PR their way out of it. I'm not going to stop being a Marlins fan...but the 20-game plans I bought might become 3-4 games this year...and all bought on stubhub for dirt cheap. Talking about how good the trade was in "baseball terms" is a major example of how tone deaf Loria and Samson are.

Not completely. Happy baseball is nearly back, but I haven't been less excited for a season in a long time. This summarizes my feelings perfectly. Every year I have lived in the state of Florida (including standing in line at the student union at UF in 1993 to get ticketmaster tix to the first opener at JRS), I have bought opening day tickets the day the went on sale....last year, I bought 3 20-game plans. While I have looked at tix online for the opener, I have not pulled the trigger yet for this year...and i'm still on the fence as to whether I will. I know i'll end up at a few games....but i'll be damned if I buy any type of season package or mini-plan from this ownership again.

But then Samson said in a televised interview he didn't care if Broward and PBC fans only went to 5 games a year. Isn't that about the combined amount Broward and PBC fans went to anyways? Besides you, of course. Bro, don't you remember how they filled JRS for years? They are the real fan base. Ah you're right. I'm sorry. Either you guys don't get it or you just don't get it. Simple Biz 101.......You don't push any loyal customer base away, no matter how small, just because you move a few miles and concentrate on another customer base that was never loyal anyway. How many times, just on these boards, did we hear Dade residents telling everyone how they were going to show all the other counties how to attend and support a baseball team when this new palace was being built? Well now they have about the same type team that JRS almost always had, but with a far superior ball park. Distorted civic pride and/or machoism be damned, time to put up or shut up. Who the hell goes to a game to see the ballpark? That's the wine and cheese crowd, not the fans. Wine and cheese people still pay to get in. People do come just to experience the park. Hopefully they have a good time and come back.The ballpark is worth 2-3 trips down from West Palm Beach next year (love the food).....but the team is not worth the 20-game package I had last year.

It will be interesting to see what the "reported" attendance in 2013 is vs. what actually happens. The only problem with the Stubhub $2.00 ticket buying theory is that someone has to buy them first to re-sell them. I hope to get a few bargains and go to a handful of games....but the 3 20-game plans I bought last year...forget it. Season ticket sales will drop by at least 50% or more.

The white unis and black unis look good....the orange, not so much.

I know it's not likely...but IF the Fish can get a sweep this weekend, can it be fairly said that the Marlins would be back in the Wild Card chase? It would put the Fish 5.5 games out right at the trade deadline. Get r' done!

I need to find a way to get to more games. Marlins are 4-0 in games i've been to this season, including today. As for FOTG...Annibal was DEALING it today. Felt like he actually had no hit stuff.

When I lived up in Virginia, i'd catch a couple of games against the Nats and maybe the Phillies. Now, living in West Palm Beach, my goal is to catch one game per homestand (those weekday 7 PM starts are impossible since I work until almost 7). Does spring training count? Made it a couple at Roger Deal.

Voted Bake. I believe we have the best hitting catcher combo in the MLB. Maybe only NL because I would take Mauer and whoever the hell his backup is over anybody. All good Marlins fans know Mauer's back-up well. Good old Mike Redmond!!!!!! Point well taken though, Go Fish.

Great fun. Glad to see there are many of us out there glued to our computer screens. To the guy who hit the Phillies series last week, what great timing. Were you in any danger in the stands? Nah...it wasn't too bad...though those Philly fans were kinda rough after Victorino was tossed on Sunday. They booed the "God Bless America" singer....but damn, the cheesesteaks at the ballpark were damn good. We had great seats behind home plate on Saturday...right by the MLB scouts. I only hope the Marlins new park is as cool as Citizens Bank.

Miami native now living in Charlottesville, VA after 5 years in Missouri and South Dakota. Was there for opening day back in '93 and always catch at least a series or two on the road. (was in Philly last weekend).

Glad to see the fish win one. Living in VA, i've been stuck with MASN telecasts for the O's series and now the Nats. That plus most of the Rays series by Rays announcers...makes me appreciate watching Rich and Tommy on MLB extra innings. Nats announcers are particularly bad....but they were ripping our crowd (or lack thereof) big time tonight.

The most recent round of changes (Coughlin in Left and Hermida back to Right) have made the "D" much worse....De Aza should be in Center, Cody back in Right, and Hermidia back in left (unless Stanton or Raynor is ready to go). The pitching staff badly needs a complete game to rest the 'pen. That Doubleheader destroyed what was left. Maybe JJ can give it today. Bonifacio should be hitting 7th or 8th and let De Aza lead off.

How come nobody besides Ch.10 is reporting this story? I've seen nothing from the Herald or Sun-Sentinel.

Sat in their "Stars and Stripes" club seats today (got the tix on ebay cheap)....really cool feature, there are a couple of bars where you can watch the game from right in the club section.

Was great to see the Fish clobber the Nats tonight. I have to say that while the Nationals new stadium is pretty nice, it doesn't compare to several of the other new generation of ballparks that i've seen (Petco in San Diego is the best i've seen). I hope the new Marlins park will be that much more impressive. The Nats park does have a great HD replay screen and a concession stand that sells chili by the bowl, but otherwise nothing spectacular. It was good to see lots of Marlins fans there. I'll be there tomorrow with my broom out :thumbup

Sergio Mitre...no doubt. Best season last year, best control on the staff.

Is there anyone who is not using their tickets for Saturday's game vs. the Twins? I have tickets for Friday and Sunday already, but don't feel like paying the ridiculous ticket surcharges by Ticketmaster (more than $20 total) or the gameday surcharge by the team. Long time Marlins fan here. E-mail me at nbace@yahoo.com. Go Marlins.

Isn't a "9-10 acre" site awfully small for what we'd need? New site explored for proposed Marlins stadium By Sarah Talalay South Florida Sun-Sentinel Posted November 21 2006 Miami-Dade County officials are exploring a new downtown Miami location for a Marlins stadium, and they say the site has fewer obstacles than those already under review. The spot, which is publicly owned by the county and city of Miami, is about 10 acres just north of the Miami-Dade government center adjacent to Metrorail. It is just east of I-95, a few blocks southwest of Miami Arena and is home mainly to parking lots. Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess said the new option is intriguing because it is publicly owned, which would significantly reduce the cost of a ballpark, and parking is available nearby. The county would need to find an alternate site for a new Children's Courthouse for juvenile and dependency cases, which is planned for the location. Burgess plans to send county commissioners a memo this morning explaining that the new option is under review. "It's a really clean 9- or 10-acre site, all publicly owned that would be directly on transit," Burgess said Monday. "It's an exciting alternative that needs to be explored." The Marlins declined to comment. Burgess cautioned that the new location does not mean other discussions have ended. He said talks are ongoing with Hialeah, but it has been difficult to assemble the 70 to 80 acres needed for the stadium and parking, and to determine how much could be raised by collecting property tax on proposed development in the area. Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina said he thinks Hialeah is a better option for reaching Marlins fans in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties because of its proximity to southwest Broward. "My No. 1 goal is to keep the Marlins in Dade County and our South Florida community," Robaina said. "If it means it goes to downtown, it goes to downtown. If it goes to Hialeah, then it goes to Hialeah." Major League Baseball, meanwhile, has been exploring a location south of Miami Arena and has options to purchase property there. Although the county is not involved in those discussions, Burgess said the property is expensive and the location has rail lines and AT&T and BellSouth substations that cannot be moved. In addition, representatives of Broward County, the city of Pompano Beach and the Marlins have been discussing possibly locating a stadium at Pompano Park Harness Track. Burgess would not discuss how the financing might work at the new Miami location, but said it would need to include participation from the county, city of Miami, the Marlins and, if possible, the state. How would 9-10 acres work in downtown, when the required land in Hialeah is 70-80 acres....hmmmm...is my math wrong on this or am I just not seeing it properly It seems to me that the issue is parking...at Hialeah, they have to create it from scratch...downtown, it already exists, plus is right on Metrorail and Metromover. This is the most promising site/plan i've seen yet.....if the city and state can get their contributions together, you might actually be able to build a stadium here for $450 million. :thumbup

I had read what the exact number was somewhere, but between revenue sharing and everything, I think its supposed to come out to about $60 million or so. I could be wrong, but maybe someone can find this piece of information up. That is what I also heard. Not bad, we can get the top 3/4 awesome players in the FA with that money. Whatever profits Loria makes this year better be going to upping his contribution to the stadium. That's about the only possible justification for the payroll purge. I'm thinking the Marlins and the County will meet halfway, $50 million each, to get the stadium shortfall covered and the deal done. Maybe with a little "loan" against revenue sharing from MLB.

Any other Marlins fans going to be at Yankee Stadium this weekend? I'll be there Fri and Sun....with my Yankee fan family...but i'll be wearing my 2003 World Champs shirt proudly. Hopefully there will be a few other loud Marlins fans as well.

It's not exactly an apples to apples comparison. The Twins are putting $130 million up before the stadium even opens. Then $10 million a year in rent. The rent does not count towards the "team contribution. On the other hand, the Marlins are putting $30 million up front and $182 million in rent. Loria can't afford to do what the Twins are doing.