fauowls44

According to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy, free agent right-hander Seth McClung is close to inking a minor league deal with the Marlins. McClung posted a 4.94 ERA and an even uglier 1.63 WHIP in 62 innings (two starts) last season for the Brewers. He'll likely serve in a long relief role for the Fish and may even collect some emergency spot starts. ---RotoWorld.com Not a fan of the K/BB ratio, but still I like the strategy of collecting as many experienced bullpen arms as possible, especially on minor league deals.

I think the city should call the NFL's bluff. They have to be out of their minds to not play games SB's here anymore just because the stadium isn't as pretty as newer stadiums and they don't want the players to get wet. The players don't care about the rain. This has nothing to do with the players. In fact, the current plan calls for the field to remain uncovered. This is about the fans(or in this case the NFL sponsors and advertisers) not having to sit in the rain.

I love how John Henry is involved in this. He is one of the reasons it took over a decade to get a stadium built. He also is the one that signed a terrible lease with Huizenga, said he would build the stadium himself, then cried poor when the Florida legislature repeatedly nixed his tax rebate plans, and finally bolted at the chance to spend $700 million to buy the Red Sox. Seems like some owners are just bitter that the Fish have figured out that they can be competitive on a small budget. When Oakland was winning with a small payroll, books were written about how smart they were. I'm not saying I wouldn't love for them to spend more money, but I can certainly understand why they haven't given the stadium situation. Come 2012 and if the payroll is still last in MLB, then yeah, I'll have a major problem, but until then I'll give the Marlins the benefit of the doubt on this one.

I was thinking the same thing. Who would envy the Reds and Pirates? They've spent more then us for years and what has that gotten them?

I think it makes it look far more like a soccer stadium that you would find over here in Europe. Yeah it does. I kinda like the design(especially the new seats). I just wish $250 million(or even half that) could be put out there for an ACTUAL soccer stadium to get MLS back in town... By the next Super Bowl(and surely the World Cup if the US gets 2018 or 22), the stadium will be a dinosaur compared to other venues around the country. I agree it needs upgrades but unlike the Marlins, I don't see why any public money has to be used. Let the NFL and Ross pay for it. If they wanted an entirely new stadium(perhaps coupled with the World Cup or maybe a future summer Olympics) I'd be more willing to support that idea. The ballpark however was something new that the team actually needed(and has needed since day 1) and has kept baseball in South Florida. Looks like a bit of work to move the current score boards, or get new ones, and semi-demolish the upper deck stands in the corners to fit them in. Could force the football team(s) to move out for a season and play at the new ballpark. If that happens I hope the Marlins turn the tables and hit them with a crappy lease lol. I actually think this would be a pretty good use of public money. Once this is done, the stadium would basically be brand new and it would attract a lot of events like the Super Bowl and the World Cup (which the stadium is currently bidding on) which bring in hundreds of millions of dollars into the local economy. In the case of the Super Bowl, it brings that money into the economy on a fairly consistent basis. I can see the local governments, in return for the funds, requesting the NFL assure that Miami gets the game on a regular rotation. Just like the Marlins deal, people will whine and complain about this, you'll probably get lawsuits, but in the end, the Dolphins will get this money and the renovations will get done.

I think it looks pretty cool. The seating bowl looks a lot more football friendly. It'll be very interesting to see how it goes when they go out and ask for public financing for this. I bet they have a much easier time then the Marlins had for the past decade. My guess is the NFL will promise x-number of Super Bowls and a deal will get struck.

Clark Spencer tweeted that the Marlins aren't going to trade Cantu even if they can't move Uggla. http://twitter.com/clarkspencer/

Quinn, a future 2nd round pick(2012) and cash was treaded to the Nets. Also the Nets released Alston and Miami is looking to sign him(he appears very interested aswell). Rafer Alston coming to Miami sounds good to me. Sure, he's had a rough start to the year, but so have the rest of the Nets. A change of scenary should do Alston well, and I think Miami is the right place for him. Would be a very good, most likely very cheap signing. Sucks for Chalmers though, he's now 3rd string after being the starter just a few weeks ago. EDIT: Miami will save $600,000 from the luxury tax, even after signing Alston. This may not make Chalmers the 3rd string PG. My guess is the Heat still cuts Arroyo tomorrow. Arroyo has shown to be more effective starting then coming in with the 2nd unit, so what good is keeping him around to play limited minutes? Teams can start signing guys to 10 day contracts today. There are any number of players that can fill the Quinn 3rd string role and cost the Heat basically nothing.

Cool video. It is amazing to see how much has been done in such a realtively short time. The progress this year should be fun to watch. On a side note, the web cam has been down since 12am on New Years. Hopefully they get it back up soon, I've gotten used to checking it every day, so it sucks when it says no image is available. Yeah, I noticed that. It's especially lame because I wanted to see if they had gotten a picture with fireworks on new years. Yeah, that is exactly why I went to look at the webcam after midnight only to get that message.

Cool video. It is amazing to see how much has been done in such a realtively short time. The progress this year should be fun to watch. On a side note, the web cam has been down since 12am on New Years. Hopefully they get it back up soon, I've gotten used to checking it every day, so it sucks when it says no image is available.

I'd be more worried about the fact that it's not a sure thing we'll be playing there at all. Huh?? You mean in 2011? There is no way that the stadium doesn't extend the Marlins lease 1 extra year. They make money having the Marlins there and MLB won't allow the Marlins to be homeless for a season. As for the name, Sun Life Stadium actually is a pretty good name for the stadium. Plus it will be interesting to see the terms of the deal. It could set the naming-rights market for the Marlins stadium.

The "Miami Orange Bowl" letters are a brilliant idea and a great way to honor the history of the stadium grounds. It would be a nice touch to have the "W" lit up after Marlins wins, kind of like the Cubs W flag at Wrigley.

i kind of like that piece of art that Red Grooms painted. As for the monstrocity in CF, isn't the Mets one ugly too. Its cool, keep it and tweek it. Not that bad at all. Exactly, the Mets new giant apple is pretty ugly. I kind of like what they came up with. Art is very subjective and not everyone is going to like this, but it is pretty cool looking. Hey, at least it is unique. All of these new "retro" stadiums blend together.

Sarah Talalay's blog has a video of what this will look like. Looks pretty cool. http://blogs.trb.com/sports/custom/business/blog/2009/12/marlins_stadium_update_no_3_ch.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thebusinessofsports+%28The+Business+of+Sports+%7C+Sun-Sentinel+Blogs%29

2003, over the years I have concluded you are either : 1) Loria himself (LOL) or 2) A Marlins PR rep or 3) someone that took a lot of drugs in the 1990's It was the sixties and god it was great!!! As for the rest of your diatribe it's one factual mistake piled on top of another so why bother...the one thing I agree with you on is that over the last three or four years they have been amassing a significant portion of their contribution towards the new stadium. I've said that myself many times and it's reasonable to do so given the rest of their financial situation. You see that as some kind of sin, I don't, we'll just have to disagree but I will say I suspect it's being done with the tacit approval of MLB and the majority of owners who want to keep baseball in South Florida. If Loria has been saving the revenue sharing money to put towards the stadium, isn't that the best possible thing he could have done for the franchise? It's not as if the on-field results are unacceptable. If the choice was to spend an extra $10 million on payroll with no assurance of more wins or saving the future of the franchise in South Florida, I don't see why anyone would have a problem with that.

FAU finishes off a disappointing season 5-7 with a 4th straight win over FIU to win the Shula Bowl once again. Even in a down year we own FIU! We are now 7-1 all time against them. GO OWLS!

Yawn... Yeah, the Marlins refused to listen to Red Sox last year when they called about Hanley, but now, after securing the ballpark and Hanley's near-MVP season, they decide "engage in talks" about him? Right. Typical New York media.

The second half of this season comes back in like January dont it? Yup. So does the second half of the Burn Notice season.

I wonder how much Rick Ankiel would cost? If they can get him on a cheap 1 year deal, I'd put him in left and move Coghlan to 2nd. He's from South Florida and coming off a down year. Just a thought.

If they can get more revenue playing 3 games in PR then they can playing in Land Shark, I can't really blame them. Plus it isn't unheard of for teams to give up some home games to play in other countries. The Panthers opened the season with a "home" game in Finland this season.

Nice win last night. The Hornets came in on a three game win streak and they played well. The Heat's defense was pretty terrible most of the night, but nice to see some offense for the first time since that Cavs game. Haslem had the biggest shots of the night and Beasley was agressive (17 and 9). Wade looks back on track. Tough game in Orlando Wed before home games against Washington and Boston.

This offseason could suck... Why? For the first time in forever we don't have the stadium issue hanging over our heads. That alone will make this a great offseason.

This offseason could suck... Why? For the first time in forever we don't have the stadium issue hanging over our heads. That alone will make this a great offseason.

Forget it. If it was at all possible to finish the stadium in 2011, the Marlins would. They cannot get out of LandShark fast enough. However, finishing a full year early just doesn't seem to be possible.

That was a terrible performance. Until the 4th quarter the shooting from beyond the paint was disgraceful. Give OKC credit, too. They are a very good young team. They are the kind of team that will give the Heat problems all year. Unfortunetly, the Hawks are kind of the same kind of team...hopefully the Heat can pull out a win tonight. Cook got it going in the 4th so maybe that will carry over. I'm a Beasley fan, but he's been almost invisible most of the year (except for the Cavs game). They must have more from him.