Mike Berardino

 

Spin it any way, it's a fire sale

 

Published December 3, 2005

 

Another day, another dump deal for the Marlins.

 

This time it was second baseman Luis Castillo packing up his three Gold Gloves and 13 years of history with the organization so he could head north to Minnesota. And what did the Marlins get Friday for this career .293 hitter, this classy speedster whose 35-game hitting streak in 2002 remains the longest ever by a second baseman?

 

Would you believe a couple of raw arms named Travis Bowyer and Scott Tyler? They ranked 24th and 31st, respectively, in the Twins' deep system, according to Baseball America.

 

Bowyer has a big fastball and no second pitch. That's how he posted a 9.39 ERA in the Arizona Fall League. Tyler has a bum knee and projects as a middle reliever at best.

 

Nice.

 

Which brings us to my favorite quote of this nuclear winter thus far. It came from Marlins President David Samson, and this one had nothing to do with his public hissing match with Miami City Manager Joe Arriola. (Although that's been great fun, hasn't it?)

 

This pearl Samson delivered after his Nov. 22 news conference when asked about the term "fire sale," which everyone in baseball has (correctly) applied to the Marlins' recent spate of one-sided transactions.

 

"It's a [term] that has a connotation that is very frustrating to me," Samson said. "In a fire sale, you don't need a GM or an owner for that. You actually just need a booth. You stand there and say, `Here's our players. Come get them. First come, first serve. As quick as you can.' That's not what this is."

 

Uh, it isn't?

 

You mean, Carlos Delgado and $7 million go to the Mets for a couple of minor-leaguers and a former 38th-round pick with 100 career big-league at-bats and that's somehow supposed to be about getting better?

 

You mean, former World Series MVP Josh Beckett goes to the Red Sox along with three-time All-Star Mike Lowell and veteran reliever Guillermo Mota for a trio of kids and that didn't take place in a grungy sidewalk booth?

 

Oh, that's right. This isn't a fire sale at all. Instead, it's -- all together now -- a "market correction."

 

Silly us. We must not have been educated at the University of Wisconsin. Nor worked at Morgan Stanley.

 

"This," Samson explained, "is a deliberate effort by the Marlins to correct what ails us. What ails us is the amount of money lost and the irresponsibility to continue to lose that money."

 

Guess that's why Samson recently called a few dozen office employees on the carpet and announced that half of them would be unemployed by Opening Day. They just don't know which ones yet.

 

Is this guy running a baseball team or auditioning for his own reality show? Oh, and by the way, happy holidays everybody!

 

If the Marlins aren't dumping salaries posthaste, why is their bargain bin down to Juan Pierre, Paul Lo Duca and Ron Villone? At this rate, they'll be out the revolving door as well before the winter meetings begin Monday in Dallas.

 

Hey, Admin Beinfest. Hope that plane ticket is fully refundable. You and the other Marlins baseball thinkers might not even be needed in Dallas if you can find a taker for your speedy center fielder, All-Star catcher and veteran setup man.

 

It probably wouldn't be a very responsible financial decision to make that trip to Big D just so you could sit around your suite and reminisce about the days when you actually ran a major league team and not a Triple-A tryout camp.

 

"We still do have a plan of action as we head to Dallas," Beinfest threatened, er, said, "and we're going to follow through on it."

 

Just a few more phone calls, and the Marlins should reach their cynical offseason goal in strikingly swift fashion. They will have sliced their payroll from a franchise-record $66 million to somewhere in the $30 million vicinity.

 

That would leave them last in the majors. Yes, behind even the Devil Rays and Royals.

 

Some way to revive that South Florida stadium campaign, huh? Can't you just feel the Save-the-Marlins momentum building by the hour?

 

And I'm sure the entertainment-addled people of Las Vegas are daydreaming already about the chance to watch Mike Jacobs and Yusmeiro Petit. Live and on stage!

 

Some way to kick off a franchise relocation tour.

 

To recap, in the span of 10 days the Marlins have shipped off a combined eight All-Star appearances, four Gold Gloves, 532 homers, 3,812 hits, 63 wins, 1,073 innings and a World Series MVP.

 

In return they have received a total of 102 big-league at-bats and 9 2/3 big-league innings.

 

Spin it as hard as you like, fellas. Invoke whatever fancy Wall Street euphemisms you can conjure. But as deliberate efforts go, they don't come any more irresponsible than this so-called market correction.

 

Sure smells like another fire sale to me.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/columni...,4114096.column

This is the most I have ever agreed with Berardino. Ownership is making it so painful to be a fan that when they leave no one will care. Someone needs to step in and buy Loria out.

The man speaks the truth

It's amazing to me how much Castillo meant to this team and everyone around here. Delgado, Lowell, even Beckett; the mood was, "I guess it had to be done." Now, with Luis gone, everyone's out for blood.

:notworthy :notworthy :notworthy

Good article.

It's amazing to me how much Castillo meant to this team and everyone around here. Delgado, Lowell, even Beckett; the mood was, "I guess it had to be done." Now, with Luis gone, everyone's out for blood.

 

 

BLOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Yeah, there's definitely the sense at this point that they're doing it just to hurt us.

If you fools don't know when you're being manipulated I can't even feel pity for you.

hey im nuew to this forum but anyway i am a die hard marlins fan and they pretty much run my life. yes i feel the same way. the luis catillo trade hurt more than anything becuase he was willing to stay and train ramirex. he even called ramirez when he was traded. now i think people are going to appreciate what they had and maybe a little more support for a stadium would have helped. i dont necessarily think that it is ownerships fault although i am growing sick of samson and his selfish demeanor. i think loria did all he could but i also think that mr. ariolla that a**hole should be ntaken out of his position and ew nogotiations should begin with new people. i am even in favor of the paln with huizenga which would make it easier for eveyone to get to the game ratehr than smack in downotown. louie wanted to stay and now i have finally realized that luis castillo is myb favorite player of all time for his class, skill, and dedication to this franchise. when everybody was jumping off he wanted to stay on and stop the leaking. i hope he wins 30 more gold gloves and i hope the marlins realize that they cannot replace a guy like "sweet lou". robinson cano for pierre would be nice and i also love the dedication that pierre has given . delgado pissed me off with his "i got out just in time" bulls*** and he belonmgs with a piece of sh*t liek minaya. beckett and lowell i commend for their professionalism and their considerate comments. EMAIL THAT DAMN JEB BUSH AT jeb.bush@myflorida.com

If you fools don't know when you're being manipulated I can't even feel pity for you.

 

 

You know, that's immature on so many levels, I can't even begin.

 

Just keep pulling the wool over your eyes and being an apologist for the bumbling organization that is the Marlins front office.

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!

here is the email that i sent bush

 

First off I must say that we have given the Marlins absolutely nothing in return for what they have given us. What they have given us is two world championships in eight years and three straight winning seasons with a small 55 million dollar payroll. Yet we average second lowest in attendance and you have to know that when the Colorado Rockies are ahead of you in attendance you have to be a little embarrassed. Now, where do we go? the team is being torn to shreds. Carlos Delgado, Mike Lowell, and World Series hero Josh Beckett are going to other teams to and more will be leaving. We will be a bunch of prospects next year just like 1998 and I wonder how many people that will attract. I wish someone could explain to me how a two time World Series champion has no stadium or support from the government when we all remember that picture of you Mr. Bush sitting front row with Alex Gonzalez on deck before he hit that game 4 home run. We had higher television ratings for a regular season game higher than a Miami Heat playoff game but yet everyone dies to see the Heat who haven?t won a thing yet. O YEAH!!! How about the Devil Rays who have their own stadium that came from tax dollars as well as the American Airlines Arena. Please who needs a stadium when you can spend 300 plus million tax dollars on an opera house in the City of Miami. How exiting that wont be!! And we cant blame Mr. Loria for he did all he could but pretty soon he would have gone bankrupt. People will never realize how much they will miss the Marlins when there gone which hopefully Miami Dade County can figure something out to make the stadium deal work. But all it took was the Senate to take a vote which they couldn?t even muster. Yet I believe you said Governor Bush that you would "love" to help them stay and I hope you was telling the truth because with a stadium we can rebuild this team into the dynasty that it should already be. Why the Heat, Panthers, and Dolphins but not the World Series Champion Marlins!! Boy are people going to realize what they had in the Marlins next year when everyone is gone. I am sure this hurt owner Jeffery Loria more than anyone. This is not a fire sale this is Mr. Loria trying to stay out of bankruptcy and from losing 20 million dollars a year all because he does not have a stadium. O, there are cities that are waiting for the instant the Marlins wish to talk about moving because they will actually appreciate them. Deep in their hearts people care about the Marlins but they just think that there single voice wont make a difference. Today I was at a Miami Heat game and I saw fans wearing a Marlins jacket and when I looked at him the man next to me said that the jacket would "be a collectors item soon" and I replied saying "god forbid" lol. If we give the Marlins that little extra piece of support to get that stadium we will notice their appreciation when you will find the Marlins doing everything that they can to put a winning product on the field. I understand that the Hurricanes have caused many problems as I was part of it but this is not the first time the Marlins have vied for a stadium and they were sooo close. The House said "YAY" but the Senate didn?t even vote. That is not just wrong but it is also a lack of respect towards the Marlins as and organization who gives back to the community in schools and fund raising. Let us not forget that they are the one who went to the shelters in Houston after Katrina right before one of the most important playoff implicating series of the season and they did it with a smile and were happy to help. Today, November 23, Marlins pitcher Guillermo Mota was helping by passing out thanksgiving turkeys to those in hunger and in need. You would never see the Marlins say that they would not give back to the community because of the lack of support they received. I have been to many games where there were 15 thousand people and I have been to games where there were 35 thousand people and i saw the true fans that there are here. They just don?t know how or what they can do to help. Therefore, I have taken the initiative because I would be forever torn if this franchise leaves South Florida. Look at the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, and Chicago White Sox for example. For a total of about 270 years combined these teams have the same number of championships the Marlins got in a meager eight years. Still did they ever give up? Did people ever stop going to games? Did they ever turn their backs on the franchise? The answer is NO!! Cubs games are still sold out everyday even for the fact that they haven?t won A World Series Championship since 1908, nearly a century ago. Why is it fair that the last place Tampa Bay Devil Rays have a stadium and the Marlins do not? If we get the Marlins a stadium here in South Florida the Marlins are almost certainly going to reward us with a dynasty like the Yankees or Red Sox. Please!! Governor Bush help the Marlins get out of this ditch and you most certainly won?t regret it for you will sit at more from row World Series games then you have ever imagined hopefully. Please don?t let them leave. Help them!! They have made a huge commitment to South Florida and we need to step up and do our part as we are represented by them. I know we can do this!! They are not asking for much just a place that they can call home. The Marlins have put forward the financial support required on their part. Now, we must do ours!! Please Governor, keep this great franchise where it belongs!!

 

Thank you so very much Governor Bush for your time.

 

 

Steven Abitbol

Boca Raton, Florida

If you fools don't know when you're being manipulated I can't even feel pity for you.

 

 

 

What was incorrect about what he said?

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.

If you fools don't know when you're being manipulated I can't even feel pity for you.

 

 

You know, that's immature on so many levels, I can't even begin.

 

Just keep pulling the wool over your eyes and being an apologist for the bumbling organization that is the Marlins front office.

 

Seriously. Marlins2003 has become way too condescending for my tastes. I used to respect his opinions even when I disagreed.

 

 

Another thing to think about. It seems like most, if not all, of the journalists that cover the Marlins seem to have a bad relationship with the FO. People in government seem to dislike them. Basically, anyone associated in any way with the FO seems to have ill feelings towards them. If EVERYONE dislikes them, doesn't that mean it's probably the Marlins' FO with the problem?

Not to be confused with the Firesale, which came about for completly different and deceitful reasons, that those with negative intentions have used over the years to develop mistrust between fan and the team.

here is the email that i sent bush

 

First off I must say that we have given the Marlins absolutely nothing in return for what they have given us. What they have given us is two world championships in eight years and three straight winning seasons with a small 55 million dollar payroll. Yet we average second lowest in attendance and you have to know that when the Colorado Rockies are ahead of you in attendance you have to be a little embarrassed. Now, where do we go? the team is being torn to shreds. Carlos Delgado, Mike Lowell, and World Series hero Josh Beckett are going to other teams to and more will be leaving. We will be a bunch of prospects next year just like 1998 and I wonder how many people that will attract. I wish someone could explain to me how a two time World Series champion has no stadium or support from the government when we all remember that picture of you Mr. Bush sitting front row with Alex Gonzalez on deck before he hit that game 4 home run.

 

We had higher television ratings for a regular season game higher than a Miami Heat playoff game but yet everyone dies to see the Heat who haven?t won a thing yet. O YEAH!!! How about the Devil Rays who have their own stadium that came from tax dollars as well as the American Airlines Arena. Please who needs a stadium when you can spend 300 plus million tax dollars on an opera house in the City of Miami. How exiting that wont be!!

 

And we cant blame Mr. Loria for he did all he could but pretty soon he would have gone bankrupt. People will never realize how much they will miss the Marlins when there gone which hopefully Miami Dade County can figure something out to make the stadium deal work. But all it took was the Senate to take a vote which they couldn?t even muster. Yet I believe you said Governor Bush that you would "love" to help them stay and I hope you was telling the truth because with a stadium we can rebuild this team into the dynasty that it should already be. Why the Heat, Panthers, and Dolphins but not the World Series Champion Marlins!! Boy are people going to realize what they had in the Marlins next year when everyone is gone. I am sure this hurt owner Jeffery Loria more than anyone. This is not a fire sale this is Mr. Loria trying to stay out of bankruptcy and from losing 20 million dollars a year all because he does not have a stadium.

 

O, there are cities that are waiting for the instant the Marlins wish to talk about moving because they will actually appreciate them. Deep in their hearts people care about the Marlins but they just think that there single voice wont make a difference. Today I was at a Miami Heat game and I saw fans wearing a Marlins jacket and when I looked at him the man next to me said that the jacket would "be a collectors item soon" and I replied saying "god forbid" lol. If we give the Marlins that little extra piece of support to get that stadium we will notice their appreciation when you will find the Marlins doing everything that they can to put a winning product on the field.

 

I understand that the Hurricanes have caused many problems as I was part of it but this is not the first time the Marlins have vied for a stadium and they were sooo close. The House said "YAY" but the Senate didn?t even vote. That is not just wrong but it is also a lack of respect towards the Marlins as and organization who gives back to the community in schools and fund raising. Let us not forget that they are the one who went to the shelters in Houston after Katrina right before one of the most important playoff implicating series of the season and they did it with a smile and were happy to help. Today, November 23, Marlins pitcher Guillermo Mota was helping by passing out thanksgiving turkeys to those in hunger and in need. You would never see the Marlins say that they would not give back to the community because of the lack of support they received.

 

I have been to many games where there were 15 thousand people and I have been to games where there were 35 thousand people and i saw the true fans that there are here. They just don?t know how or what they can do to help. Therefore, I have taken the initiative because I would be forever torn if this franchise leaves South Florida. Look at the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, and Chicago White Sox for example. For a total of about 270 years combined these teams have the same number of championships the Marlins got in a meager eight years. Still did they ever give up? Did people ever stop going to games? Did they ever turn their backs on the franchise? The answer is NO!! Cubs games are still sold out everyday even for the fact that they haven?t won A World Series Championship since 1908, nearly a century ago.

 

Why is it fair that the last place Tampa Bay Devil Rays have a stadium and the Marlins do not? If we get the Marlins a stadium here in South Florida the Marlins are almost certainly going to reward us with a dynasty like the Yankees or Red Sox. Please!!

 

Governor Bush help the Marlins get out of this ditch and you most certainly won?t regret it for you will sit at more from row World Series games then you have ever imagined hopefully. Please don?t let them leave. Help them!! They have made a huge commitment to South Florida and we need to step up and do our part as we are represented by them. I know we can do this!! They are not asking for much just a place that they can call home. The Marlins have put forward the financial support required on their part. Now, we must do ours!! Please Governor, keep this great franchise where it belongs!!

 

Thank you so very much Governor Bush for your time.

 

 

Steven Abitbol

Boca Raton, Florida

 

 

Paragraphs are good. Grammar is good. I somewhat created the paragraphs for you, but the grammar will be left up to you.

I agree with everything he said, especially with the quote by Samson.

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.

 

What are you even talking about? How can I talk about baseball when I can't even name more than 2 people in our starting lineup?

Seems as though he made a run at the playoffs to get the stadium deal done.

 

If Pierre, Lowell ,Leiter and Mota would have played up to expectations (theirs). May be just maybe he would have done it. Now he sees it will not work in S. Fl. Especially after the Hurricane (Wilma). No pol is going to say ,spend $ on a Baseball stadium and not have enough $ to answer crys for hurricane relief.

 

Unless a major partner wants to step up,he sees no other plan.

 

If anyone hears of him talking to Disney................

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.

 

It's one thing to disagree with what someone is saying, it's another to needlessly attack and debase people simply because they disagree with you.

 

You like to speak in cliched axioms, 2003, so here it goes, do you advocate cutting off your nose to spite your face? Because that's exactly what the Marlins are doing. As recently as a week ago, the entire south florida media was united in saying that it was the fans fault, that Loria and Samson were just doing what needed to be done. Delgado came, not enough showed up to see him play, and now we're without him. Lowell had to go, Beckett was the price.

 

Now, though, it's evident that the Marlins have set their sights not on rebuilding, but on destroying. Destroying the team, the fanbase, and any sort of good will at all around the franchise.

 

Perhaps you don't have a problem with the Castillo trade, that's fine, but there's more to come, and I have this odd feeling it won't end well, but don't you dare be so presumptive as to suggest that there's only one way to see things: yours. Degrading someone because they disagree with you is the greatest sign of weakness.

 

Obviously the fans aren't alone in disliking the way that this (so aptly named) nuclear winter has gone. The media, the politicians, anyone who has anything to do with this franchise can't stand to be witness to what this ownership group is doing. Heck, the only one who can seemingly find them friendly to deal with is a former lawyer for some of the most nefarious mob bosses in recent history...says something, doesn't it?

Marlins2003 has become way too condescending for my tastes. I used to respect his opinions even when I disagreed.

 

 

I'm an acquired taste.

 

As Rferry opined, guys like Berardino, who picks his stats to fit his dialogue of hate, is playing with your heads.

 

There is nothing MB wants to do more than further the chasm between fan and team. To Dan, the prime minister of Marlins loathing in South Florida, this is just another opportunity to pour salt in the wound since he was frozen out of the McKeon hiring/Torborg firing story.

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.

 

It's one thing to disagree with what someone is saying, it's another to needlessly attack and debase people simply because they disagree with you.

 

Perhaps you don't have a problem with the Castillo trade, that's fine, but there's more to come, and I have this odd feeling it won't end well, but don't you dare be so presumptive as to suggest that there's only one way to see things: yours. Degrading someone because they disagree with you is the greatest sign of weakness.

 

 

Exactly my thoughts. Marlins2003 is way too condescending.

 

 

Marlins2003 has become way too condescending for my tastes. I used to respect his opinions even when I disagreed.

 

 

I'm an acquired taste.

 

As Rferry opined, guys ike Berardino, who picks his stats to fit his dialogue of hate, is playing with your heads.

 

There is nothing MB wants to do more than further the chasm between fan and team. To Dan, the prime minister of Marlins loathing in South Florida, this is just another opportunity to pour salt in the wound since he was frozen out of the McKeon hiring/Torborg firing story.

 

Who doesn't have a problem with the Marlins FO? Everyone has a problem with them. It seems to me that they're the problem and not everyone else. They need to be more professional.

If you fools don't know when you're being manipulated I can't even feel pity for you.

 

Grow up.

:sheeprope