Marlins latest sale not a good sign

[IrishHarrington]

Marlins latest sale not a good sign

Dayn Perry

FOXSports.com, Updated 52 minutes ago STORY TOOLS:

 

 

The first blockbuster trade of the 2007 Winter Meetings is done.

 

Said blockbuster has third baseman Miguel Cabrera and lefty Dontrelle Willis going from the Florida Marlins to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for lefty Andrew Miller, minor-league center fielder Cameron Maybin, catcher Mike Rabelo and three additional prospects. This trade is notable for a couple of reasons: One, it makes the Tigers once again an immediate power team in the American League (they now have a much-needed innings guy in Willis, and with Cabrera in the fold and Sean Casey mercifully jettisoned, they now have an offense that's capable of scoring 1,000 runs or more); and, two, it represents the latest nadir for the long-running and no-longer-funny joke that is the Marlins organization.

Let's explore that second point in further depth. Fans and observers of the game are accustomed to the Marlins' perpetual rebuilding efforts, but now something more bizarre and unpalatable is happening. For lack of a better way to characterize it, think of what's going on in Miami as rebuilding the rebuilding. When the Marlins, in the winter of 2003, once again tore down a world-championship roster, we figured it was in the service of building another contender a half-decade or so down the line. Now that the Marlins have shipped off Cabrera (age 24) and Willis (age 25), it's clear something else is going on. Call it this: a dereliction of duties on the part of team ownership.

 

It's no secret that Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria is a thoroughly deplorable character. This was, after all, the man who willfully and with malice aforethought destroyed the Montreal Expos. During Loria's tenure north of the border, he did things like fail to negotiate a television deal or an English-language radio contract, allow a lease on stadium land to expire, and offer his team up for contraction. It was an orchestrated failure designed to get baseball out of Montreal, and Loria pulled it off.

 

You'd think such cynical bumbling would get Loria kicked out of the country club, but Commissioner Bud Selig and MLB not only paid Loria $120 million for his beleaguered franchise (a tidy capital gain of more than 900 percent on his original investment in the Expos), but they also allowed Loria to purchase the Marlins and, in violation of league rules, floated him a $38.5 million loan to help him do so. So why is Loria enabled to such a degree? Because he takes his marching orders with nary a peep.

 

And now he's at it again. Because the taxpayers of South Florida have been loath to buy Loria a place to do business, he's doing his Dr. Kevorkian act once again. Selig loves nothing so much as a publicly-financed stadium, and the reams of research proving that these projects are net losers for the public (claims of the "economic development" that follow new constructions are wildly overstated) have done nothing to dissuade him. Miami is the latest municipality to refuse to knuckle under to Selig, and Loria, as a rejoinder, is putting an increasingly miserable product on the field.

 

So here's a fiscal reality of baseball: arbitration-eligible players, in the grand scheme, are eminently affordable commodities for any organization, including the Marlins. Parting with two so gifted ? especially Cabrera ? is mismanagement of the highest order. Loria is adept at manipulating this "chicken or egg" dilemma ? i.e., are people not showing up because our team is lousy, or is our team lousy because people aren't showing up? ? to suit his interests. In this case, as it was in Montreal, his interests are in rendering the Marlins not-viable in South Florida. Doing so gives him the political cover to move his team to a market that will pony up with the tax dollars. Or perhaps he'll sell to investors in such a market and, once again, pocket an obnoxious profit.

 

It's true that Loria and the Marlins have an unfavorable lease at Dolphin Stadium, but that should be incentive for him to ? and here's a novel idea ? pay for his own damn ballpark. The San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals, among other teams, have succeeded in parks that, for the most part, are privately financed, and there's only one reason the Marlins can't join them. That reason, of course, is Loria's galling lack of commitment.

 

If nothing else, critical mass is approaching. The Marlins' lease expires in 2010, and with the University of Miami football program headed for Dolphin Stadium, there simply may not be the room or infrastructure for the Marlins to remain as Wayne Huizenga's tenants. It's possible that the City would be willing to work with the Marlins on a ballpark built on the current site of the Orange Bowl, but Loria and MLB insist they want a downtown locale. It bears repeating: if that's what Loria wants, then he should foot the bill himself.

 

The shame of it is that a baseball team, operated properly, could thrive in South Florida. The Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Pompano Beach area is the seventh-largest media market in the country, and an owner willing to reinvest in the team could easily make the Marlins a top destination for free-agent talent. Certainly, it will take a new ballpark and a winning team for that to happen, but Loria is apparently unwilling to do business in a sensible manner unless he's lavished in corporate welfare.

 

So when does it end? How long until Loria decides, as he did with Cabrera and Willis, that he can't "afford" Maybin or Miller or Hanley Ramirez or Jeremy Hermida or any other young talent poised to make substantially more than the league minimum? Sadly, it will likely be business as usual in Miami until the taxpayers acquiesce or the team moves. That's a grave disservice to the game and to Marlins fans ? at least those few fans that Loria hasn't already run off.

[IrishHarrington]

it is time for uncle bud to end the madness and do what is best for baseball and MAKE Loria sell the team

[Ramp]

he's gonna sell the team if we get a stadium, or if we move

[IrishHarrington]

he's gonna sell the team if we get a stadium, or if we move

hopefully that is case , if they move I hope Loria owns the team forever until he moves again (and again and again)

[boggeymann]

bud and the owners should step in grow some dammit

[DelGOT2Rings]

if the taxpayers are dumb enough to buy this guy a brand spanking new stadium, why on earth would he agree to sell the team?

 

giving this cheapskate a stadium would be the death of baseball in south florida, because it would ensure that Loria would be able to maintain ownership forever.

[Marlins2003]

it is time for uncle bud to end the madness and do what is best for baseball and MAKE Loria sell the team

 

It's time for people to stop reading anything with a Dayn Perry by-line. He has no sense of civility and the word "truth" has no place in his vocabulary. Let me clearer and more to the point, Dayn Perry makes a living being a liar.

 

Isn't anyone going to ask me what I really think of him? :brigginbounce

[minus]

Good article....

[FreshFish]

bud and the owners should step in grow some dammit

per the above article, it seems like Bud is as guilty as Loria.

[FreshFish]

it is time for uncle bud to end the madness and do what is best for baseball and MAKE Loria sell the team

 

It's time for people to stop reading anything with a Dayn Perry by-line. He has no sense of civility and the word "truth" has no place in his vocabulary. Let me clearer and more to the point, Dayn Perry makes a living being a liar.

 

Isn't anyone going to ask me what I really think of him? :brigginbounce

 

you can't deny this quote is awesome. . . ." For lack of a better way to characterize it, think of what's going on in Miami as rebuilding the rebuilding."

[minus]

it is time for uncle bud to end the madness and do what is best for baseball and MAKE Loria sell the team

 

It's time for people to stop reading anything with a Dayn Perry by-line. He has no sense of civility and the word "truth" has no place in his vocabulary. Let me clearer and more to the point, Dayn Perry makes a living being a liar.

 

Isn't anyone going to ask me what I really think of him? :brigginbounce

 

Dude,

 

Are you Samson himself? I wouldn't be surprise.... BTW change the avatar because your beloved Loria gave away Cabs...

[Marlins2003]

it is time for uncle bud to end the madness and do what is best for baseball and MAKE Loria sell the team

 

It's time for people to stop reading anything with a Dayn Perry by-line. He has no sense of civility and the word "truth" has no place in his vocabulary. Let me clearer and more to the point, Dayn Perry makes a living being a liar.

 

Isn't anyone going to ask me what I really think of him? :brigginbounce

 

Dude,

 

Are you Samson himself? I wouldn't be surprise....

 

Gee, do I really care what you think?

 

You obviously don't even have the faintest idea what I've consistently said about David Samson do you? Or almost anything else that has to do with baseball but I'm not saying anything everyone doesn't already know already.

[El Guapo]

If people keep writing stuff like this Loria is gonna end up missing..

[rferry]

if the taxpayers are dumb enough to buy this guy a brand spanking new stadium, why on earth would he agree to sell the team?

 

giving this cheapskate a stadium would be the death of baseball in south florida, because it would ensure that Loria would be able to maintain ownership forever.

He could now anyways thanks to revenue sharing keeping them solvent.

His initial investment means absolutely nothing.

All that matters now is the franchise value. With a new profitable ballpark, it goes through te roof. Maybe keep the team and the incredibly profitable first years of the park. But there's not much incentive for Loria (or any owner in a similar situation) at any point thereafter.

[minus]

it is time for uncle bud to end the madness and do what is best for baseball and MAKE Loria sell the team

 

It's time for people to stop reading anything with a Dayn Perry by-line. He has no sense of civility and the word "truth" has no place in his vocabulary. Let me clearer and more to the point, Dayn Perry makes a living being a liar.

 

Isn't anyone going to ask me what I really think of him? :brigginbounce

 

Dude,

 

Are you Samson himself? I wouldn't be surprise....

 

Gee, do I really care what you think?

 

You obviously don't even have the faintest idea what I've consistently said about David Samson do you? Or almost anything else that has to do with baseball but I'm not saying anything everyone doesn't already know already.

 

 

Thank you Mr.Know it all... I don't claim to be a baseball guru unlike you. One thing I do know is your obsession with Jefrey Loria...

[Marlins2003]

I'm not the one bringing up Loria, you are. Or Samson for that matter. You're the one obsessed...

[OrlandoFish]

It was just a matter of time

Click-2-Listen

By Greg Stoda

 

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

 

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

 

It's old news.

 

The names change, and nothing else matters.

 

 

 

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What are these?

 

 

The Florida Marlins traded (fill-in-the-blank) and (fill-in-the-blank) to (fill-in-the-blank) in yet another another installment of their parse-the-language payroll correction strategy Tuesday night.

 

Miguel Cabrera.

 

Dontrelle Willis.

 

Detroit.

 

There, done. Those are the identities of the departing Marlins in the deal and that is the identity of their destination. Cabrera will become an important cog in the Tigers' lineup and Willis will become a useful left-handed pitcher in the middle of their rotation.

 

It should come as no surprise to anyone if Cabrera and Willis help the Tigers to a World Series championship next autumn in the same manner former Marlins Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell helped Boston to the title not so many weeks ago. Detroit played in the World Series as recently as 2006, after all, and these days is a good team getting better in stark juxtaposition to a lousy Marlins team getting worse.

 

(Is there any need to remind anyone loyal enough to remain a Florida fan that Jim Leyland manages the Tigers, Dave Dombrowski leads the front office and the roster features catcher Pudge Rodriguez and shortstop Edgar Renteria. Those men, of course, all are former Marlins.)

 

The most important player coming to the Marlins is kid pitcher Andrew Miller, who's a lefty and might actually be as good for Florida as Willis has been recently. Cameron Maybin is another acquisition, and he could be Florida's center fielder next season. Mike Rabelo will be new to the Marlins, too, and ought to do his fair share of catching for them. There are also three other players coming to Florida.

 

Excited?

 

Didn't think so.

 

The Marlins can and will come up with an assortment of economic reasons they're doing what they're doing. Again.

 

And, again, everything will be connected to The Stadium Issue even though - here's a bulletin - there's no such thing as a stadium issue. The Marlins aren't ever going to get a place to call their own. That's just not going to happen. They've been talking about it for a decade, now, give or take a couple of years, which is a very long time to run a bluff and play an audience for an assembly of fools.

 

A baseball palace in South Florida? One complete with a retractable roof and all sorts of glorious sightlines and fabulous amenities?

 

Yeah, right.

 

That'll happen as soon as the Marlins pull off a trade in which the established stars come their way and the prospects are sent packing ... which won't happen until an agreement is reached on a stadium project ... which won't happen, well, you get it.

 

In the dizzying meantime, tight-fisted owner Jeffrey Loria and supercilious President David Samson will do what they always do. They'll blame circumstances, rather than themselves, for the Florida franchise's miserable plight.

 

They'll moan how they're shackled by elements beyond their control, and beg for patience from the paying customers while recalling the glory of a fascinating run to a 2003 World Series title built on a small budget.

 

They'll ask construction boss Admin Beinfest - an unappreciated genius - to make magic happen. Beinfest almost certainly has properly identified young talent in the trade with Detroit, because that's what he routinely does in these constantly stupefying episodes. But anyone who cares about the Marlins should also care enough to know that anything as modest as a .500 record next season would amount to magic most remarkable.

 

A 90-plus loss season seems likely. A hundred losses wouldn't be a shocker.

 

Florida just turned loose its headline player in Cabrera, who, overweight or not, is one of the scariest offensive forces in the game. The Marlins' batting order will look thin without him.

 

Hanley Ramirez is now the Marlins' best player. He's terrific. He came to Florida as part of Boston's package in the Beckett-Lowell deal a couple of years back. He, like Cabrera, is young and already great.

 

Which means he'll be traded away soon enough. The Marlins, as usual, will say he costs too much and show him the door.

 

Ramirez will celebrate when the time comes.

 

The escapees always do.

Link

 

The press is just having a field day with Loria & Co. :lol

[Guest iFesta Touch]

Loria owns the Marlins because he threatened to sue MLB when they tried to force him out in Montreal. The league didn't want him at the helm of the club when it was eventually moved to Washington.

[buccanes]

i think perry was an expos fan, because every time he writes something about the marlins he takes a shot at loria and outlines the whole situation in montreal.

[MiamiMarlins1]

What does it take to get this piece of garbage out of here. It is so obvious what he's doing. How can Selig sit there and let this happen. I'm so heated. I can't take it anymore. PLEASE LET LORIA GET HIT BY A BUS PLEASE. It doesn't deserve this team

[MiamiMarlins1]

bud and the owners should step in grow some dammit

per the above article, it seems like Bud is as guilty as Loria.

 

Yes exactly they're both slimy scumbags

[Marlins2003]

The press is just having a field day with Loria & Co. :lol

 

I think what you mean is the Huizenga-centric sports columnists are having a field day. Somehow they seem to think this will make people forget the worst franchise in South Florida has been, is and will be for many years, is the Miami Dolphins.

 

While a number have taken shots, one would have to be blind to not recognize the pure venom being spewed by thouse employed to cover the Dolphins. Coincidence? I think not.

[MiamiMarlins1]

The press is just having a field day with Loria & Co. :lol

 

I think what you mean is the Huizenga-centric sports columnists are having a field day. Somehow they seem to think this will make people forget the worst franchise in South Florida has been, is and will be for many years, is the Miami Dolphins.

 

While a number have taken shots, one would have to be blind to not recognize the pure venom being spewed by thouse employed to cover the Dolphins. Coincidence? I think not.

 

Dude you're insane. You have really lost your mind. LORIA IS A MONEY GRUBBING PIECE OF TRASH. I worked with someone back in NY many years ago that was his nephew and the guy said the whole family HATED HIM. Said he was a back-stabbing slimeball. Exact words. You can't defend this piece of crap

[bobbob1313]

The press is just having a field day with Loria & Co. :lol

 

I think what you mean is the Huizenga-centric sports columnists are having a field day. Somehow they seem to think this will make people forget the worst franchise in South Florida has been, is and will be for many years, is the Miami Dolphins.

 

While a number have taken shots, one would have to be blind to not recognize the pure venom being spewed by thouse employed to cover the Dolphins. Coincidence? I think not.

 

Dude you're insane. You have really lost your mind. LORIA IS A MONEY GRUBBING PIECE OF TRASH. I worked with someone back in NY many years ago that was his nephew and the guy said the whole family HATED HIM. Said he was a back-stabbing slimeball. Exact words. You can't defend this piece of crap

 

HOORAY, UNVERIFIABLE ANECTDOTAL EVIDENCE THAT THIS LURKER JUST PULLED OUT OF HIS ASS!

[rferry]

What does it take to get this piece of garbage out of here. It is so obvious what he's doing. How can Selig sit there and let this happen. I'm so heated. I can't take it anymore. PLEASE LET LORIA GET HIT BY A BUS PLEASE. It doesn't deserve this team

If anything, the Marlins don't deserve an owner and South Florida doesn't deserve a franchise. But what are you going to do? To fill out the schedule and any semblance of objectivity on the part of the league, you got to have both.