Courtesy of Luis E. Rangel of El Nuevo Herald

I guess it's because I'm on my iPhone. But can anyone actually read what it says?

I can read most of it by zooming in

 

If anyone has the paper, please upload a higher res pic of it. Thanks in advance!

The letter certainly doesn't take a subtle soothing mea culpa approach, which would be so unlike Loria. It's basically in your face, how dare you disagree with what I've done, please tone down your anger and get over it. Of course then there's the first person "I did this, I did that", look at me , trust me, give me credit for what I've accomplished in the past. And he's paying for a new PR firm for this? I certainly could have written a more PR conscious letter for him.

 

When the letter states that baseball experts outside Miami universally agree that he did the right thing and obtained good value for what was traded, he lost me there.

 

Oh well, the dude is not going to go away. I'll root for the young kids, hope they can sign Stanton long term, and hope for the best.

I hope he honestly doesn't believe the bullshit he writes in this letter about how they are making the team better. None of the moves made this offseason improved the team. None. None of the moves made will help this team win. And no, the trade with Toronto was not universally merited by baseball experts. What the hell did we get in this trade? Not a whole lot, Jeff, not a whole lot. Its quite clear the Marlins front office lives in their own little world, sticks their fingers in their ears, and starts singing or yelling loudly to drown out their detractors rather than face the truth. Losing is unacceptable to Loria. Either you are a liar, or you are downright incompetent and simply don't know HOW to build a winning baseball team.

 

Its simply amazing how people can defend this front office. Yes, the World Series in 2003 is nice, but thing have gone continually down hill since. What good is a new stadium if the team is a piece of crap minor league quality? Get out, Loria, and take your lackeys with you.

Loria has just two letters for the fans

F & U !

Well, I liked it. Let's hope he stays with it.

Lolwut

Is this guy for real? What an ass...

After re-reading the article I think I hate Loria even more, especially that load of crap about the Toronto trade being 'universally celebrated by baseball experts" yes that's why the Marlins off season moves were rated the worst in all of baseball.

I don't want to sound like a Loria apologist but people complained when he stayed silent after the trade. Now there are complaints when he says something. I don't think he said anything particularly wrong but it just proves there is nothing he can do to appease most of the fans ever again.

I don't want to sound like a Loria apologist but people complained when he stayed silent after the trade. Now there are complaints when he says something. I don't think he said anything particularly wrong but it just proves there is nothing he can do to appease most of the fans ever again.

 

Yup... Well maybe win a few WS.

A lot of people did complain about him staying silent though.

Jeffrey Loria's "Letter to our Fans"

 

 

VIERA -- Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria took out a full-page ad in all three major South Florida daily newspapers on Sunday in which he explained not only the team's decision-making, but appealed to fans to stay the course with the franchise. Loria also plans to speak with the media on Monday.

Here, word for word, is what Loria wrote. Let's hear it. After reading Loria's letter, tell us what you think:

LETTER TO OUR FANS

It's no secret that last season was not our best -- actually it was one of our worst. In large part, our performance on the field stunk and something needed to be done. As a result of some bold moves, many grabbed hold of our tough yet necessary decision only to unleash a vicious cycle of negativity. As the owner of the ballclub, the buck stops with me and I take my share of the blame where it's due. However, many of the things being said about us are simply not true. I've sat by quietly and allowed this to continue. Now it's time for me to resond to our most important constituents, the fans who love the game of baseball.

THE ROSTER

Losing is unacceptable to me. It's incumbant upon us to take swift action and make bold moves when there are glaring problems. The controversial trade we made with the Toronto Blue Jays was approved by Commissioner Bud Selig and has been almost universally celebrated by baseball experts outside of Miami for its value. We hope, with an open mind, our community can reflect on the fact that we had one of the worst records in baseball. Acquiring high-profile players just didn't work, and nearly everyone on our team underperformed as compared to their career numbers. Our plan for the year ahead is to leverage our young talent and create a homegrown roster of long-term players who can win. In fact, objective experts have credited us with going from the 28th ranked Minor League system in baseball to the 5th best during this period. Of the Top 100 Minor Leagues rated by MLB Network, we have six -- tied for the most of any team in the league. We'll evaluate this roster and possibly bring in additional talent based on our assessment of what we need. The very same naysayers who are currently skeptical once attacked us for bringing Pudge Rodriguez to the Marlins in 2003. More than any other, that move contributed to our World Series Championship.

THE BALLPARK

The ballpark issue has been repeatedly reported incorrectly and there are some very negative accustations being thrown around. It ain't true, folks. Those who have attacked us are entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts. The majority of public funding came from hotel taxes, the burden of which is incurred by tourists who are visiting our city, NOT the resident taxpayers. The Marlins organization also agreed to contribute $161.2 million toward the ballpark, plus the cost of the garage complex. In addition, the Marlins receive no operating subsidy from local government funding. The ballpark required that all debt service is paid by existing revenue. Furthermore, many are attacking the County's method of financing for its contribution, but the Marlins had nothing at all to do with that. The fact is, with your help, we built Marlins Park, a crown jewel in our beautiful Miami skyline, which has won over twenty design and architecture awards and will help make us a premiere ballclub moving forward.

OUR FINANCES

The simple fact is that we don't have unlimited funds, nor does any baseball team or business. Fans didn't turn out last season as much as we'd like, even with the high-profile players the columnists decry us having traded. The main ingredient to a successful ball club is putting together a winning team, including a ncecessary core of young talent. Are we fiscally capable and responsible enough to fill the roster with talented players, invest in the daily demands of running a world-class organization and bring a World Series back to Miami? Absolutely! It is sound business sense to witness an expensive roster with a terrible record and sit idly by doing nothing? No. I can and will invest in building a winner, but last season wasn't sustainable and we needed to start from scratch qjuickly to build this team from the ground up.

COMMUNICATION

An organization is only as good as its connection with the community. We know we can do a better job communicating with our fans. That starts now. From this point forward we can ensure fans and the entire community that we will keep you abreast of our plan, rationale and motivations.

Amidst the current news coverage, it an be easy to forget how far we went together not so long ago. In 2003, I helped bring a second World Series Title to South Florida. We know how to build a winning team, and have every intention of doing so again. I know you share my passion for great Marlins baseball, my love of MIami and my desire to win again. We're in this together and I humbly ask that we start fresh, watch us mature quickly as a ball club, and root for the home team in 2013.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Loria

 

 

 

Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/fish_bytes/2013/02/jeffrey-lorias-letter-to-our-fans.html#storylink=cpy

Thanks ^

Loria can say or not say whatever he wants. The fact is that people don't trust him and may never trust him again.

 

Jon Morosi wrote a decent article about it this morning

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/miami-marlins-fans-upset-firesale-jeffrey-loria-giancarlo-stanton-spring-training-022313

I'm okay with the letter actually, although it's a bit arrogant. I'm sure he's going to be given even more shit for it and will be ridiculed all over the internet. And what Gizmo said.

At least we went from 28th ranked minor league to the 5th. The problem is that when these guys graduate to the big leagues, you now have a 28th ranked minor league system again because we have proven that we can't draft worth a flip. If you want to play young, that's fine, but you have to be able to draft. ....or you have to have a big wallet. Right now, we have neither. Loria - please go away!

I don't want to sound like a Loria apologist but people complained when he stayed silent after the trade. Now there are complaints when he says something. I don't think he said anything particularly wrong but it just proves there is nothing he can do to appease most of the fans ever again.

 

No, it is just wrong to say that there "is nothing he can do...". He had a tremendous opportunity to turn this franchise in to a stable organization. Fans were ready to believe everything about the bad lease, the concesssions etc and start trusting. He may have gone overboard last year in his all or nothing approach, that is now an obvious mistake and one he could use to bring about some common sense changes. But, once again, he went all to nothing and says "trust me, it is for your own good, we were losing anyway". With this history here, averaging over 27,000 should have been a signal that there is baseball life, especially after the June disaster and the mid season trades for prospects. Regardless of the POSSIBLE baseball logic, he mentions running his business. In baseball's twisted finances, minimizing customers, in Loria's world, is more beneficial then having a fair mix of fiscal sanity and sports promotion.

No, there was a lot he could have done differently that still would have angered some (agreed that some people are never satisfied) but received support from many also that in the long run would provide a product that people would still support-at least to a reasonable degree. He gets nothing now, but a main problem is that we the fans are asked to support, at major league prices against major league competition, a team slightly above a true minor league team. When we win, there will be bandwagon support, but you can't create stability that way.

 

See, down here, we have seen this all before and for once, or maybe twice, the fans get a bye and the owner does not. Somehow, even if we averaged 35,000 estimating an average daily spending of $30, would not support a $65 million drop in payroll. This is Loria, I believe he wanted to win it all and then would have still traded off most of the parts. It would have been a Hueizenga repeat, "enjoy the moment", but the difference this time is that the Stadium sits there on the site of many championships, where mediocrity or worse was not common and is difficult to accept, especially when it is a planned effort. My opinion.

At least we went from 28th ranked minor league to the 5th. The problem is that when these guys graduate to the big leagues, you now have a 28th ranked minor league system again because we have proven that we can't draft worth a flip. If you want to play young, that's fine, but you have to be able to draft. ....or you have to have a big wallet. Right now, we have neither. Loria - please go away!

 

Cause they didn't draft Fernandez or Yelich or Stanton or Ozuna or Heaney... The draft is more of a crapshoot than the playoffs. They've drafted better recently.

At least we went from 28th ranked minor league to the 5th. The problem is that when these guys graduate to the big leagues, you now have a 28th ranked minor league system again because we have proven that we can't draft worth a flip. If you want to play young, that's fine, but you have to be able to draft. ....or you have to have a big wallet. Right now, we have neither. Loria - please go away!

 

Cause they didn't draft Fernandez or Yelich or Stanton or Ozuna or Heaney... The draft is more of a crapshoot than the playoffs. They've drafted better recently.

Well,so far is looks like they've drafted better. Besides stanton, none of those guys have seen a MLB AB.

 

I think that year where we had 5 first round picks that all flopped hurt pretty bad

I won't forget the scene in 'The Franchise' in which Samson and the FO were arguing players' values based on RBIs.

 

This organization has a lot of room for improvement but he seems clueless in re: player evaluations based on new metrics.

At least we went from 28th ranked minor league to the 5th. The problem is that when these guys graduate to the big leagues, you now have a 28th ranked minor league system again because we have proven that we can't draft worth a flip. If you want to play young, that's fine, but you have to be able to draft. ....or you have to have a big wallet. Right now, we have neither. Loria - please go away!

 

Cause they didn't draft Fernandez or Yelich or Stanton or Ozuna or Heaney... The draft is more of a crapshoot than the playoffs. They've drafted better recently.

Well,so far is looks like they've drafted better. Besides stanton, none of those guys have seen a MLB AB.

 

I think that year where we had 5 first round picks that all flopped hurt pretty bad

Yeah, the 05 draft sucked for us. But ya know what? We're not the only team that's had first round busts. Shit happens.

"It's Baseball, Bro."

At least we went from 28th ranked minor league to the 5th. The problem is that when these guys graduate to the big leagues, you now have a 28th ranked minor league system again because we have proven that we can't draft worth a flip. If you want to play young, that's fine, but you have to be able to draft. ....or you have to have a big wallet. Right now, we have neither. Loria - please go away!

 

Cause they didn't draft Fernandez or Yelich or Stanton or Ozuna or Heaney... The draft is more of a crapshoot than the playoffs. They've drafted better recently.

Well,so far is looks like they've drafted better. Besides stanton, none of those guys have seen a MLB AB.

 

I think that year where we had 5 first round picks that all flopped hurt pretty bad

Yeah, the 05 draft sucked for us. But ya know what? We're not the only team that's had first round busts. Shit happens.

"It's Baseball, Bro."

 

 

lol. True, but 5 first round busts in one draft seems pretty hard to do!

Well, all the major talent was pretty much taken by the time of our first pick, wasn't it? Lol