Marlins Have Another Fire Sale

[PDXChris]

The Miami Marlins and Toronto Blue Jays have agreed to a multiple-player trade that would send shortstop Jose Reyes and pitcher Josh Johnson to Toronto, according to sources.


Also going to Toronto would be pitcher Mark Buehrle, catcher John Buck and infielder-outfielder Emilio Bonifacio.

"Just about any (Marlins) player making money is going to Toronto," a source told ESPN.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8...-being-traded-miami-marlins-toronto-blue-jays

So much for building them a stadium so they can spend money.

 

[thirty-two]

WOW, they traded Reyes only 1 year after getting him?

 

[Dback Jon]

MLB needs to block this and seize the Marlins

 

[PDXChris]

MLB needs to block this and seize the Marlins

Seriously

 

[MigratingOsprey]

#$&#&$€¥*»«¥¡©°c;

 

[Mulli]

Holy moly!

 

[Matt L]

I don't think MLB can or should block this trade. However, if I am Mike Stanton, there is no way I sign an extension with the Marlins and if I am a premier free agent, there is definitely no chance I ever sign with Miami.

 

[MigratingOsprey]

Stanton is a little stuck for now, in that he's under club control, makes peanuts and the only team that can guarantee him money is the Marlins .... although if I'm him I absolutely don't let them buy out much beyond the arbitration eligible years and the only reason I do that is that they have no other marketable player and I've (gcm stanton) have had some nagging injuries

Then I go sign with my favorite team as a kid in a place I love playing against a division where I've had great success for a team that is throwing money around like candy at a parade (dodgers)

 

[Mulli]

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Marlins signed Scott Maine.

 

[Gaddabout]

I would hate to own a Miami pro sports team. The fans there expect you to spend NY money, but they don't feel obligated to have NY passion for their teams. Miami is worse than Phoenix in terms of fan loyalty.

 

[MigratingOsprey]

Miami is worse than Phoenix in terms of fan loyalty.

I'd say it's pretty equal, with some very similar issues

Also, aside from the Dolphins I don't think there really are heavy expectations on any of the teams

There was no expectation the Heat would go nuts - there was some hope when they cleared cap space that they would get something, especially since there are some deep pockets, but that is all.

The panthers never have any expectations.

The marlins never have either ............ right now the exepectation isn't that they spend like the yankees, but at least spending to the level of revenue sharing dollars and national TV money that is coming in would be nice

The dolphins seem to have the most desire in the fan base - but they've been so awful for so long that pretty much everyone has quit with strong expectations

 

[Gaddabout]

I'd say it's pretty equal, with some very similar issues

Also, aside from the Dolphins I don't think there really are heavy expectations on any of the teams

There was no expectation the Heat would go nuts - there was some hope when they cleared cap space that they would get something, especially since there are some deep pockets, but that is all.

The panthers never have any expectations.

The marlins never have either ............ right now the exepectation isn't that they spend like the yankees, but at least spending to the level of revenue sharing dollars and national TV money that is coming in would be nice

The dolphins seem to have the most desire in the fan base - but they've been so awful for so long that pretty much everyone has quit with strong expectations

TSN did a story a couple of years ago about sports towns, and used attendance numbers compared to records to prove that Miami was the biggest bandwagon town in the country. They also included UM football. The Dolphins were pretty static, but the Heat, Marlins and Hurricanes played in front of ghost towns when they were bad or even marginal.

Phoenix ranked on that story, but Miami was the clear leader, followed by D.C. (minus Redskins) and Cincinnati.

 

[MigratingOsprey]

Phoenix is no better ..... results will skew from year to year depending on how the teams are doing

You also have to keep in mind that Miami is a small private university with a good portion of their students that come from out of state and leave upon graduation - they have a smaller base in a competative market ..... not the sea of alumni that a large public school will have for their metro

No secret - winning teams draw

by all accounts phoenix is miami and vice versa .... warm weather places with lots of transients and "non traditional" fans populated by teams that have a long history of horrible ownership that love to alienate the locals

 

[Mulli]

What is wrong with being a bandwagon fan again? Team ownership is not loyal to fans, players or coaches. Paybacks are a bitch.

 

[BC867]

Marlins trade is a baseball tragedy, and Bud Selig deserves his share of blame

Here is an interesting article about how the owner and the President of the Marlins have conspired with the Commissioner of MLB, Bud-lite Selig, first in Montreal and now in Miami-Dade to fleece the taxpayers as well as the fans and remaining ballplayers.

If any or all of this is true, someone should step in and put an end to this kind of business behavior.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/marlins-trade-a-baseball-tragedy-bud-selig-deserves-blame.html

 

[Mulli]

Who wins more games 2013 Marlins or 2013 Astros?

 

[MigratingOsprey]

I'd probably lean astros - I think the 2013 Marlins = the 2012 Astros

As for the "taxpayer" thing - the only taxpayers getting fleeced are tourists - you can argue about opportunity costs from the relatively narrow options for the 1% dedicated tax, but it's a bit off center to take the angle that it's the local tax base that is getting hammered

definitely some issues though when you consider the amount of revenue that comes in not only from the stadium, but also league sources like revenue sharing and the TV deals

I think it's north of $50M that can be expected from revenue sharing and the TV contracts ....... if they are able to shed Nolasco and don't make any major moves/signings they project to be about $20M-$30M in payroll next year

If I was anyone associated with MLB i'd be pissed at that equation

 

[Mulli]

the 2012 Marlins were at a 50 win a season pace after the fire sale last season, so I am thinking you are right about the 2013 Marlins.

 

[MigratingOsprey]

yeah - if you take their pace from June on and apply it to a full season it's about 58 games ..... given that they had some injuries before unloading hanley, anibal, infante, choate & mujica I think that could be fairly representative

I think they'll probably end up challenging that '98 team for losses

 

[PDXChris]

This is like the movie Major League except that they are already in Miami.

 

[Battle of Evermore]

Back in the 70s the Oakland A's with Charlie Finley sold off Vida Blue, Rollie Fingers and Joe Rudi to the highest bidder. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn vetoed the deals citing it was in the best interest of baseball. I understand MLB is considering voiding this deal. Taxpayers paid 80 percent of their new stadium and then they basically sell off their best players.

 

[MigratingOsprey]

Taxpayers paid 80 percent of their new stadium and then they basically sell off their best players.

Numbers are a bit off, but aside from that you forgot to add the important piece - "taxpayers who stay in hotels in select areas of the metro who pay an existing tax on their bill, of which a small portion is dedicated to certain defined purposes like stadiums" ....... your typical resident is not staying in hotels, the local tax burden is very low

But it's still a new revenue stream and the removal of the excuse that was used in the past about how they had to beat payrolls down

I also don't expect MLB to overturn it ... i'm sure other owners are pissed - in a perfect world they let it go through and MLB takes control of the team and forces a sale ...... i don't think they have any authority to do such things, but it would be nice

 

[Diamondback Jay]

Call me crazy here, but I actually think this was a halfway decent trade for the Marlins.

I understand the issues are on principle alone, and Jeff Loria is the biggest snake in the grass in all of baseball. He promised to spend, hoodwinked the city of Miami and the fan base in to a bill on a new stadium with the assurance they'd be "New York South" and proceeded to throw money around off-season (imagine if Pujols had gone for the true highest offer, what Miami offered him was 28 million more than the contract the Angels gave him), then sell it all off in the span of 12 months. However, on a BASEBALL standpoint, I think it was a decent deal for them.