Without Funding for New Stadium, Florida Marlins Dumping Payroll
Last year Loria gave Jack McKeon all the weapons that was necessary to make a run for another World Series title. They reeled in a major free agent slugger in Carlos Delgado and re-signed free agent Paul LoDuca. Everyone was predicting the Marlins to overtake the Braves and win the division with the amount of talent that they had on the team.
The 2003 season started off so promising for the Fish. Being in first place for about a month and a half, it look like that this could be the year that they would win their first division title. However, the team later fizzled and ended up in last place. Infighting, the lack of a sense of urgency, and the lack of support for a new stadium by the community, turning the Marlins into an underachieving team.
As the State of Florida have snubbed their noses at the Florida Marlins, it is 1998 all over again. They have started the fire sale to slash payroll so that they can make a profit. It is no longer about winning anymore. The team is now searching for a new city to play in, and Portland, Oregon and Las Vegas, Nevada are two cities that have expressed strong and sincere interest.
We may be looking at the final two years of having the Florida Marlins in South Florida. They can’t get money for a new stadium. They State of Florida doesn’t care about the team, so I guess they don’t care about the South Florida economy. It takes many years to build a new stadium, and we are entering 2006 with no stadium deal in sight. So with the Marlins being evicted from their home in 2008, it is looking glim for the Marlins.
According to David Sampson, the President of the Florida Marlins, the team have ponied up the fourth largest amount of money in Major League Baseball history for a new stadium. They have also guaranteed all cost overruns. What else do they want? “It appears that they never wanted to do this deal,” Sampson said.
The Florida Marlins have won the second most number of games to the New York Yankees since 1996. This includes two World Series Championships in 1997 and 2003 and three straight winning seasons. Most cities that have baseball teams who have won the World Series have rewarded those teams in some way. Some of those teams have received funding for a new stadium, or funding to refurbish their existing stadium. For the Florida Marlins, the State of Florida is going in the opposite direction. What these politicians are doing is absolutely disrespectful to the team.
As a result of all of this disrespect, the Marlins are forced to be a bargain basement team once again. This is something that Jeffrey Loria said he did not want to do. Therefore, on Wednesday, November 22, a major trade has been announced that will send two of the most popular Marlins packing. 2003 World Series MVP Josh Beckett and South Florida native Mike Lowell are going to the Boston Red Sox for two minor league prospects. On Thursday, November 23, Carlos Delgado was traded to the New York Mets. New first time manager Joe Giradi is going to have the daunting task of rebuilding this team.
The fans should go out and enjoy having a baseball team in South Florida while they have the chance. After that, say good bye to the Florida Marlins. Say good bye to baseball in South Florida. Hopefully, this will be seen as a wake up call for these politicians to try and strike a deal to keep the Marlins in South Florida. They owe it to the the team and to the people whom they represent.
