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by: Mike Berardino February 14th, 2011 | 5:11 PM
Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria sees big things for his young team -- again
MIAMI — Oops … he did it again.
For the second straight year, Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria laid down the pre-spring challenge to his team.
It wasn’t exactly “Playoffs or bust” this time around, but it was pretty close.
“We have a very good team, and I think we can do extremely well this year and we will do extremely well,” Loria said at Monday’s Kickoff Luncheon at the InterContinental Hotel. “Assuming we’re healthy. That’s always the caveat.”
Loria was asked how he would define “well” this season, one the Marlins must play without such recent stalwarts as Dan Uggla, Jorge Cantu and Cody Ross.
“I’m not going to predict,” Loria said. “I don’t predict numbers. If I say a number, it’s going to be the number, so I don’t want to say it.”
And then, bless his heart, he went ahead and said a number.
“I think we can win high 80s or 90 games if we stay healthy,” he said.
Keep in mind the Marlins have won more than 87 games just twice in their history — and captured the World Series both times.
Keep in mind, they went 80-82 last season, their third losing effort in the past five tries.
Since winning it all in 2003, Loria’s second year of South Florida ownership, they have gone north of 84 wins just once, and those 87 wins in 2009 were just enough to get Fredi Gonzalez on a managerial hot seat that quickly became an ejection seat last season.
All the same, Loria didn’t blink when asked if he believed this was a playoff team he was handing manager Edwin “One-Year Deal” Rodriguez.
“I think it is,” he said. “I think it has the ability to do it. Now it’s up to them. We put the thing together in a way that the pieces seem to work very well. New bullpen, better defense, the young players we’ve been bringing along from our minor league system … they’re a terrific bunch of ballplayers. We shouldn’t take them for granted just because they’re here in Miami and they’re ours. They are on par with any other club. I’ll match my guys up with anybody.”
So, to clarify, would Loria be disappointed if the Marlins missed the playoffs for the 17th time in their 19 seasons of existence?
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I?” he said. “The answer is we’re going to try and get there. We have the horses to do it, but they’ve got to go out and do it. They have to believe in themselves. They have to believe in their manager and they have to stay healthy.”
I asked him if this team reminded him of any other in his tenure. He grinned and said that it did, but he wasn’t going to make the mistake of saying which one.
Call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure it’s the 2003 champions he had in mind.
Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria sees big things for his young team -- again
MIAMI — Oops … he did it again.
For the second straight year, Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria laid down the pre-spring challenge to his team.
It wasn’t exactly “Playoffs or bust” this time around, but it was pretty close.
“We have a very good team, and I think we can do extremely well this year and we will do extremely well,” Loria said at Monday’s Kickoff Luncheon at the InterContinental Hotel. “Assuming we’re healthy. That’s always the caveat.”
Loria was asked how he would define “well” this season, one the Marlins must play without such recent stalwarts as Dan Uggla, Jorge Cantu and Cody Ross.
“I’m not going to predict,” Loria said. “I don’t predict numbers. If I say a number, it’s going to be the number, so I don’t want to say it.”
And then, bless his heart, he went ahead and said a number.
“I think we can win high 80s or 90 games if we stay healthy,” he said.
Keep in mind the Marlins have won more than 87 games just twice in their history — and captured the World Series both times.
Keep in mind, they went 80-82 last season, their third losing effort in the past five tries.
Since winning it all in 2003, Loria’s second year of South Florida ownership, they have gone north of 84 wins just once, and those 87 wins in 2009 were just enough to get Fredi Gonzalez on a managerial hot seat that quickly became an ejection seat last season.
All the same, Loria didn’t blink when asked if he believed this was a playoff team he was handing manager Edwin “One-Year Deal” Rodriguez.
“I think it is,” he said. “I think it has the ability to do it. Now it’s up to them. We put the thing together in a way that the pieces seem to work very well. New bullpen, better defense, the young players we’ve been bringing along from our minor league system … they’re a terrific bunch of ballplayers. We shouldn’t take them for granted just because they’re here in Miami and they’re ours. They are on par with any other club. I’ll match my guys up with anybody.”
So, to clarify, would Loria be disappointed if the Marlins missed the playoffs for the 17th time in their 19 seasons of existence?
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I?” he said. “The answer is we’re going to try and get there. We have the horses to do it, but they’ve got to go out and do it. They have to believe in themselves. They have to believe in their manager and they have to stay healthy.”
I asked him if this team reminded him of any other in his tenure. He grinned and said that it did, but he wasn’t going to make the mistake of saying which one.
Call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure it’s the 2003 champions he had in mind.
I take it Berardino doesn't like Loria.
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