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To rub salt into the wounds...
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/f...,575814.column
Marlins' buildup to stadium lacks wins
June wasn't a swoon – it was a bill for years of mistakes
Dave Hyde Sun Sentinel Columnist
8:22 p.m. EDT, June 25, 2011
Amid the poems and the public money, amid the media tours and the on-location commercials, amid the nightly countdown and corporate cold calls about premium seats, do you sense what's missing in the buildup to the Marlins Get your Marlins Tickets now!' new stadium?
Or do you just look to the Heat for wins now?
Because June hasn't been just an awful month for the Marlins. It's been an awful omen, too.
It's been a two-win, 21-loss accounting entering Saturday for all of their mistakes, big and obvious, from the Miguel Cabrera trade fallout to the churning of nine managerial regimes in 11 years.
Mostly, June has been a bill come due for the two dirty little lies Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria tried (and sometimes succeeded in) foisting on fans, media, potential ticket buyers and stadium-voting politicians over the past several years:
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1. They're struggling financially. This lie provided the excuse to be cheap. It came crashing down like Humpty Dumpty when (A) the players union and owners broke historical ground with a joint statement last summer condemning Loria's lack of spending, and (B) reports showed the Marlins' own accounting had them making $100 million over four years.
2. They're smarter than most teams. The lie here wasn't just that they acted smarter. It was how they told you so if you listened to them condemn other teams' contracts and puff up their prospects.
But as their season crumbles, day by day, it increasingly looks as if there are only two ways out of this mess if you're Loria — besides staying in France for the summer.
The first is to sell the team, which he says he won't do.
The second is to spend money, which he hasn't done in years.
But when you look at the holes in this Marlins lineup, you wonder who's had a worse season so far, shortstop Hanley Ramirez or president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest?
Ramirez hovered around .200 for much of this year. Beinfest and the front office are hitting about the same, too.
It's difficult to judge Beinfest fairly, because it's impossible to tell sometimes where the financial decisions end and the baseball ones begin. But so many players have so many question marks that Edwin Rodriguez gave up as manager and Jack McKeon returned to offer some tough-love order.
Rodriguez, of course, became manager when Fredi Gonzalez was run off. Another bad decision.
It ties up everything in a neat bow to say the Cabrera trade sunk the Marlins. Only reliever Burke Badenhop is left to show for a Hall of Fame talent. But that trade, if possible, keeps growing worse.
It sunk them coming and going. Cameron Maybin didn't do much in his time here. So he was shipped to San Diego, where, at 24, he's emerging as an average center-fielder.
Don't dismiss that label. Average is several steps up from how Chris Coghlan was playing when he got demoted to the minors (then put on the disabled list).
Sunday, Andrew Miller makes his second start for Boston. He's another player the Marlins got for Cabrera and gave up on. Miller had a decent start for Boston last week, one day after Marlins reliever Brian Sanches had to start.
They had no one else. Their rotation is hurting. Worse, they have no one in the system to help.
It's not all gloom. Gaby Sanchez, at 27, is the Most Valuable Player of the team. Mike Stanton will be a star for years, even if while his game develops he can strike out four times. like Friday night.
But is there anyone else you're sure of anymore heading into the new stadium? Young players need time. But wasn't part of this team's mission statement to manage the timeline so a winning team intersects with the new stadium?
June is about done. But for the Marlins, changing out some problems won't be as easy as changing out the calendar.
June wasn't a swoon – it was a bill for years of mistakes
Dave Hyde Sun Sentinel Columnist
8:22 p.m. EDT, June 25, 2011
Amid the poems and the public money, amid the media tours and the on-location commercials, amid the nightly countdown and corporate cold calls about premium seats, do you sense what's missing in the buildup to the Marlins Get your Marlins Tickets now!' new stadium?
Or do you just look to the Heat for wins now?
Because June hasn't been just an awful month for the Marlins. It's been an awful omen, too.
It's been a two-win, 21-loss accounting entering Saturday for all of their mistakes, big and obvious, from the Miguel Cabrera trade fallout to the churning of nine managerial regimes in 11 years.
Mostly, June has been a bill come due for the two dirty little lies Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria tried (and sometimes succeeded in) foisting on fans, media, potential ticket buyers and stadium-voting politicians over the past several years:
Text alerts: Get South Florida sports news on your phone
1. They're struggling financially. This lie provided the excuse to be cheap. It came crashing down like Humpty Dumpty when (A) the players union and owners broke historical ground with a joint statement last summer condemning Loria's lack of spending, and (B) reports showed the Marlins' own accounting had them making $100 million over four years.
2. They're smarter than most teams. The lie here wasn't just that they acted smarter. It was how they told you so if you listened to them condemn other teams' contracts and puff up their prospects.
But as their season crumbles, day by day, it increasingly looks as if there are only two ways out of this mess if you're Loria — besides staying in France for the summer.
The first is to sell the team, which he says he won't do.
The second is to spend money, which he hasn't done in years.
But when you look at the holes in this Marlins lineup, you wonder who's had a worse season so far, shortstop Hanley Ramirez or president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest?
Ramirez hovered around .200 for much of this year. Beinfest and the front office are hitting about the same, too.
It's difficult to judge Beinfest fairly, because it's impossible to tell sometimes where the financial decisions end and the baseball ones begin. But so many players have so many question marks that Edwin Rodriguez gave up as manager and Jack McKeon returned to offer some tough-love order.
Rodriguez, of course, became manager when Fredi Gonzalez was run off. Another bad decision.
It ties up everything in a neat bow to say the Cabrera trade sunk the Marlins. Only reliever Burke Badenhop is left to show for a Hall of Fame talent. But that trade, if possible, keeps growing worse.
It sunk them coming and going. Cameron Maybin didn't do much in his time here. So he was shipped to San Diego, where, at 24, he's emerging as an average center-fielder.
Don't dismiss that label. Average is several steps up from how Chris Coghlan was playing when he got demoted to the minors (then put on the disabled list).
Sunday, Andrew Miller makes his second start for Boston. He's another player the Marlins got for Cabrera and gave up on. Miller had a decent start for Boston last week, one day after Marlins reliever Brian Sanches had to start.
They had no one else. Their rotation is hurting. Worse, they have no one in the system to help.
It's not all gloom. Gaby Sanchez, at 27, is the Most Valuable Player of the team. Mike Stanton will be a star for years, even if while his game develops he can strike out four times. like Friday night.
But is there anyone else you're sure of anymore heading into the new stadium? Young players need time. But wasn't part of this team's mission statement to manage the timeline so a winning team intersects with the new stadium?
June is about done. But for the Marlins, changing out some problems won't be as easy as changing out the calendar.
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