As expected, the Marlins chose to not tender a contract to Miguel Olivo so he is a free agent. Justin Miller, on the other hand, signed a one-year deal for $750,000. The remaining arbitration eligible players are heading to arbitration.
Update: Since he was once a member of the Marlins it is no surprise that Detroit wants him.
Here is the link to the official memo regarding the new Miami Marlins ballpark. Yes, we’ll need to get use to that name by 2011.
Update: Reading through the memo, it hurts to read that the site in downtown was actually cheaper and better than the Orange Bowl site. Alas, we’ll take whatever we can get. Also, construction begins November 2008 with opening day scheduled for the 2011 season.
Update 2: The County wants to look into the fabric roof concept introduced by Tampa Bay’s proposed pirate ship of a stadium. They believe it saves both construction and air conditioning cost. I say we we build a real roof — hybrid roofs don’t have a good track record (see Olympic Stadium in Montreal).
Update 3: Forgot to mention: total of 37,000 seats, 3,000 club seats, 60 private suites, 7,200 affordable seats, and parking. Total cost: $525,000,000 ($489,800,000 for construction and design + $4,200,000 for furniture fixtures and equipment + $9,000,000 for owner contingency + $12,000,000 for site work + $10,000,000 demolition of the Orange Bowl, infrastructure and site prep).
Update 4: If the Marlins are sold to a new owner in the first 10 years (except for the unfortunate death of the team’s principle owner), the team would have to pay the County a percentage of the sale price with the assumed price at signing being $250,000,000.
Not very nice things to say there Suffering Miami Fan. Lets try to keep this civil.
Lets not forget that it is just a game and a business, not life. My suggestion to you is that you try to make $150MM and buy the team from Mr. Loria. Then you can decide what to do with your own money. As a fan, if you have a problem with the team, you can decide not to attend any Marlins games or not to support their advertisers.
Unfortunate death? Joe Robbie’s death was unfortunate in that it begat us Wayne Huizinga.
Loria’s death would begat us somebody better than Loria, because ANYBODY could make a profit off the Luxury tax, but ANYBODY else would at least retain one or two players (Hanley for example) while Loria is on a quest to kill all fan loyalty for this team.
I ain’t saying we collect some money and off him, but should Tony Sparano’s folks maybe give him a dirt nap, I would send roses to the funeral, anonymously of course. And, being Miami, he could sleep with the fishes real warmly, too!
(All in jest, officer!)
“We have a funding plan in place we think works — finally…” – George Burgess
What started off as a get together grew into a bigger meeting resulting in the unveiling of the plan for a new Marlins ballpark at the Orange Bowl site.
Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess offered the Florida Marlins a revised plan for the Orange Bowl site Tuesday that shifts a large out-of-pocket cash burden to the ball club, yet costs the county more long term.
Burgess’s plan, detailed in a cramped third floor County Hall conference room with Major League Baseball in attendance, prompted team officials to break a year-long silence on publicly discussing stadium issues.
While the Marlins’ overall investment was reduced from the previously reported $207 million to $155 million, the Marlins will now have to come up with all that money up front.
As for the county:
the county will put up $199 million in mostly tourist tax dollars and chip in $50 million from a General Obligation Bond. While that $249 million total is less than the $307 million previously discussed, the county would not be getting additional payments back from the team.
Also:
The Marlins would be responsible for cost overruns, and the city of Miami would be on the hook for building a 6,000-car garage. The county would own the stadium.
As for next steps, the County Commission will meet next Tuesday to discuss the plan. The City of Miami, which is investing $121 million tourist tax dollars, also needs to sign off on the deal. Additionally, the team must sign a non-relocation agreement.
Former Marlin Paul Lo Duca is staying in our division after signing a 1-year $5MM deal with the Washington Nationals. You can strike him off our list of potential catchers.
We’ve all wondered how the trade happens and in this Detroit-loving article by Jason Stark, we discover that after the Tigers rejected the Marlins’ Cabrera for Miller and Maybin offer, the Marlins came back with the 8 player lineup (meaning: included Dontrelle) and Detroit said yes.
Also, the Marlins wanted Mike Rabelo because bench coach Carlos Tosca had managed him before and liked him.
Oh, and one bit of commentary. Trading away your entire minor league system and spending millions on free agents doesn’t make your GM a genius. For every good GM like Dave Dombrowski there is an incompetent GM like Omar Minaya.
Aaron “f-ing'” Boone just signed with the Nats for $1MM plus incentives.
The Rule 5 Draft just concluded and the Marlins picked up RHP Jose (don’t call him Che) Guevara from the Reds and then traded him to the Padres for cash. Since the Marlins have to guarantee him a spot on the roster, it’s safe to say that they simply didn’t have room for the screwball pitcher.
Let’s hope this wasn’t a mistake, such as the last time we picked a pitcher in the draft and traded him away.
Here is a good interview with Larry Beinfest on the Dan LaBatard Show. So much there — team is looking for 3B, they feel like they have several great starters, and Miller is front of the rotation guy.
If you like pain, here is an interview with David Samson. BTW, he says the Marlins minor league system costs $20MM and that the franchise has huge expenses which is why they don’t make money. Additionally, he insists the ownership isn’t taking a penny out of the ballclub.
We’ve talked about this before: