Jeter hears complaints of Marlins fans at town hall
MIAMI » Derek Jeter sat Tuesday night in the left field plaza at Marlins Park, facing the music with the downtown skyline behind him.
The former New York Yankees shortstop fielded questions from seasonticket holders, many upset about the direction of the team under a new ownership group led by Jeter.
He told them the Marlins traded major league home run champion Giancarlo Stanton, stolen base champ Dee Gordon and All-Star left fielder Marcell Ozuna for prospects because an affordable payroll and stronger farm system is the only path to sustained success.
Jeter calmly answered questions until there were no more, and after the 90-minute session, he said he appreciated the fans’ feedback — positive and negative.
“They’re passionate,” Jeter said. “That’s the thing that is most important, and that’s the thing that stood out. I would much rather have a situation where we’re answering questions from fans who are passionate, as opposed to everyone sitting there saying all positives. It shows me they care about the performance on the field and this team, and obviously they’ve been through a lot.”
Some 200 ticket-holders attended the town hall, the first in a series, and the seats arranged in the outfield plaza were nearly full — a refreshing change for the attendance-challenged franchise. Jeter opened his charm offensive by addressing the recent payroll purge.
“You’ve seen the Marlins make moves like this time and time again,” he said. “This is not the same old same old. We have a plan. This is not a project to break the team down and build it up just to break it down again. We have a path to be sustainable over time.”
The Marlins haven’t had a winning season since 2009 and went 77-85 this year, but several fans argued the team was only a couple of starting pitchers shy of contending, and Jeter’s group should have added talent instead of dismantling.
More spending wasn’t a long-term solution, Jeter responded. He said the franchise lost too many games and too much money under previous owner Jeffrey Loria, who decimated.
“You can’t throw money at a problem and dig a bigger and bigger hole and not have any depth in the organization,” Jeter said. “You have to build from the bottom up.
“I hear your pain. I know you’ve been through a lot. But we’re trying to build something that is sustainable, and this is the only way to do it.”
Many fans offered suggestions, from free tickets to Jeter replacing Stanton in right field. “I’ve played my last game,” Jeter said. left the farm system
Gonzalez a free agent following release by Braves
ATLANTA » Adrian Gonzalez has been released by the Atlanta Braves and is a free agent.
Atlanta acquired the 35-year-old as part of Saturday’s five-player trade that sent outfielder Matt Kemp to the Los Angeles Dodgers and immediately designated him for assignment and placed him on waivers.
Gonzalez waived his no-trade clause after the Braves agreed to cut him from their roster, and he was formally released Monday. Atlanta is set at first base with Freddie Freeman.
Rangers’ Perez hurt in mishap with bull
ARLINGTON, TEXAS » Texas Rangers left-hander Martin Perez broke his non-pitching elbow in a mishap with a bull and is likely to miss the start of the season.
Perez had surgery Monday in Dallas and is expected to start throwing in about a month. The injury occurred on Perez’s ranch in his native Venezuela. General manager Jon Daniels said Perez told him he was startled by a bull and fell on the elbow.
Dodgers hit with $36.2M tax, Yanks with $15.7
NEW YORK » The Los Angeles Dodgers will pay baseball’s highest luxury tax for the fourth straight year and the New York Yankees owe a penalty for a 15th consecutive season, streaks that could end as the sport’s biggest spenders slash payroll for 2018.
The Dodgers owe $36.2 million, according to final figures compiled by the commissioner’s office and obtained by The Associated Press. That raises their five-year tax total to nearly $150 million.
New York was second at $15.7 million, its lowest amount since 2011.