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If Marlins deal gets done, Jeter will have to open up to win over fan base
JEFFREY Loria always had a fascination and fixation with all things Yankees during his ownership of first the Expos and now the Marlins.
Ask any of his baseball executives of recent vintage and they will tell you the New York art dealer inquired more about Yankees personnel than any other team.
So, it is fitting that Loria just may end up doing his biggest deal with Yankees icon Derek Jeter, if a Marlins sale can be finalized with a consortium that includes the star shortstop. As the weekend began, that was not considered a sure thing. Loria is in the kind
of fiscal mess — with some in the game saying the team is $400 million in debt, with $75 million or more in possible losses this year and no ready avenues to borrow more money to finance the debt — that he will accept the fastest deal that meets his requests and he believes will be approved by the other owners. Jeter’s group, which has bid $1.3 billion, is considered the front-runner and, as one involved person said, “think how disappointed an already apathetic fan base will be if you think you are getting Jeter and end up with someone you have never heard of buying the team?” Nevertheless, there remained questions if Jeter and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush could line up the investors to reach a magic figure and — if they do — if a deal can be structured to the liking of both Loria and MLB. Remember that the group coming in not only has to have an extraordinary amount of money to complete a sale, but then run a team that lags seriously behind in areas such as local TV dollars, attendance and sponsorships. They could be looking at, say, $150 million-$200 million more in losses the first few years even under optimistic scenarios before a new business plan fully has a chance to reverse the team’s monetary fortunes. (Don’t forget that if they start to make more money, the Mar - lins would begin to lose what has been their lifeblood, revenue sharing dollars.)
Thus, without having plenty of capital on hand, a new ownership likely would have to go into the fourth significant fire sale in the organization’s 25-season history, which is no way to introduce yourself to a fan base that has s t ayed away, in part, because of the first three selloffs.
It is possible, therefore, that the Marlins’ sale price has a formula that recognizes the pitfalls. For example: Loria getting a check for $700 million, the new owners taking on the $400 million in debt and the new owners assuming $200 million in operating losses the next few years rather than Loria. Those spoken to in the game and in finance expect there will be some creative bookkeeping to get to the final number.
If it is Jeter’s group that gets there, then consider:
The Yankees would be retiring the No. 2 on Mother’s Day night of the owner-in-waiting of the Marlins.
Alex Rodriguez, who among other things is closely associated with the city of Miami, still would be employed by the Yankees while Jeter would be trying to make baseball finally work in that city.
The last Yankees captain (Jeter) would control the fate of the previous Yankees captain (Miami manager Don Mattingly).
But as uncomfortable as any of that may be, here is the oddity Jeter might have to work most to explain: He was a man who all but bragged that he never watched baseball, and now he wants to buy one of the 30 teams at a moment when Commissioner Rob Manfred is obsessed with getting people to watch the sport. Jeter mentioned his distaste for watchi ng basebal l many times during his career.
As an example, in his book “The Yankee Years,” Tom Verducci relates that the baseball-infatuated A-Rod was at Jeter’s apartment and was stunned Jeter did not have the MLB TV package. Mike Borzello, the Yankees’ bullpen catcher at the time, witnessed the exchange.
“It was just so funny because Derek will never watch a baseball game other than the one he’s playing in,” Borzello said. “They’re just complete opposites. I remember Alex’s reaction to it was like, ‘How is that possible?’”
Yeah, Derek, how is that possible? You have to be ready to answer that, explain why you want fans to do what you were unwilling to.
Jeter is smart and charismatic, so I suspect he will navigate that question by pointing out that when he played, other games would be a distraction, or — if it was a postseason — a too painful reminder that a win junkie was not playing in those games.
But I hope if he does get to be a major player in the Marlins that Jeter uses the smarts and charisma for more. As a player, Jeter was gracious, but closed off. He answered questions in full, polite sentences and revealed little. He was admirable in his discipline never to embarrass himself.
His teammates, though, insisted there was a funny Jeter, a playful Jeter, a concerned Jeter. We saw more of his humanity at his guards-down goodbye press conference in 2014 than in the previous 20 years combined.
Part of his job — if he gets this job — will be as the face of this franchise. His popularity only can help in that endeavor, as will areas he excels in such as focus, motivation and competitiveness. But as he would try to sell the game in South Florida — as he tries to explain why people should do what he didn’t, namely watch and attend games — Jeter will have to be more than a careful sound bite, a dignified mannequin.
Jeter will need to come out of his comfort zone, show the people of South Florida what he kept hidden behind clubhouse doors. For a person whose default position is caution, that might prove more difficult than 3,000-plus hits.