Union complains about Miami’s offseason moves
The Miami Marlins’ unusual first offseason under CEO Derek Jeter — trading their best players and signing, so far, zero major league free agents — has caught the attention of the MLB Players Association. And not in a good way.
The MLBPA has complained to the commissioner regarding the Marlins’ recent personnel moves and the league’s revenue-sharing rules.
The union similarly took issue with the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have traded franchise stars Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole this month and also signed zero free agents this offseason.
“We have raised our concerns regarding both Miami and Pittsburgh with the Commissioner, as is the protocol under the collective bargaining agreement and its Revenue Sharing provisions,” union spokesman Greg Bouris said in a statement. “We are waiting to have further dialogue and that will dictate our next steps.”
The Marlins declined to comment.
MLB said in a statement that it does not have concerns about the Marlins (or Pirates) with regard to revenue-sharing issues.
“The Marlins’ ownership purchased a team that incurred substantial financial losses the prior two seasons, and even with revenue sharing and significant expense reduction, the team is projected to lose money in 2018,” the league said. “The Union has not informed us that it intends to file a grievance against either team.”
The Marlins declined to comment.
MLB’s revenue-sharing system redistributes money from high-revenue teams to low-revenue teams. The receiving clubs are supposed to then reinvest that money into baseball operations.
The Marlins — with infamous perennially low revenues — are receiving more than $50 million via that system, according to Yahoo! Sports. That report also said the MLBPA is investigating whether to file a formal grievance against the Marlins and Pirates, but the “process to go from investigating a grievance to filing one is long, and … it could prove a difficult case to make.”
Filing a grievance is not the same as merely voicing concern, which is all the union has done so far.
Commissioner Rob Manfred, for his part, said in November that Jeter, chairman Bruce Sherman and their group of investors who bought the team from Jeffrey Loria in the fall should be allowed to pursue their own vision for the club.
“It’s important for new owners to come in, evaluate the state of their franchise, decide where they think they’re headed long term and kind of write with a clean slate,” Manfred said at the GM/owners meetings in Orlando.
“New management often comes in with an idea of how best to put the best product on the field. And I hope that the fans in Miami, whatever decisions are made, give Bruce and Derek an opportunity to show what their plan for moving that franchise forward is.”
Manfred spoke specifically in regard to Giancarlo Stanton and whether the Marlins should or would trade him. Since then, Miami has traded Stanton and Dee Gordon in what were largely salarydump moves, plus Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich in prospect-centric deals.
The Marlins acquired their two best prospects, outfielders Lewis Brinson and Monte Harrison, by sending Yelich to the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, according to MLB Pipeline’s rankings.
In 2017, the Marlins had a franchise-record Opening Day payroll of about $115 million. For 2018, they are projected to be at about $87 million, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts.
The MLBPA complained about the Marlins’ spending in 2009-10, and the Marlins agreed to raise payroll starting that offseason through 2012.
thealey@sunsentinel .com or Twitter @timbhealey