USA TODAY International Edition
After fire sale, new owner’s challenges will include on- field malaise, apathetic fan base Marlins headed for upheaval
The Miami Marlins game is over, but the loud, thumping music is blaring over the speakers, tequila shots are being served and several men are sharing pictures of women from earlier in the evening whose bodies were covered by only bikini bottoms and body paint.
The Clevelander Bar, which is behind Marlins Park’s left- field fence and which promotes itself as the “Best Party in Baseball,” certainly has no fear of creating false advertising.
Inside the Marlins clubhouse, where the real entertainers are done for the evening, the vibe is subdued as players head home after another loss.
If the Clevelander is the happiest place in Marlins Park, uncertainty can at times make the Marlins clubhouse the gloomiest. “It’s tough on guys in here,” Marlins veteran catcher A. J. Ellis said. “You’re living on edge. “It’s especially tough for a lot of these guys who have been life- long Marlins. This is all they know.”
The Marlins, a franchise that has been around for 25 years, are preparing for their fourth fire sale, the second in five years, with any player on a multiyear contract available.
All this comes as baseball’s elite gather this weekend in advance of Tuesday’s All- Star Game, a strange contrast for an event designed to showcase the home team’s stars and heritage.
Instead, with the Marlins at 3745 and fourth in the National League East entering Wednesday, it’s more like last rites for an ownership group ready to bail.
This franchise is hemorrhaging money, projected to lose $ 62 million this season, according to investors who have seen the team’s books. The Marlins are carrying a debt of about $ 500 million, and it’s increasing annually. Wwith a franchise- record opening- day payroll of $ 116 million, they have a staggering $ 488 million in future salary commitments.
It’s the highest financial commitment of any team in baseball — nearly double the total of the New York Yankees — despite averaging an NL- worst 20,904 fans a home game and carrying the lowest- paying TV contract at $ 20 million a year through 2020.
Owner Jeffrey Loria, who has been involved in baseball ownership since 1989 and bought the Marlins for $ 158.5 million in 2002, hopes to sell the club after the All- Star break for $ 1.1 billion to $ 1.3 billion. It will be an allcash deal. A group led by businessman Wayne Rothbaum and Tagg Romney is considered the favorite to purchase the team, but former New York Yankees star Derek Jeter and his investment group remain in the running. Miami businessman Jorge Mas is considered a long shot.
“There are a lot of moving parts to this sale, no doubt, but it’s happening,” Marlins President David Samson told USA TODAY Sports. “The timetable is the same. But it will be sold. It’s in the process right now.”
Loria, preparing for the anticipated sale, has privately taken care of several of his most trusted front office employees. Michael Hill, the president of baseball operations, recently received a five- year extension worth more than $ 10 million. Several other executives have five- year deals in place.
Loria wants to stay loyal to his executives but also wants to reduce the debt to make the purchase price more appealing, meaning their players will have to depart. It doesn’t matter if it’s Marcell Ozuna, Christian Yelich, AJ Ramos or even Giancarlo Stanton; the Marlins are preparing to strip it down for the next ownership group.
Yes, less than three years after signing Stanton to a record 13year, $ 325 million deal, the Marlins are ready to unload him, if someone is willing to inherit such a financial commitment.
“I can’t control what’s going to happen,” Stanton quietly said Tuesday in St. Louis. “I can’t control what people say. I can’t control the rumors. I just come in here and play hard every day and try to win. But it’s tough. There’s only so much you can go through. It’s not normal, but you take it for what it is. There just have been so many things that have gone on here. It’s more of the same story, just a different day. You’re almost numb to it.”
Stanton, 27, a four- time AllStar, is in his eighth season with the Marlins but has never experienced a winning season. And never during his tenure have they finished higher than third place in the NL East or within 15 games of the division title.
The Marlins seriously considered rebuilding after pitcher Jose Fernandez’s death in a September boating accident, but Loria overruled several executives. It not only was unfair to the community, he argued, but also to the legacy of Fernandez.
“Right when that happened with Jose, we talked about, ‘ How are we going to compete?’ ” manager Don Mattingly said. “We knew we didn’t have the resources to go get two big- time pitchers. And we didn’t really have that guy in our system. So there was really some serious talk about it. The one thing we said was that we thought this core of players deserves a shot. We felt like our bullpen was going to be pretty good. Maybe with those arms you can kind of piece it together and have a shot. We just haven’t been able to do it.”
Any serious playoff aspirations ended in May with 19 losses in 23 games. They went five weeks without winning back- to- back games. Their starting rotation is yielding a 5.03 ERA, third worst in baseball, while pitching the second fewest innings.
The Marlins are anticipating a sold- out crowd for the All- Star Game, though tickets are available. They think it might be the last time they draw more than 25,000 this season. They have a beautiful new ballpark with a retractable roof, ending the days of rainouts, hurricane warnings and rain delays at their old digs, but they haven’t drawn in excess of 2 million fans since Marlins Park’s inaugural 2012 season.
The $ 639 million ballpark was largely publicly funded, and the ultimate cost to taxpayers is expected to exceed $ 1 billion.
“We just haven’t been able to provide a winner consistently enough for our fans since we moved into this ballpark,” Samson said. “That’s a frustrating thing. People try to think that Miami is different, but it’s not. Everybody supports a winner. But we haven’t built enough momentum over the years of winning to do that.”
With attendance cratering, can this fan base tolerate another fire sale?
“These players have been together for four or five years, trying to make a run, and it hasn’t worked,” Samson said. “To me, if the Marlins do it, why is it any different than when the Cubs did it? Or the Astros did it? Or the Phillies did it? Or the Braves did it? If they can stomach it there, they should be able to stomach it here. To me, I just want be a normal franchise.”
Try convincing a fan base that has seen seven managers since 2010 and is paying three of them this season, with Mike Redmond, Dan Jennings and Mattingly on the books.
“It’s crazy how many things happen there,” said New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes, who signed a six- year, $ 106 million free agent contract in 2011, only to be traded after a year. “I think it’s hard for the fans. They want to see a team that wins. They don’t want to see their favorite players get traded. It’s crazy, but that’s how they do it there.”
Change is coming again. Whether it’s the proper course of action or not, it’s created anxiety.
“It can easily be a distraction, especially when there is nothing else to distract you,” Ellis said. “Your team spinning its wheels in the middle of the pack of the NL East.”
The Marlins say they had no intentions of breaking it up, but the wee hours of Sept. 25 changed everything. That was the morning the Marlins learned Fernandez, 24, was one of three passengers killed in a boating accident.
On the days the Cuban- born righty pitched, Samson says, attendance soared by 8,000 to 13,000. On the days he pitched, Stanton says, they just knew they were going to win. On the days he pitched, the fans say, there was a different vibe in the city.
He was one of them. He hung out in Calle Ocho in Little Havana. He visited neighborhoods and schools. He epitomized the energy and passion of Miami.
“He was such an energetic competitor, great with people, and really the perfect guy in this market,” Mattingly said. “It wasn’t like he was a manager’s dream. Really, he was a kid in a lot of ways. But you loved the energy he brought.
“Everything changed. We went from having that ace where you build around him and he takes the pressure off of everybody to being you’re now trying to build without that guy. I don’t want to bad- mouth anyone, but it’s just not the same.”
“One of the last things he said to me was that he wanted to start the All- Star Game,” Samson said. “And he was going to start the All- Star Game. It meant that much to him. And he meant so much to us.”
Now, the Marlins have to slash payroll and replenish their farm system. Management is bracing for change.
“To me, I’m willing,” Mattingly said. “I like the thought of building something. ... That’s what the Yankees did when they started winning, getting those homegrown guys and having success early. And if you get the right guys, you can come back quickly.”
Stanton realizes he could be the last one standing, which makes him cringe. He’s certainly not requesting a trade or criticizing the organization’s vision, but he reiterates that he signed his deal because he believed the Marlins were committed to winning. If not, he has an out clause after the 2020 season, enabling him to void the final seven years and $ 218 million guaranteed on his contract.
“I just want to win,” Stanton said. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
The Marlins will have to decide whether to build the franchise around Stanton or move him. Stanton’s exorbitant contract makes a trade unlikely — unless the Marlins are willing to pay part of his remaining salary — but Samson insists there are no regrets.
“If we had to do it all over again, 100% we’d do it again,” Samson said. “He’s worth every penny. He brings a dimension to a team you just can’t find.”
So why aren’t people flocking to see Stanton play beyond defending his title at Monday’s Home Run Derby?
“It’s not like other sports,” Samson said. “Name the players that people come to see, regardless of the team performance. Jose was a big needle mover. People were infatuated with his electric personality, combined with his electric arm.
“But before in my career, there was only one: Dontrelle Willis. Giancarlo could still be that guy. I’d like to see Giancarlo with a winning team and see what happens.”
Inevitably, the Marlins one day will start winning again. No one loses forever. Maybe even win their third World Series title.
The unknown is whether Stanton — or any current Marlins employee — will be around to see it.
“It’s not normal, but you take it for what it is. ... You’re almost numb to it.”
Slugger Giancarlo Stanton, on the likely sale of the Marlins and possible fire sale