2010-08-26 15:04:59 +0000 #1
Quote:
In the season after citing finances to dump slugger Miguel Cabrera, the Marlins made a cool $37.8 million profit.
When their publicly funded stadium was approved a spring ago, the Marlins were on a tidy two-year run of making nearly $50 million.
After team president David Samson predicted this October would "end in a pile," the season crumbled because a few measly million weren't invested in a reliable bullpen.
But Samson's prediction looks correct from the proper angle. The season will end in a pile. That's obvious, according to less-surprising-than-confirming financial records obtained by the website Deadspin.com.
Marlins, these records show, have skimped on their baseball product for years. But team owner Jeffrey Loria sure has a big pile, doesn't he?
No one begrudges Loria for making money. He's in business to make money. That's Capitalism 101.
But to strip a team of top players while earning big gobs of money demonstrates what Loria really thinks of the fans and the product. What's more, the Marlins compounded their lie about finances with another lie Monday after the documents came to light.
"The [financial] statements show what we've always said,'' Samson said in a conference call with media.
Samson said they were saving this money to fund a new ballpark. He insisted he's said this for years, even when Cabrera wasn't re-signed.
"It's very easy,'' he said. "We could've had Cabrera and no ballpark. We always made our decisions based on the long-term viability of the franchise. Always."
This is a bit amusing, because I've talked finances with Samson for years and never heard this reason. I once wrote a column before the 2008 season about how insulting it was to have a $24.8 million payroll — about half that of the next-lowest team.
Samson said then that there were "hidden" costs of a team. When asked what they were, he kept up a pattern of never saying anything about a secret stash to fund a new stadium.
"Marketing,'' he said then.
Marketing?
"We're spending eight figures on marketing," he said.
Eight figures — like $10 million is eight figures?
"Yes,'' he said.
Now it's stadium saving. Whatever.This isn't even about the Marlins giving away Cody Ross to San Francisco on Sunday to save $1 million. The season's gone anyhow. Maybe it's time to give Cameron Maybin one more chance, anyhow. Maybin, of course, came in the Cabrera trade.
As a fan, you imagine Cabrera and Hanley Ramirez still together. You imagine Mike Stanton added. You imagine what the Marlins' stadium opening would have with them anchoring the lineup.
"You can't look at that one year,'' Samson said about trading Cabrera to Detroit in a move that's yielded nothing so far. "You have to look out five years to look out where you're doing and what you're doing."
That's valid. Let's go beyond the two years' records that Deadspin had. They showed the Marlins had a $37.8 million profit when the payroll was $24.8 million in 2008, and a $11.1 million profit when the payroll was $35 million in 2009.
Let's throw in 2006 and 2007, when the Marlins had $15 million and $30 million payrolls, respectively. You can conservatively say that in the past four seasons the Marlins have earned more than $100 million.
That will cover much of the $155 million the Marlins are putting toward the $515 million stadium.
You bet that city of Miami commissioners wish they knew such facts before gift-wrapping that stadium deal. But the commissioners never saw the documents, Deadspin reported.
That's not the Marlins' fault. Nor is Samson to question for cutting a good deal for his franchise. It's all on the commissioners for being loose with public money and the latest to fall for the stadium hustle, which is sport's version of three-card monte.
The Marlins have one more year at SunLife Stadium, where Samson again insisted they "have the worst lease in sports." He's probably right about that. But what's it say when that awful deal still nets a nine-figure profit over the past four seasons?
It says the Marlins better not skimp on players when moving into the new stadium. It's one thing to play fans for suckers when public millions aren't involved. Now that they are, the Marlins best get their piles right
www.sun-sentinel.com...823,0,1551774.column
I think that the Marlins and the MLB would be better served if this guy and Sampson were let go. They are money hungry and I don't feel like they actually care about putting the best product out there for the Marlins to win. They say they couldn't afford Miguel Cabrera and a new stadium, but the documents that came out clearly refute that. Can you imagine the Marlins entering the new stadium with a lineup that featured Miguel Cabrera, Hanley Ramirez, and Mike Stanton? Something needs to be done and this jackass of an owner needs to be taken care of.
In the season after citing finances to dump slugger Miguel Cabrera, the Marlins made a cool $37.8 million profit.
When their publicly funded stadium was approved a spring ago, the Marlins were on a tidy two-year run of making nearly $50 million.
After team president David Samson predicted this October would "end in a pile," the season crumbled because a few measly million weren't invested in a reliable bullpen.
But Samson's prediction looks correct from the proper angle. The season will end in a pile. That's obvious, according to less-surprising-than-confirming financial records obtained by the website Deadspin.com.
Marlins, these records show, have skimped on their baseball product for years. But team owner Jeffrey Loria sure has a big pile, doesn't he?
No one begrudges Loria for making money. He's in business to make money. That's Capitalism 101.
But to strip a team of top players while earning big gobs of money demonstrates what Loria really thinks of the fans and the product. What's more, the Marlins compounded their lie about finances with another lie Monday after the documents came to light.
"The [financial] statements show what we've always said,'' Samson said in a conference call with media.
Samson said they were saving this money to fund a new ballpark. He insisted he's said this for years, even when Cabrera wasn't re-signed.
"It's very easy,'' he said. "We could've had Cabrera and no ballpark. We always made our decisions based on the long-term viability of the franchise. Always."
This is a bit amusing, because I've talked finances with Samson for years and never heard this reason. I once wrote a column before the 2008 season about how insulting it was to have a $24.8 million payroll — about half that of the next-lowest team.
Samson said then that there were "hidden" costs of a team. When asked what they were, he kept up a pattern of never saying anything about a secret stash to fund a new stadium.
"Marketing,'' he said then.
Marketing?
"We're spending eight figures on marketing," he said.
Eight figures — like $10 million is eight figures?
"Yes,'' he said.
Now it's stadium saving. Whatever.This isn't even about the Marlins giving away Cody Ross to San Francisco on Sunday to save $1 million. The season's gone anyhow. Maybe it's time to give Cameron Maybin one more chance, anyhow. Maybin, of course, came in the Cabrera trade.
As a fan, you imagine Cabrera and Hanley Ramirez still together. You imagine Mike Stanton added. You imagine what the Marlins' stadium opening would have with them anchoring the lineup.
"You can't look at that one year,'' Samson said about trading Cabrera to Detroit in a move that's yielded nothing so far. "You have to look out five years to look out where you're doing and what you're doing."
That's valid. Let's go beyond the two years' records that Deadspin had. They showed the Marlins had a $37.8 million profit when the payroll was $24.8 million in 2008, and a $11.1 million profit when the payroll was $35 million in 2009.
Let's throw in 2006 and 2007, when the Marlins had $15 million and $30 million payrolls, respectively. You can conservatively say that in the past four seasons the Marlins have earned more than $100 million.
That will cover much of the $155 million the Marlins are putting toward the $515 million stadium.
You bet that city of Miami commissioners wish they knew such facts before gift-wrapping that stadium deal. But the commissioners never saw the documents, Deadspin reported.
That's not the Marlins' fault. Nor is Samson to question for cutting a good deal for his franchise. It's all on the commissioners for being loose with public money and the latest to fall for the stadium hustle, which is sport's version of three-card monte.
The Marlins have one more year at SunLife Stadium, where Samson again insisted they "have the worst lease in sports." He's probably right about that. But what's it say when that awful deal still nets a nine-figure profit over the past four seasons?
It says the Marlins better not skimp on players when moving into the new stadium. It's one thing to play fans for suckers when public millions aren't involved. Now that they are, the Marlins best get their piles right
www.sun-sentinel.com...823,0,1551774.column
I think that the Marlins and the MLB would be better served if this guy and Sampson were let go. They are money hungry and I don't feel like they actually care about putting the best product out there for the Marlins to win. They say they couldn't afford Miguel Cabrera and a new stadium, but the documents that came out clearly refute that. Can you imagine the Marlins entering the new stadium with a lineup that featured Miguel Cabrera, Hanley Ramirez, and Mike Stanton? Something needs to be done and this jackass of an owner needs to be taken care of.
