The Marlins are a team mired in controversy this offseason, as owner Jeffrey Loria adamantly denies that his trades over the past month constitute a fire sale, while many fans and media members think differently. Loria addressed reporters today, including the Palm Beach Post's Joe Capozzi. Here are some of the takeaways from Loria's address, per Capozzi…
- Despite previous reports, Loria says that he never told Jose Reyes to buy a house in Miami. Loria said that he called Reyes' agent out of respect to inform him of the trade days prior to the move while Reyes was still looking for a house.
- Loria stresses that the team is not for sale, and that from a baseball perspective his trade with the Blue Jays makes sense. "We had three or four prospects in our system. We didn’t have people in our system that we could call up last year… As I said to somebody last week. We didn’t break up the 1927 Yankees. We broke up a losing ballclub that was going nowhere for two straight years."
- The Marlins will not extend a long-term offer to Giancarlo Stanton this season. Loria says that he wants Stanton to be the centerpiece of the Marlins long-term, and that he harbors no negative feelings toward Stanton for the slugger's harsh comments following the Blue Jays trade.
- Juan C. Rodriguez of the Miami Sun-Sentinel adds that Loria doesn't feel his chances of signing Stanton long-term after this offseason have lessened or improved "even by one percent."
- Loria and president David Samson both were non-committal when asked if they would change the team stance on no-trade clauses. However, neither party stated that the policy would remain, and they implied that they could reassess in the future (Rodriguez reporting).
