As discussions on the possible sale of the Marlins continue to drag on, it’s beginning to seem questionable whether any resolution will be found before the deadline. New reports suggest ongoing uncertainty as to just who will end up buying the team, and cast new doubt as to whether the organization will make any major deadline moves with that situation still open.
Jorge Mas had emerged recently as the possible favorite to land the Fish. But that now seems in doubt. Charles Gasparino of FOX Business reported yesterday (Twitter link) that the league is concerned Mas may even drop out of the bidding. As Dave Hyde of the Sun Sentinel and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald further explore, the team may be expecting just that result.
Mas is said to be frustrated by the unwillingness of current owner Jeffrey Loria to agree to an exclusive bargaining window. For his part, Loria seems to be holding open the possibility that further competition will boost the offers to his current price of $1.2B. But the constant stream of information, frequently pointing in different directions, seemingly poses its own risks to the club’s efforts.
With that backdrop, the Marlins are not presently interested in considering trade proposals for their three most interesting possible trade pieces, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). Talks on outfielders Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, and Marcell Ozuna will need to wait for the offseason, per the report. MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro hears much the same, noting on Twitter that other controllable players such as J.T. Realmuto and Dan Straily remain off limits at present.
In some regards, that’s not a new development. Prior reports — see here and here — have said as much. But it has seemed at times that the stance could conceivably change in advance of the deadline, particularly if some of those assets could help the club free itself of some other contracts. Miami is said to be weighing offers on its relievers, with an apparent willingness to move infielders Martin Prado (who’s now on the DL) and Dee Gordon, so there’s still business to be done — and, perhaps, still time for the club to reconsider its stance on the players noted above.
MLB needs to kick that f***ing clown Loria out of baseball…can’t wait for him to be out of the sport
Thank Bud for this Dude !
Loria has got to be one of the worst owners in the last 50 years (in my memory the worst). The sooner baseball is rid of him the better.
Frank McCourt would like a word.
McCourt only messed up the Dodgers (and then it was relatively briefly).
Loria has been a detriment to not only the Fish but also the Expos.
An avid and obsessive Dodgers fan would like to weigh in on this poll as he and his son feel worthy. Fred and Jeff Wilpon have been raping NY – NL fans for decades
The McCourt ripples are a lot longer than people think. His unwillingness to spend squandered a lot of the youth of guys like Kershaw, Kemp, Martin, and Ethier. Obviously Kershaw is still going but there was a solid core there for a time that had scraps around them not befitting of the nation’s second biggest market.
The Dodgers payroll is almost a cliche story at this point and the source of much disdain from the “don’t buy championships” crowd, but that can be traced back to McCourt too. His unwillingness to spend left the farm in disrepair and new ownership had to take on huge contracts to get a competitive team on the field, a couple of which are still on the books contributing to the $200MM payroll. The Dodgers have certainly stocked up and done alright for themselves, but it’s hard not to think of what might have been in the early years of Guggenheim ownership had they not been working out of the hole McCourt left.
Loria at least HAS money, he just won’t spend it. McCourt leveraged a parking lot property in Boston to get a loan to buy the Dodgers and never spent any money because he didn’t have it. During the divorce proceedings, players openly wondered to the media if they would get paid. It was honestly a dark mark on baseball and on one of its most storied franchises. And before we even think about letting McCourt off the hook, remember he wanted to buy the Red Sox and tear down Fenway. Unforgivable.
Sure, McCourt paid duties to his ex in court…
Ain’t the worst
Before the Ron fowler era in San Diego the last two owners were pretty bad.
You got to think the marlins have been around for 24 years and go through a tear down a rebuild all the time. Two owners back in San Diego. The padres traded half their team to the marlins in the fire sale of 94 that went on to win the World Series in 97.
The next owner only built up that team in 98′ that made the World Series run because he wanted a new stadium. After that he wanted cheap players to draft. No extension for good players, and constantly trading good players. Loria actually opened the bank many times just to sell them off quick. He also green lighted heavy extensions.
Remember the owner of the doyuers before magic Johnson? He was really bad. They didn’t start to get good until he sold the team.
Loria cant even sell his team without messing it up
I hope the team sells and they don’t trade our core players.
I can’t see any team want to take on Stanton’s mammoth contract.
Stantons contract won’t look that bad, after Harper and Machado sign..
In 5 years his contract will seem average
If he continues to Mash…..plenty of teams will wish they had signed him.
Cardinals need to make a big splash here….his contract is a better deal than Albert’s was (because of the age difference)……trade Bader, Weaver, and Sosa for Stanton, move Piscotty to 1B, trade Carpenter and Garcia for an SP, DeJong to 3rd, Diaz at SS, Wong at 2B, Gyorko spells one of them just about every day.
Pham
Fowler
DeJong
Stanton
Piscotty
Molina
Diaz
Gyorko
Wong
SP
The marlins would
never take that deal, why would they?
Phillies, Dodgers and Giants will make a play for Stanton , I ‘ll say he ends up in LA
I would want Stanton and we could trade Puig while his value is at his highest
I would rather keep Puig and all the prospects they would lose over Stanton. Stanton is injury prone very expensive. Puig is a superior fielder and a lot cheaper.
Philly media is saying we want Yelich but we have to take Stanton in any deal. Gordon in play as well
Philly has the money so we not.
Of course there’s one that covets him and his team lacks a HR hitter. Trader Dave will flip you the entire minor league roster–your pick of 8 of their top players.
Well Loria has at least one WS championship under his belt…….thats one more than my Dodgers since 88, so not totally hating on him
That’s a reason to hate him right there.
Two. 97/03
You can hate H. Wayne Huizenga for ’97. Yes, the
Marlins won a couple of crapshoots..
Loria didn’t own the Marlins until 2002……so its one 2003
He also followed up that World Series with a fire sale. A World Series is a good way to kick start interest from your fan base. But when you have all these new excited fans that watch you sell of the all the players that won it all it’s difficult to remain a fan. A lot of fans understand that there are times when a team needs to rebuild but after a World Series? Come on who does that
That team was built by Dave Dombrowski. Loria showed up after the three way franchise swap, signed Pudge, and since then has believed he knows how to build a winning baseball team. He does not. We’ve paid for that championship for the past 14 years.
Maybe there’s no deal to be made. Don’t forget Loria was supposedly asking up to $1.7B a few months ago. And if I recall, he has to cut in the taxpayers for 5% of the “profits” if it closed before April 2018. MLB forced sales (McCourt in particular comes to mind) in the past, and Loria has been a drain, but I’m not sure what external forces would come to bear on him. For this sale, it looked like Manfred was a cheerleader, so I doubt there would be any open pressure on Loria.
Interesting wrinkle there, mike156. I had not heard or read anywhere about potential profit sharing with the taxpayers, but that could definitely factor into the timing of a sale if it meant Loria getting to keep that 5%.
It’s a shame too because the team has a decent history in their short time in the league.
Sigh, 2003…
2003 is in the past. I’m sure many Cubs fans have forgotten about 2003 (I definitely have) after the Cubs won the 2016 World Series
I’d forgotten, but now I need another WS championship. This year will do, please.
Miami tax payers should sue Loria as soon as the sale is complete.
Go after him , with every legal ave they have ,at least make his life miserable !
Unfortunately, the history of Miami politics suggests that graft and corruption are endemic and that suing the Marlins would probably just open the door to a whole other set of grifters, cons, and “special interests” that would steal anything the taxpayers were able to “win back” from Loria.
Jeter, Pitbull, and Dave Stewart should have a Mexican standoff. Last man standing has a cage match with Loria for control of the Marlins.
Someone is frustrated by their dealings with Jeffrey Loria? Inconceivable!
They are dealing with a person who doesn’t even like himself !
Will ozuna take that much to get? He’s a free agent at the end of the year. I would think something like Flaherty and bader from the cardinals plus another top 10 organization guy would be enough for a player who’s leaving you anyway. Not a top 40 prospect, but roughly 2 top 100 prospects plus another decent guy.
Ozuna is eligible for arbitration for two more years and therefore won’t reach free agency until after the 2019 season. Thus all the speculation on his value.
he’s got 2 1/2 years of control
I heard this morning on MLB Radio that PHI was willing to take Stanton AND his contract if MIA included Yelich. I like Yelich, but if you have to lose him to offload Stanton’s behemoth contract, I’d have to jump all over that offer without regard to what comes back from Philadelphia.
We have some stud minor league outfielders Miami would get in return
Braves will take prado and jt the catcher
Angelos needs to sell the orioles and retire