Miami Marlins: Hometown team being sued by hometown
Contrary to what the 2018 box scores will look like, the hits keep coming for the Miami Marlins. Friday evening the news came that Miami-Dade County was taking ex-owner Jeffrey Loria and the team to court.
With pitchers and catchers reporting, the Miami Marlins are technically no different than any other Major League team. Spring training has commenced, and a summer full of baseball and dreams of reaching the Fall Classic have every baseball fan anxiously awaiting the end of winter.
But the Miami Marlins are different, so much so that six more months of curling and figure skating might start looking pretty good by the end of April. Already projected to lose 100 games, the news broke Friday evening that Miami-Dade County is actively suing the hometown team.
Let’s repeat that. The Miami Marlins are being sued by the very county they play in. The reason is the belief, likely correct, that the organization is deliberately not giving the money back to the very community that supports them.
Well, to be fair, mostly the county is suing ex-owner Jeffrey Loria. However, the Derek Jeter led franchise is in the suit as well. Even if they weren’t, that wouldn’t change the narrative or take away from the negative news cycle the Miami Marlins just haven’t been able to escape.
What’s The Problem?
What’s the source of the dispute? Money, naturally. It goes back to the original deal that made Marlins Park possible. If Jeffrey Loria sold the team, Miami-Dade County and the City of Miami should have received a taste of the profits.
The problem is that, despite selling the Marlins for over $1 billion more than he originally paid, Mr. Loria says he lost money. Understandably, county and city alike are questioning this. Almost everyone questions this, be it national sports pundit or local concerned citizen. Plenty of “fuzzy math” has been offered up by Loria’s lawyers to justify their action. When “fuzzy math” is an official term of a lawsuit, you know something weird is going on.
The degree of contrast between the Miami Marlins and the local teams around them is remarkable. Mickey Arison’s Miami Heat offers the model organization, one that just got Dwyane Wade back. Stephen Ross’ Miami Dolphins at least spend money. The Miami Hurricanes football team has fans believing the “U” is back thanks to solid recruiting. Even the Florida Panthers seem committed to building around their young core.
The only thing the Miami Marlins would seem to have in common at the moment with any South Florida club is a lawsuit, thanks to Arkansas State suing the University of Miami. However, unlike the Marlins, UM would seem to have every inch of the high ground considering they’re being sued for canceling a game because of a Cat 5 hurricane.
More Bad Press For Marlins
The thing is, Jeffrey Loria is probably a lot more likely to ultimately win his court case than the Hurricanes are to win theirs. Now that’s technically win: the public relations repercussions are a different story entirely. Loria might be gone, but the Miami Marlins remain. That victory will do nothing but continue to put the Derek Jeter led the franchise in the crosshairs of local politicians and the national media. Meanwhile, UM probably gains a couple recruiting victories and a ton of free good publicity.
So there’s a lot to unpack here for the average Miami Marlins fan. The fact that Loria is being sued shouldn’t bother anyone. He’s derided around the country as not just the worst baseball owner in recent memory, but all of sports. Many South Florida fans objected to the stadium being built with public money, to begin with. Marlins diehards like myself were just happy it was being built, but mainly on account of the decade-long claim, the stadium was the reason payroll was so small.
Of course, as the team heads into Year 7 of the Marlins Park era, only two of those seasons saw the organization have anything close to a respectable payroll. So, yes, the natives are restless.
There’s also the coldly practical view. This is entirely on the plate of Miami-Dade and the city for signing such an unfavorable contract in the first place. Sure, the community I grew up in is being taken advantage of. Sure, Loria was a criminally penurious owner. But I’ve saved plenty of criticism for the leaders that allowed that to happen. When hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are put into something, there should be iron-clad stipulations and protections set in place. They weren’t.
What Can The Miami Marlins Do About This?
The big question now is how the current ownership navigates the Miami Marlins through this latest salvo of bad press. They’re already at rock bottom; give this most recent ESPN piece a look for proof. No matter what they do, they are the official punchline of the 2018 MLB season. Nothing short of a 2006 Marlins style campaign will prevent that. But the stated mission is a complete rebuild, a rebranding. Building sustained success from the ground up.
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So, this is precisely why the Derek Jeter led Miami Marlins should get out ahead of this.
Just because they’re named in the suit doesn’t mean they need to stand with Loria. The ideal scenario would be either renegotiating the existing arrangement or cutting a massive check. Like today, for half of what Miami-Dade and the City of Miami are suing for. Just picture that. Jeter and Bruce Sherman calling a press conference, calling Loria a crook, and handing Mayor Carlos Jimenez $25 million while voicing their hope that Loria does the same. Can you say mic drop?
Granted that’s ridiculously optimistic and naive. More practically though, how about some serious charitable donations to the local community. We’re talking millions. Promote youth baseball. Build parks. Multiple days of free admission to students during summer vacation. Anything and everything to keep the rot of Loria from poisoning this new relationship — because that’s critical if this “Project Wolverine” rebuild is going to succeed.
Next: Meanwhile, The Dream Small-Budget Team...
Twenty-nine teams in baseball are skating by on the magic and hope of spring training. Baseball’s thirtieth team doesn’t have that luxury and therefore can’t afford to see this public relations barrage last any longer. However, unlike most of the games on their schedule, this is a victory the Miami Marlins can easily pull off.
It’s just going to cost them.