The Miami Marlins Are Cheap
Because it could also just be that the Miami Marlins are cheap.
Cheap now, cheap before, pretty much on track to perpetually be cheap. Maybe some day the city of Miami completely becomes the new face of Amazon and Jeff Bezos buys the baseball team. Until then though? Cheap.
Which is why they decided to roll the dice on Anthony Bender being a solid enough ninth inning option, and decided against paying one of at least six better options. Which is why a superstar shortstop was never in the cards, and neither was a comparatively affordable slugger like Kyle Schwarber. Or to go back to a misstep already covered, why they didn’t just make Marte a better offer last summer.
Without question, market realities do need to be considered. It’s fine that the Miami Marlins couldn’t afford Corey Seager. Few teams could have. The Marlins just don’t have the revenue streams to go toe to toe with the Dodgers, Mets, Rangers, and Yankees. But not dropping $3 to $7 million on a quality reliever? Especially when the bullpen was the biggest weakness on your team heading into the season? That’s criminal.
Regrettably, cheap doesn’t just have to refer to money either. Over the last few years, the Miami Marlins have built up quite the farm system- which is great. The thing is, at a certain point, you either have to call those prospects up or trade them for bigger name talent. Hold on to them too long, and they lose their luster. They get hurt. They get blocked. Miami has seen all of these outcomes happen in 2022, a frustrating scenario made all the more frustrating by how easy it was to see coming. At some point, the prospect hugging has to stop.
Then again, perhaps it is about to stop after all, assuming that…