With $191MM committed to Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, and Heath Bell, Marlins fans can't complain about their offseason so far. Only one of the 5,020 entrants in MLBTR's free agent prediction contest, Matthew Lazear, correctly guessed in November that the Marlins would sign all three. However, it's interesting to note that the Marlins also made the highest bids on top free agents Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson, who ultimately went to the Angels today.
Pujols received ten years and $254MM from the Angels, but Bob Nightengale of USA Today says the Marlins offered ten years and $275MM. That would have tied Alex Rodriguez for the largest contract guarantee in baseball history. Nightengale says that with incentives and Florida's lack of a state income tax, the deal could have been worth nearly $300MM.
Wilson signed a five-year, $77.5MM deal with the Halos, but agent Bob Garber told Ken Rosenthal Wilson could "easily" have gotten $100MM, and the Marlins "would not let it go." Said Wilson: "But if it were just about money I'd be a Marlin, straight up, because they offered more money, they have a great situation."
The Marlins reportedly stuck to their policy of not including a no-trade clause for either player, which may have been a factor in their decisions.
renegadeisback
It’s the uniforms. Who would want to wear those things?!
chico65
My guess is Matthew Lazear. Only the biggest Marlins homer of all time would have pegged them for Reyes, Buerhle, and Bell.
Serdar Sirin
The only name I wasn’t expecting there was Bell.
Serdar Sirin
CJ didn’t even get the team name right, lol.
It’s for the best that the Marlins didn’t get Pujols. At his age and that contract, he needs to be on a team with a DH.
Joe
I still do not really understand this whole approach. Florida was completely in the playoff chase 2 years ago with Phils and Braves and they were selling7-10k tickets a night. It is not that the fans don’t care, they simply don’t exist. If the Marlins had signed all of these guys they were all going to be on different teams in 2-3 years.
Serdar Sirin
You really don’t understand what it’s like going to a game at Sun Life Stadium in the summer. Not all the seat face the field. It’s miserable and scalding during the day and the humidity is awful at night. And there is always the chance of a rain delay. They are opening a new stadium with a roof and A/C. It’s going to help tremendously. Stop saying the fans don’t exist, they do. Their tv ratings have always been consistently high.
Taylor Hope
How so? “I’d be a Marlin, straight up”. What’s he supposed to say, “I’d be a member of the Miami Marlins?”
I_Like_Baseball
10 years 275mil!!?!? only reason why i see he didn’t sign there is because he didn’t wanna make it look too much like a LeBron move
$3513744
Really? That’s how you’re going to twist it? All the haters who said he left St. Louis for the money now have nothing to hold that up against since he turned down more money, and this is how you’re going to interpret it? Give me a break.
BLEACHER_CREATURD
I bet they didn’t offer a no trade clause because they were just going to trade him in 3 years, blow up the team, and then take another decade to rebuild.
$3513744
Can’t say I disagree, as we have no reason to believe they won’t. Still, he turned down more money.
MadmanTX 2
Um…didn’t Pujols leave for the money since he couldn’t get the same amount the Angels offered out of the Cardinals? Pujols wanted the most money he could get from a competitive team–and that wasn’t the Cardinals. Tough–but that’s what happened.
$3513744
Exactly, but it wasn’t all about the money. Everyone’s kidding themselves if they don’t think it’s important, but it looks like he left more money on the table.
bglaszcz
Ummm… they just won the World Series, and they’re getting Wainwright back…
101andcounting
Yeah, but they lost Tony LaRussa. Who’s going to bat Nick Punto ninth now?!
I_Like_Baseball
didn’t mean to like your reply, but yea, st louis was offering him 22 mil a year, angels offered (and he accepted) 25.4 mil, marlins offered 27.5….how else are you gonna put it? didn’t wanna go take the ungodly amount in miami, but he settled for a little less in LA which is still more than what St. Louis was offering.. c’mon dude…it’s all right there – he’ll never be like lebron though, he deserves every bit of what he makes
$3513744
Apparently it’s not all right there for you. He clearly took less money to sign with the Angels. If it was all about the money he would have gone to Miami. Clearly there was more to it than the money. And how this relates to Lebron is just even more ridiculous. If he didn’t want to look like Lebron, he simply would not have made a tv special just to announce it–which he didn’t.
I_Like_Baseball
Let me make my statement about th LeBron comment a little clearer for you – I meant if he would have went to Miami..it would have looked a little bit like a LeBron move, but he didn’t, he chose to go to the AL and still sign for more money than what the Cardinals were offering him, so I’m NOT twisting this into a LeBron situation at all..my comment was simply a “if he woulda” moment – although i haven’t dug deep enough on the internet or watched on MLB network long enough to get his reason why he chose LA over Miami if Miami was giving him more…any reason why?
FS54 2
NTC could be a reason.
$3513744
Exactly. Pretty likely one too.
Joe
No he and CJ didn’t sign because they did not want to get traded in 2 years after the inevitable firesale. This has all happened before with this franchise.
boogbite
Fantastic. Nice to see it wasn’t ALL about the $. Let’s go Halos! Can’t wait to get me a new jersey…. but which one?
mistermonkey
Crazy. CJ kind of rules for not chasing the money (if that’s actually true).
notsureifsrs
yea. the pujols contract is ugly but the wilson deal is a relative bargain
Guest 5775
I definitely agree that Wilson was a relative bargain, considering the market for starting pitching. But at the same time, I get the feeling that he’s a good candidate to wind up being a Boston-era John Lackey or NYY-era AJ Burnett.
Not that I guess Moreno would mind too much if it turned into a bad contract. They’ve had quite the collection of them over the past few years. And not all of them started off looking good to begin with.
YanksFanSince78
At 5/$75 I would not have had a problem if the Yanks signed him. I wonder if they ever were given the impression that he could come that cheap or whether they felt he had ZERO intention on being a Yankee but just wanted to use them as leverage against others?
mistermonkey
CJ Wilson is from southern California and it seems like he wanted to move back there — that trumps a few million sometimes (edit: well, not in my world!). Didn’t Jered Weaver also sign slightly under value so he could stay in LA?
notsureifsrs
yup. signing an extension in the first place is something boras opposes. but weaver insisted
rsanchez1
The fact that he called them the “Florida Marlins” takes away any karma points he got turning down the money.
Joe
No No No. The Miami Marlins are less than one year old and need to respect their elders.
Lastings
Now Loria has in for Wilson after calling the Miami Marlins, the “Florida Marlins”
Dave 32
I call bullshit. Pujols would have taken 300m from Florida if he took 250 from Anaheim since there’s just as likely a chance that either of them contend in the next 10 years.
BluMule
End of pujols career he DH’s in LA. End of career in Miami he platoons or doesnt even start
Dave 32
Completely irrelevant, as he’ll get paid the whole amount no matter what he’s doing, whether it’s being a 2-game a week pinch hitter or an everyday starter.
Amish_willy
If he’s at all concerned about pilling up homerun’s in the later portion of his career, the DH bit will come in handy, no?
Dave 32
Only a little. I mean it never stopped the Giants from trotting Barry Bonds to the outfield despite his inability to field anything but a routine play for the last 3-4 years of his career.
Patricio
It wouldn’t matter as at the end of his career the the DH will be implemented in both leagues.
BrandonBochy
Of course they’ll have someone leak an absurd amount. There’s no way he’d turn down the biggest contract in MLB history.
mistermonkey
That’s not true, necessarily. A no-trade clause is worth a lot to a guy like Pujols, who could find himself bouncing around every three years for the rest of his career otherwise.
tomymogo
10 years 275 million………..Why did he go to Anaheim?
Lastings
One word… “Disney”
Ian_Smell
Now I understand what he meant when he said he was going to Disney after they won the World Series.
Serdar Sirin
There is one of those in Florida too.
rsanchez1
Disney World > Disneyland
tomymogo
Lol…..he had two disney’s to choose from………I bet he didn’t have a no trade clause and didn’t believe Miami was serious about keeping everybody
BluMule
The place where dreams come true
jrfam86
because the marlins gave him a deadline to accept the deal and tried to ignore it and get teams to raise their offers. The marlins pulled their offer and went on with their offseason and pujols just took the next highest offer which was anaheim
Mike Mark Sopp
If Bell, Reyes and Buerhle make an appearance at the new stadium and announce they are going to win 6 or 7 World Series i may give up watching MLB entirely….
Serdar Sirin
I think it’s a safe bet that they won’t do that, lol
The_BiRDS
Its offical.. the Marlins are absolutely ludicrous… 10 year up to 300MM… wow Florida you are lucky that did not go through because that would have crushed your organization after 2 years
sharenski
jealous much?
rsanchez1
I definitely wouldn’t imagine the Marlins being the first team to offer a $300M contract. That huge contract would have been an incredible gamble for the Fish. I don’t think it would’ve been worth it. It could either have led to sellouts for the next few seasons, or sunk the Fish.
CyYoungSuppan
lol how is what he said jealousy? What he said is right. With all these big contracts, they could potentially be sunk real soon. That deal is insane, on top of all the others.
RationalSportsFan
Loria basically admitted that they are planning to pay these contracts with expected future revenue gains. He expects the Miami Marlins to sustain a massive increase in ticket sales. I don’t see why he believes this. They haven’t sold well the last ten years, even when they have been very good, and the new stadium effect will eventually wear off.
Fact is that Florida, in general, is a hard place for pro sports teams to sell tickets. Look for a massive sell-off within three years.
Serdar Sirin
You realize that when they played in Sun Life, they didn’t get 100% of the revenue from the stadium or concessions? They got nothing from luxury boxes. They had the worst lease in MLB history.
You’re going to be really surprised how much having their own stadium in Miami is going to help.
RationalSportsFan
I understand the deal was bad and that they have a better one now. But, I highly doubt that the new stadium is going to regularly be at or even near capacity once the new stadium effect wears off. The Marlins have never consistently drawn. Why would that suddenly change? They have had really good teams before (e.g. 2003 when they averaged ~16k per game). I see no good reason to expect them to consistently draw now.
The better deal allows for expanded payroll, but 2x-4x what they have standardly spent? I’m not buying it.
Serdar Sirin
They were banking on Pujols bringing in more revenue in other fashions, such as the naming rights to the ballpark.
I’m glad we didn’t sign Pujols because its true that we don’t know how well the ballpark will sell, but you can’t be mad at Loria for trying to do something extraordinary to get the fans excited.
RationalSportsFan
Not mad at Loria and I don’t think taking this risk is insane. Even if it fails, they have an easy out (trade these guys) that will be able to cost their losses significantly.
Even if this isn’t the best way to run a business, if I am a fan of a team, I want the owner to take these sorts of risks, because I want to win more than anything else.
The_BiRDS
You realize that a new stadium does not insure more fans right? Fans = Revenue
dm-3
That is exactly what we heard in Pittsburgh when PNC Park opened. Good luck with that.
sharenski
If you forget the NBA and the NFL sure.
RationalSportsFan
Tampa Bay, Miami, and Jacksonville are all in the bottom quarter of NFL attendance, with Tampa and Miami in the bottom three. All have been bottom third the last two years.
sharenski
lol To think Pujols will stop being himself in two years? The contract will take longer than that to become burdensome.
Ohhhplease
If it is burdensome in 2 or 4 or 6 years doesn’t matter, burdensome is burdensome. At some point Pujols will stop putting up the numbers he is and I beieive sooner rather than later as he has a partially torn tendon in his elbow, plater faciatis (sic) and age all working against him
The_BiRDS
Now that Pujols is gone Im ready to focus my attention to Bryce Harper! He is the next prodigy.
The_BiRDS
Pujols wasnt himself lastyear
The_BiRDS
Jealous? of what? A horrible business decision… no
YanksFanSince78
Honestly….Ramirez + Pujols + Guillen in Miami would’ve driven the Latin fanbase crazy.
Serdar Sirin
Reyes too.
YanksFanSince78
In my mind I had him on my list but had a brain fart while typing. thanks.
jrfam86
and reyes
casorgreener
yeah but a lot of that latin fan base is without the money to pack the stadium year in and year out. That’s why they never do in Miami
The_BiRDS
great point.
YanksFanSince78
I live in the area and you would be shocked at the economic strength of Latin community here. Yes they have a lot of new immigrants but there’s a TON of second generation educated and gainfully employed Latin ppl here not to mention the surrounding areas they can draw from wealthy non-Latinos in West Palm, Boca, Ft. Lauderdale, Dayton beach, even Orlando which is only 3 hrs away.
casorgreener
Older people aren’t going to pack a sports arena, Florida has taught us that in almost every sport.
Economic strength does not guarantee attendance. Even the Heat can be seen with empty stadium seats. Miami is just not a sports crazed place anymore, probably has a lot to do with all those half naked women.
Will M
If you’re going to spend time arguing about Miami sports, stop relying on stereotypes of Miami that you picked up in the 80’s and CSI Miami. 70% of Miami is Hispanic (aka the economic strength has to come from somewhere) and the average age is 30. The Hispanics that comprise the population of Miami are a collection of citizens from South American countries that had the financial means to relocate their families to Miami.
The Heat have empty seats only because fans arrive their late NOT because fans aren’t buying the tickets. The Heat even opened “standing room only” seating this year which was always filled.
Look i’m a Miami fan and i’ll agree, our fans kind of blow. But if you give them an excitable product or a winning product, they’ll jump on the bandwagon and come to games.
The_BiRDS
Great! Then Pujols should have signed with a Latin team… Cuba, Dominican, Puerto Rican etc.. why is Miami trying to go Latin all of a sudden? Thats like the Royal building an all Amish team..
$4555515
im curious what makes the marlins think that attendance is going to skyrocket? i would like to point out this is the same marlins orginiaztion that won 2 world series and then had to dismantle there team duo to lack of attendance/revenue?
if winning 2 world series in a row(pls correct me if im mistaken) doesnt bring you better attendance and revenue numbers then what the hell possibly could
tntdaddy
CJ Wilson, so serious about the offer from Miami, he couldn’t get their name right.
bigpat
Well good for Albert to be a character guy and take the 250M instead of the 275. [sarcasm]
Glad to see I’m not the only one who doesn’t believe in the Marlins yet.
PaganIdolCow
It’s a good bet that if you don’t even know the current name of the team offering you the most money, you’re probably not that interested in joining that team.
Phillies_Aces35
Can’t believe they didn’t make an exception on their “No-No trade” stance. Let one of the greatest hitters of all time go by because they wouldn’t be able to dump his contract once they won the world series.
Glad he’s not going to be in the division.
Chipper_is_GOD
They are idiots
They just let AP walk because of a dumb NTC. They let possibly the greatest ever go because they might not have wanted him later on. And I personally would have liked to seen them get him because I actually kinda wanted Albert in my division so I could see him play more.
But now. The Marlins are no threat to the Braves or Phils. Adding Reyes, Buerhle, & Heath can’t top our teams. But adding those 3 and then Pujols and Wilson could have. The Marlins dug themselves a grave with that NTC, idiots…
Serdar Sirin
“But now. The Marlins are no threat to the Braves or Phils.”
We’ll see about that.
Phillies_Aces35
Depends on Johnson and Reyes. People can say whatever they want about the Phillies and their age but that Marlins ballclub is filled with some significant injuries. Can they weather the storm when one or the other goes down as history shows they will? To me, that’s the key if the Marlins want to compete.
Serdar Sirin
I mostly agree. But another wild card is if Hanley can perform to his talent again.
Also, there is another wild card 🙂
Phillies_Aces35
I think the NL East is going to good this year. I still see the Braves/Phillies as the two fighting for the top spot but the Nationals and Marlins are going to make it though on them.
The Wild Card is coming out of that division. The NL Central just took a huge hit talentwise and the West is what it is, I never have predicted correctly what’s the outcome from that division besides 2009 when it was clear the Dodgers were the class.
notsureifsrs
keep in mind that it’s very unlikely that the marlins are done. they intended to sign at least one more big name and failed. they have motivation to make a splash in the trade market now, probably for a starter
i can’t see any trade making them favorites, but the right move(s) could definitely make them serious contenders
Ohhhplease
I wouldn’t ever say “no threat”, they have a strong team, and a solid staff. Are they as solid as the Braves or Phils right now, no…but a few injuries happen and it’s a different ballgame. The Braves cannot score, and did nothing to help themselves in that department, yet.
bglaszcz
IF Hanley is healthy, and IF he decides to play, I feel you’re going to eat your words. He was one of the top 5 players in the league 2 years ago. No one seems to be talking about him.
melkor77
I don’t get either… in 4 years, when they have shipped evey piece of their top talent away, I’d think AP would have likely waived his no trade gladly… and to go to the team of his choosing…but who knows
notsureifsrs
it’s really suspicious. he’d have had 10-5 rights halfway into the deal anyway. do they really think there’s a significant chance they’d trade him in the first 5 years of the deal? apparently so
Dave 32
It happened to A-Rod didn’t it? Not like the number of teams would be huge that could take that contract that didn’t offer it in the first place, but you never want to get traded to the Cubs without being able to veto it.
Guest 5774
Yeah. It appears they do fully realize that they’re playing with fire this winter by offering all these huge contracts. I mean, I’m sure their attendance will increase significantly in the new stadium. But I’m very dubious that their revenue will increase enough over the next few years to justify what they’re currently spending (and still trying to spend).
Serdar Sirin
They are coming off the worse lease in MLB history. You’ll be surprised how much extra revenue they will have. Maybe not enough to support a $275 million contract though…
Guest 5771
Oh, I agree. I don’t think Reyes, Buehrle and Bell will hamstring them much. Especially considering Hanley’s contract runs out right around the time that the backloaded years of Reyes’ deal kicks in. But if they had gotten Pujols at $27.5M AAV, and Wilson at $15.5M AAV, I think they would have really been screwed in a few years.
And who knows? They could still wind up spending big on Fielder and/or Darvish. Or maybe Cespedes or Aoki. Or trade for Wandy Rodriguez and take on his full salary. It sounds like they’re far from done spending this winter.
And don’t get me wrong. I wish them well. They’re not my favorite team. But they’re my favorite team in the NL East. So I’d hate to see them get into the mess that the Cubs, Mets and Astros are currently in.
YanksFanSince78
Honestly speaking, if he’s earning $30 mil per then that in effect IS a no trade clause. Who in the world, has the money for that AND a need (considering the Yanks and Sox are locked up at 1b).
Phillies_Aces35
That was my thinking with him. 4-5 years from now probably only the Yankees, Phillies, Red Sox, Dodgers, Mets, etc could afford him.
But I figured they’d realize that and just give him the no-trade.
wsox2624
Ozzie was just saying yesterday how he was attracting everyone to Florida…looks like his charm wore off and didn’t work with AP and C.J.
JimBaily
Not bitter at all.
YanksFanSince78
Buerhle, Reyes and Bell…..can’t have ’em all.
FS54 2
I feel so much better now. AP took less money and did not sign with Cardinals.
Jackkinof
Angels just won themselves a few World Series Championships. I invite anyone at all to dispute this. They will now focus on acquiring a MLB established 3rd baseman and they have the trade chips to do exactly that.
inleylandwetrust
“I invite anyone at all to dispute this.”
Boston had a better team on paper last season
RationalSportsFan
Right, and they beat the Phillies in the World Series, correct? Same in 2010, if I remember correctly.
Jackkinof
I live in Boston- no buzz surrounding this team at all. I agree the season has yet to begin, but I will be sharing on this topic in about 11 months from now and you all will tell me how correct i was. Arte Moreno for Pres!
RationalSportsFan
“Buzz” does not equal “likelihood to win World Series.”
John W
No buzz, really? Everyone the west coast seems to be wondering if Valentine lasts the season. What is your take?
Phillies_Aces35
I’ll dispute that right now, while signing Albert Pujols is nice, you don’t have to pitch to him. He adds a lot to that line up, but if he comes up in a big spot in the post season, if I’m a manager, I’m putting up four fingers.
Besides, championships aren’t won on paper. If they were, the Phillies would have won the 2010 and 2011 World Series, in my opinion.
Jon Stark
well, Boston might have won 2011.
Phillies_Aces35
True, I thought they had the best overall team, plus, they used to own the Phillies in interleague so they had that going for them.
vtadave
Yep, I hear that Bud Selig has already decided that the playoffs will be cancelled because there’s not a team other than the Angels that has a shot.
jrfam86
no they decided to get rid of the season and just have the angels and philles play for 162 games since theyre already won their leagues
RationalSportsFan
Yep, and it will be over in 82 games with the obviously superior Angels sweeping.
Dave 32
Okay, I’ll dispute it. Pujols didn’t win the Cardinals their World Series, he hit poorly in 4/5 games and the one he hit well in, he wasn’t even the reason they won the game. CJ Wilson also pitched poorly in the entire postseason, losing every game he figured in the decisions and clocking a near 5 ERA.
Pujols will be a factor but you DO have to surround him with quality players that can pick up the slack when the teams inevitably remove Pujols from the game. Do the Angels have that? I’m not real sure and I really don’t think it guarantees any championships at all.
hardcoreforhardcore
So did the Red Sox last year, right?
CyYoungSuppan
I would think that this news would upset Cards fans even more since he took a lot less money from a different team that wasn’t them. Makes you wonder how this all went down…
jrfam86
he didnt really take less money, the marlins gave him a deadline to except the deal and he tried to push it and got other clubs to raise their offers. the marlins decided they werent going to sit around and wait so they signed buehrl instead and pujols just took the next highest offer
CyYoungSuppan
I understand that is what happened, but he knew the deadline and saw the other offers on the table. It’s not like he waited weeks after the Marlins pulled the offer to see if the Cards/Angels/Mystery Team fight to outbid each other.
jrfam86
i think the mystery team was the cubs and they werent going to come near anyone elses offer and the cards were pretty much set at the offer they gave him. nobody tried to really outbid the marlins as it was so he probally just took then angels before they lowered it once the marlins backed out
YanksFanSince78
“My pimp hand is strong”
-Jeff Loria
Dude is like Pacman Jones on a Saturday night in an Atlanta “skripclub”. Make it rain man, make it make it rain.
TimotheusATL
+1 for correct use of the word “skrip”
PepePeppon
Pujols agent messed up and the marlins pulled the offer. He was fortunate enough to get the Angels to bite.
BLEACHER_CREATURD
Good possibility. I’m wondering how much the no trade clause effected his thoughts. That is like gold as well. If they ever want to trade him he will get paid to OK it.
Phillies_Aces35
How did he mess it up? Pujols’s camp said they wouldn’t sign without a No-Trade clause. The Marlins didn’t offer it and Pujols took Money/Security vs. Just Money or Just Security.
gocrazy
I wonder if I will get a mention if I get every free agent prediction wrong.
BLEACHER_CREATURD
It’s because they wouldn’t give him a no trade clause.
elbeisbol
“NTC may have been a factor…”
Umm, obviously.
MadmanTX 2
Why so many comments but how “nice” it was that neither Wilson nor Pujols went after the top dollar? Uh…they did leave their former teams FOR MORE MONEY to go elsewhere. How nice was that? You could call it nice if Pujols and Wilson had turned down the Angels too and signed with their original clubs–that would be nice…but they didn’t. So, call it something else.
$3513744
Are you thinking that anyone in here is naive enough to think money isn’t a factor? It just obviously wasn’t the deciding factor. Besides, Pujols was nice enough to sign a team friendly contract years ago. It was time for the Cards to pay it back and they weren’t up for it.
Ed Reed
I wonder if the Marlins would be Interested in A-Rod he’s a home town boy and live’s in Miami…Im sure they would rather have A-Rod at 6 years 143mil than Pujols at 10 years 275mil… It would have to be a 3 team trade…maybe something like…
Marlins get – Arod
Nat’s get – Hanley & Sanchez
Yankees get – Zimmerman
A-Rod at 6 years & 97 mil for the Marlins is a great deal…If they ship Hanley’s 46 mil to the Nat’s it’s only 97mil for the Marlins they can’t lose…
bayareabeast
stick to football
John DiRienzo
Marlins get absolutely shafted
Ed Reed
They don’t get shafted…they get the Latin MegaStar who will drive the Latin Market…thats why they wanted Pujols so bad.. and now don’t think about Fielder…They want some more Latin Stars and next to Pujols, Arod is the Bigest
John 87
You must be smoking on that og stuff.Just because they wanted pujols doesn’t mean they want every Latin player with huge contracts.
YanksFanSince78
Yeah but Arod would be stuck at 3b for the next 6 years and that’s not the best option for a NL team. Plus, Arod has a no trade and I doubt he would agree to it.
OptimisticMarlinsFan
A-Rod was born in New York City so he really doesn’t have that full blown Latin background like Pujols..plus A-Rod is a lot older.
YanksFanSince78
Huh? wtf? Just because he wasn’t born in a foreign country that suddenly nullifies his status as a Latino?
jrfam86
pujols should of just took the marlins deal instead of testing their patience and trying to use them to raise his other offers and now he lost 40 million
Guest 5772
His agent is a pig… and pigs get slaughtered.
thegrayrace
Or they get tens of millions of dollars in commission. Same thing, basically.
$3513744
I wonder what that makes the owners and gms. I’m sure they never play hard ball.
John DiRienzo
oh dang what ever will he do
i’m going to start a foundation to help him support his family, feel free to donate to keep this hero off the streets
YanksFanSince78
I think you’re reading that wrong. It wasn’t an issue of the $$$$ as much as it was the no trade. My guess is, if money were the major issue than I can’t see him passing on $27.5 mil per.
rainyperez
For Marlins it might be a blessing in disguise. Now they can worry about Stanton and the money he is going to make in a couple years.
OptimisticMarlinsFan
And possibly JJ/LoMo as well.
Travis Pflanz
Personally, I love the Marlins organization. I wish my Royals would follow their model – Suck for 6ish years, get high draft picks. Go “ALL IN,” win a Championship… Repeat!
bayareabeast
i dont get why pujols would leave the cards if he wasnt taking the most money..b**ch move if you ask me
Phillies_Aces35
It’s the Cardinals fault. In 2010, Ruben Amaro Jr. read the market and
saw that the price for free agent first baseman was going to be inflated
so he locked Ryan Howard up. (say whatever you want about that
contract, it’s a moot point).
They should have signed him years ago.
cacavolante
are you seriously trying to spin the howard contract as a good deal for the phillies? that deal is god awful.
missed the last line but amaro didnt read anything. and so far the 1st base market has only been inflated for one of the greatest players to ever live.
Phillies_Aces35
No. I’m saying the Cardinals should’ve been proactive like the Phillies were with Howard. Whether or not you like the deal, they had the right approach.
The deal is awful, especially since he’s coming off a serious injury. I don’t dislike it from a sabermetric standpoint because I’m not really big on those stats. I’m not trying to start a debate or justify a bad contract, I’m just saying that at the time, the Phillies realized that they were going to have to pay major money to get a first baseman and they paid their guy. The Cardinals had a chance to do so, instead they chose to put it off.
Not justifying it, I’m just saying the approach the Phillies had should’ve been the one the Cardinals had. Regardless of what you think of the Ryan Howard contract, the intentions were correct.
John W
How long did the Cards have to sign him but didn’t? Once a player hits free agency all bets are off.
ClimaClub
This is ridiculous, even with the stadium opening and all that no way could the Marlins afford all these contracts.
My theory is that MLB strongly suggested they spend and spend like crazy. Maybe because of the SEC investigation, and to persuade other cities to build stadiums for the teams and use the Marlins as proof that if you build it they will spend.
TimotheusATL
loria isn’t exactly a member of the 99%, y’know. there’s a difference between “cannot afford” and “want to afford” — and when they were playing in a football stadium and not drawing worth a flip, he didn’t want to afford, well, anything. it’s a calculated gamble, and the lack of no-trade clauses given out makes it a worthwhile risk.
slider32
Who’s next on the Marlins list?
Ed Reed
Fielder,Darvish,Oswalt,Beltran,A-Rod in a trade
Serdar Sirin
We are probably done for now. I don’t really think they want Fielder. They could use another starter though. Jackson perhaps.
miamiroc
Maybe they’ll actually go after Cespedes now. He could be available by next week. I’d rather have Vasquez come back than go out and sign Jackson.
TimotheusATL
that remark by nightengale about lack of income tax pushing up the gross value of the offer to pujols is just plain stupid. it’d increase his net, not his gross.
tatecarr
Yes, but I think his point was that for the net income of another team to be 275 million, they would have needed to offer 300 million. So by offering 275 in FL, the net income would be equivalent to accepting 300 million from the Angels for example. I don’t know the tax specifics for either state and if those values would actually be comparable, but that’s essentially what he was saying.
Ed Reed
Oh yea they Don’t like Fielder because he won’t drive the Latin market, thats why they wanted Pujols so bad…But if they really want to drive the Latin market flow they should go after A-Rod
OptimisticMarlinsFan
A-Rod was born in the US so he wouldn’t drive the Latin market as much as Pujols. A-Rod would draw but not necessarily because of his Latin background.
Guest 5763
“I am going to play for the Dominican Republic, and I am going to make the Dominicans feel proud … I want to say it out loud: I am Dominican,”
Then he is a traitor!!!!!!!!!!
YanksFanSince78
AROD IS LATIN AMERICAN!!!!!!!!!!!
Latin doesn’t simply apply to those born outside the US ya know?
Diablo 2
^^ Dumbest comment ever..Wow would they go after A-roid? He is American and he is with the yanks and he used Roids..
OptimisticMarlinsFan
I think the focus now goes to guys like Shields, Wade Davis, Wandy, Gio, Cespedes, and possibly convincing Javy to come back for however long and I hope they don’t go after Edwin Jackson. They don’t want Fielder or Darvish. I wouldn’t be against trading Gaby in a deal for Gio or Wandy or another starter, moving LoMo to 1B and signing a guy like Cody Ross to play LF. Or if they get Cespedes, move him to LF and trade Gaby while moving LoMo to first. That said, I don’t think their done by any stretch of the imagination.
Trading Gaby right now would be ideal because I think his value is as high as it will ever be.
OptimisticMarlinsFan
The Marlins could also get Prince and trade Hanley for pitching…but if they trade Hanley and don’t get Prince, everything they’ve done is moot and pointless.
OptimisticMarlinsFan
The Marlins could also get Prince and trade Hanley for pitching…but if they trade Hanley and don’t get Prince, everything they’ve done is moot and pointless.
Ed Reed
A-Rod is of latino decent…it does not matter where he’s from..they don’t want Prince cause he won’t drive the latin market for the type of money he will get
lefty177
Anyone know the Pujols incentives? Probably something with MVP votes but if they have an incentive for .300 BA, 30 HR, & 100 RBI then Pujols is going to make more bank than normal
chee1rs
give me a break
$4555515
im curious what makes the marlins think that attendance and revenue is going to skyrocket? i would like to point out this is the same marlins orginiaztion that won 2 world series and then had to dismantle there team duo to lack of attendance/revenue?
if winning 2 world series in a row(pls correct me if im mistaken) doesnt bring you better attendance and revenue numbers why the hell would anyone think building a new stadium which btw happens to be in “the hood” would bring you better attendace and revenue
YanksFanSince78
No, the WS were about 6 years apart (1997 I think and again in 2003). In addition to moving to a better QUALITY stadium, the newness factor ALONG WITH having a MUCH better revenue and the fact that they are moving into a larger Latino community in Miami (Little Havana).
Biggest differences between the old and new stadium:
-Old stadium was a multi-purpose stadium designed more for football than baseball.
-Many of the seats in the upper deck are so far away that the Marlins don’t even sell them during the regular season.
-Some portions of left and center field are not part of the football playing field, and fans sitting in the left-field upper deck seats couldn’t see the action in those areas except on the replay boards.
-The new stadium has a retractable roof to block out the heat and the rain which of course is prevalent in South Florida (Sun Life Stadium is the second-hottest stadium in the majors).
-Also, not sure of the exact differences but I beleive the Marlins had to split a large chunk of the stadium revenue with the owners of the stadium and they don’t have to do that with the new one.
-The old stadium was North of downtown Dade/Miami Beach and the traffic is horrific in the evening as ppl drive home from work. Having a stadium located downtown makes more sense because there’s virtually NO traffic headed downtown in the early evening.
-Stadium is much more accessible to tourists downtown who might want something to do other than night clubbing during the week and is a lot cheaper to get to by cab from SOBE/downtown Miami vs paying $50 + to get up to Miami Gardens during heavy traffic.
I think the Marlins, even after the newness wears off, are in a much, much better situation.
$4555515
im curious what makes the marlins think that attendance and revenue is going to skyrocket? i would like to point out this is the same marlins orginiaztion that won 2 world series and then had to dismantle there team duo to lack of attendance/revenue?
if winning 2 world series in a row(pls correct me if im mistaken) doesnt bring you better attendance and revenue numbers why the hell would anyone think building a new stadium which btw happens to be in “the hood” would bring you better attendace and revenue
chee1rs
burning through money like sh@t through a goose