No chance MLB and Manfred let the poor management by Loria continue. Selling the team was the only way to settle the debt as Loria didn't have the capital. Jeter may be the face of the tear down, but any potential ownership group would do this until they can establish a positive cash flow. I know Jeter wanted to be in charge of the tear down as they would have control over what they got, but I don't think he understood the backlash the tear down would have on the new ownership group. It is going to take a long time to repair the relationship with the fans when they could have had Loria do the dirty work. He is already hated.
Excuse me if I don’t necessarily buy into the cooked books of Jeffery Loria. And if that is truly the case, then MLB should have more oversight on how current franchises and ownerships do business. I have no doubt that Loria was a crappy owner... and now he gets a parachute of sorts out thanks to an inflated franchise fee (sorta like Dayton did by inflating the price tag thanks to a failure of a network).
That one was on Crane, IMO. Anyone who looked at the numbers could see that CSN-H was going to be a total disaster from the start based on their carriage fee demands - it's inevitable failure should have been factored into the price by any potential buyer.
I just don’t see how any of this is good for baseball, Marlins fans who helped pay for that stadium (due to some suspected books over-inflating losses), and there’s really no guarantee of a turnaround simply with tanking. And it seems that you want to absolve the new ownership group... but they also don’t have the capital, and are making moves in response to that.
Well, Crane was desperate to be an owner. Just like this (Marlins) ownership group is despearate to have a team, despite not enough investors. Hence why I suggested MLB be a little more scrutinizing in how these sales are conducted. Sounds like this was a bad situation all around, and its continuing to get worse. It’s not like MLB hasn’t played a role in team operations before. The Nationals are actually one of the more healthier franchises (from a profit/debt standpoint), and that’s probably a best case scenario for the Marlins future prospects.
But they didn't settle the debt, they just assigned it to a new ownership group. MLB and Manfred, along with Loria, pushed the sale to the Jeter group despite them being under-capitalized. Jeter wants to run the team as his own despite only putting up $25M. You seem to be giving Jeter an out here and I would push back on that -- Jeter is the guy who: (a) put up very little money (relative to purchase price), (b) wins the bid due to his popularity within the game (not faulting him for that just a fact), (c) proceeds to fire long-time employees and scouts, (d) dismantles the team to save money, and (e) skips the Winter Meetings to hang out in Miami for MNF. MLB, Manfred, Loria, and Jeter all brought this on themselves. That is to say nothing of the shenanigans that went down with Loria buying the Marlins in the first place. I agree that it will take a long time to repair the relationship between the fans and Jeter/current owners. Those fans already hated Loria, and hate him more after the sale to this group.This was the fans one ray of hope that they'd have a legitimate owner who wouldn't sell off their favorite players. MLB seems to have quite the history with screw jobs when it comes to selling a franchise. /my last post on the Marlins here. Sorry for derail.
Whether you buy that the Marlins were $400 million in debt is your call. It has been reported numerous times from respected news sources like the USA Today that the 1.2 billion sale price includes the $400 million debt that new group is taking on and/or having to restructure . Loria "only" got $700 or 800 million depending on the source. I agree MLB should have never let the Marlins accumulate so much debt as the problem existed before the sale. (a) Jeter only putting in 25M isn't an issue related to teams' problems. Sherman has enough money. (b) Jeter popularity didn't cause the Marlins financial problems. No matter who buys team, there was a big problem. (c) I can see bashing Jeter here. It is unrelated to the tear down of the team, though. It would not be a big deal if tear down didn't occur. Astros fired a lot of scouts this offseason, too. Firing scouts fits narrative that Jeter is bad. Firing scouts doesn't fit narrative that Astros are the best team in baseball. (d) Save money? Paying off debts and getting positive cash flow is not saving money. (e) Yes, Jeter is an idiot for not attending Winter Meetings. That has little to do with the Marlins financial troubles. It is not good for baseball. Having a team go bankrupt would not be good for baseball either. Unless there is some other way to pay off a $400 million dollar debt as well as getting operating budget in order so that the debt doesn't get bigger, tearing down the team was the only option. If Stanton had a major injury while a Marlin, that would have been a franchise killer.
It wasn’t so long ago that MLB did take a more active role in a now healthier franchise, both logistically and financially, in the Nationals. Loria was also involved in that debacle as well. It would have been quite synergistic. They never should have let him take over the Marlins after what he did in Montreal... and now they should not compound that moral hazard by giving the team to an ownership group with their own financial troubles.
That’s a nice addition if it goes through, hopefully it’s a cheap contract and Luhnow spends some on a quality LHRP instead of Liriano.
Also apologizing for thread derail... although I don’t think there’s any other place to discuss MLB (don’t give me “other sports”), and this is as good a place as any.
I like the signing of Joe Smith, if true. In 54 IP in '17 he walked 10 and struck out 71 (by far the highest K rate of his career). In his 18.1 innings with the Indians he gave up 0 BB. In 11 years in mlb he has NEVER had an era over 3.83 for a season. And was only signed for $3M last year.
Astros also looking at Hector Rendon per MacT. I like him more than Smith. Both Smith and Rendon would make fine upgrades to the 12th and 13th pitcher spots (over say, Feliz and Hoyt), but neither fits the need for a lefty (to replace Sipp) or an alternative at closer to Giles, although Rendon does have extensive closing experience.
Sorry for the derail. So the solution is leaving it with Loria? The new ownership group doesn't have financial problems that I am aware except that the Marlins are $400 million in the hole. There was not a potential ownership group that $400 million debt doesn't cause a problem. The new ownership group appears to have a plan to remedy the situation which is better than what Loria had. Having a group buy the Marlins with a plan is better than MLB taking control and doing the same thing. It sucks for Marlins fans. What Loria did to the Marlins was worse than what Drayton did to the Astros and will likely take much longer to recover. Once the debts are paid off, the Marlins should be a strong franchise with the current ownership group.
Right?!? I wanted to start a thread on it, but I had no idea where to put it lol. So. tempted. to. respond. but. must. not. continue. non-Astros talk.
Back on topic...I'm guessing at least 1 if not both Feliz and Hoyt make the Astros regular season team. Looking more and more like Astros are going to go with bargain options hoping 1-2 guys have good seasons instead of getting someone good prior to the season. I was hoping Astros would get someone iffy like Smith and someone actually good to add to the high leverage guys.
IMHO Houston has 20 guys locked in, with 5 guys they could stand to upgrade: Sipp, Hoyt, Feliz, Stassi, and Fisher (I am sure there will be competition for the last 2 reliever spots and the LF/bench spot and possibly C, but Stassi/Hoyt/Feliz/Fisher are who I have in the lead for now). So even if they only sign 2 bargain RP it probably relegates one or both of Feliz/Hoyt to AAA. That said, injuries and unforeseen trades will render all of this null by opening day. FWIW, here are the 20 guys I think are locked in to a roster spot barring a trade: 1. Correa 2. Altuve 3. Springer 4. Bregman 5. Gattis 6. Marwin 7. Marisnick 8. Gurriel 9. Reddick 10. McCann 11. Verlander 12. Keuchel 13. Morton 14. McCullers 15. McHugh 16. Peacock 17. Giles 18. Harris 19. Devenski 20. Musgrove
