My apologies to all of my loyal followers for the horrible display of consistent writing. Life got in the way...not my wife though, she's encouraged me to write. On to the topic at hand...
The Florida Marlins have rebranded themselves as the Miami Marlins and are set to move into their brand new retractable roof stadium in Little Havana. First a little background...For years the Marlins have cried poverty while at the same time have been beneficiaries of MLB's revenue sharing program. Exact dollar figures of each team are supposed to be confidential but a year ago, financial statements of some teams were leaked, including those of the Marlins. (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/24/sports/baseball/24pirates.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Baseball%20Chases%20Leak%20Of%20Financial%20Documents%20&st=cse) They showed that in 2008 and 2009 the Marlins received almost $92M in shared revenue, while producing a net income of $33M and having team salaries of just over $58.6M during the same period ($21.8M in 2008 and $36.8M in 2009, the lowest totals in baseball those two years). The idea behind the revenue sharing program was that teams who received revenue sharing dollars would take that money and invest it back into their organization in order to improve their team on the field...which would eventually lead to more wins and then more fans in the stands and thus more income generated by the team.
Now to today...After having an average salary of $36.35M over the last six season and ranking dead last in team salary in three of those six, apparently the Marlins are ready to spend some of that hard earned revenue sharing money.
Word on the street is that the Miami Marlins have already made substantial contract offers to several big name free agents. The ownership has not changed in Miami, but with their new stadium opening, apparently their modus operandi has.
The biggest fish (actually no pun intended) on the free agent market this year is 1B Albert Pujols, formerly of the Cardinals. Miami has already brought him in for a visit and reportedly offered him a contract work $225M over nine years, a $25M/year average. (Some reports dispute the total dollars, but not the length of the contract.) This offer is higher in years, total dollars and average dollars than what the Cardinals offered last spring before contract talks were cut off once spring training started.
Another marquee free agent is Mets SS Jose Reyes who the Marlins have wined and dined and made an initial contract off of $90M over six years. Sources have said thatat Reyes wants to be a $100M man, but with the Marlins' new found spending ways, bumping the offer to $100M/6 isn't out of the question.
The Marlins also hosted and maded an undisclosed offer to White Sox P Mark Buehrle and made and offer to RP Ryan Madsen.
Many (myself included) thought Pujols would be crazy to leave the Cardnials just for more money, because the Cardinals give him a chance to win virtually every year. Also, the Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies (all big spenders) have first basemen locked up for numerous years each. The Marlins do have a corps of good young talent (Josh Johnson, Hanley Ramirex, Logan Morrison, Mike Stanton and Babby Sanchez) and definitely have the potential to win games, so Pujols would have a chance to win there. If Pujols does indeed sign in Miami, other players are sure to follow and what has been one of the worst drawing franchises will have more than plenty of fans in the stands, will generate real income on their own and may indeed become the new center of the baseball universe.
Now, do I think all this will happen? No. I do believe Reyes is headed to South Beach, but the Marlins moves show that they are interested in being more than just a drain on the revenue sharing system.
