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Jeffrey Loria Continues to Get Bad Press; Accusations of Meddling

April 28, 2013 in Regular Season

Jeffrey LoriaIt has been denied yet the stories still continue to circulate.

In what is being called “flip-gate”, people still don’t want to acknowledge that Loria did not make the call. It was stated that Jose Fernandez’s start was flipped with Ricky Nolasco because of the expectation over weather conditions in Minnesota on this past Tuesday, but fans are still more inclined to believe Loria personally made the call instead of reports that the Marlins baseball staff made the decision. Reports are that this was a baseball decision made independently of Loria.

The question now is, why do fans seem to not buy it? Why is it that fans find more satisfaction in negatively depicting the owner of their team rather than accept reports to the contrary? It would seem all of the media depictions of Loria being a liar and a carpetbagger have taken their toll.

Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reported that this was a call made by Loria, undercutting Mike Redmond early on in his tenure as manager. He cited “three sources with knowledge of the situation” but they went unnamed. Other outlets ran with this and churned it, making it appear to have legs. Bleacher Report speculated on how Loria’s meddling continues to ruin the franchise and its credibility. Part of the evidence they cite recalls when Loria was in a press conference during Spring Training trying to defend the recent offseason moves. The accusation was that this was a AAA club and he defended his team by saying:

It’s not a Triple-A ball club. It’s a ball club with some pretty impressive players. I wouldn’t call (Placido) Polanco a Triple-A player. I wouldn’t call the new shortstop a Triple-A player. I wouldn’t call our second baseman a Triple-A player. I certainly wouldn’t call Rob Brantly that.

Although he didn’t name Donovan Solano (second baseman) or Adeiny Hechavarria (shortstop), it would seem that Loria’s inability to name them would denote a “hands-off” approach – but that doesn’t seem to be within the arena of speculation for most. In fact, in a poll on Bleacher Report, in that same article, the question was asked about whether or not the Marlins would ever be successful under Loria. Overwhelmingly 94% say “no” while only 5% say “yes” (out of 754 votes at the time).

CBSSports also weighed in on Loria’ meddling while the Toronto Sun also found the story worth mentioning. Rant Sports also decided to run off at the mouth and bash Loria, too. Yet they all have the same source – the Jeff Passan article.

Meanwhile several other reports came out that denied that Loria made the call – Loria himself being interviewed by Ken Rosenthal. It would be expected that a denial would be stated publicly. Then again, can the fan base even believe anything that Loria says? And this is the point. No matter which side of this story you come down on, the credibility of Loria is severely damaged and may be beyond repair. So much so, even Norman Braman, a staunch opponent of public funding for sports billionaires (despite being one himself), came out recently to defend Loria against getting a “bum rap”.

So what to believe? Loria claims he received the phone call about the decision from GM Mike Hill while he was working on deals in the art world. Manny Navarro, at the end of his report for the Miami Herald, seems to suggest a middle ground. Redmond says, “We were all on the call. It was an organizational decision. I’ll leave it at that.” That would mean it was an organizational decision that Redmond, most likely, did not entirely agree with. Either that, or he is tired of talking about it. Either way, something is missing here.

If Loria is messing with his team, it is in his best interest to distance himself from his franchise at this point. The team is horrific – they are just not scoring runs and they are in danger of being swept at home by a Cubs team that would appear to not be any better than they are. Fans will not go to games just out of spite of Loria, regardless of what the record is. Yet, one cannot help but get the sense that the characterizations of Loria the carpetbagging liar are creations of the media. In a fairly recent look from Sport Illustrated, a more balanced picture of Loria emerges as one who is not meddlesome, but an owner who is passionate about winning and that passion can lead towards becoming misguided. Fans of the Marlins should most definitely familiarize themselves with this article – it’s a great read.

It is one thing for the team to be bad which, in point of fact, they only appear to be. This team has lots of talent and a bright future but it just hasn’t come together quite yet. The pitching is there, the defense is improving, and even the offense, as anemic as it is, is only going to get better as Giancarlo Stanton’s bat starts to wake up (he hit his first home run last night in a loss against the Cubs). If this was only about the team on the field, it could be bearable. But because Loria is such a lightening rod for contempt, it just adds to the ire of the Marlins fan. The media seems to prey on this depiction of Loria and it seems to work as the negativity generates readership. Fans have to make a conscious decision to ignore the Loria negativity-material and instead focus on the team that is on the field. This team is not going anywhere; there is no conspiracy to destroy the franchise because there is no incentive or payoff to see it done. Any managerial mistakes are made with the honest intention to improve the franchise and should be evaluated on that basis alone. If anything, the baseball intelligentsia gets a free pass when Loria is demonized. The evaluation process and system that is being employed by the Marlins needs to be examined more closely and scrutinized instead of the polarizing characterization of its owner.

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Is Jeffrey Loria Meddling with the Marlins Again?

April 26, 2013 in Regular Season

Jose Fernandez was slated to pitch in the second game of a doubleheader against the Twins on Tuesday. Ricky Nolasco was slated to start the day game – but a switch was made. Nolasco got the word at 10:30 in the morning, went back to his hotel and adjusted. He was a bit frustrated based on the report, but he got through it – and even got his first win of the season. ”I was told at 10:30,” Nolasco said Tuesday night. “I’m not going to talk about that situation. I know what I’ve got to do. I’ve still got to go out there and pitch. Happy or not, whatever the situation is, I have to go out there and do my job.”

The reason for the switch was given by Mike Redmond; basically, it was speculated that Fernandez would fare better with warmer weather as opposed to the colder weather that would set in during the nightcap. ”We weren’t really sure what the weather was going to be like,” Redmond said. “There was the possibility of just playing one game today, and not knowing if it was going to snow again, or what. When we saw the sunshine, it made sense to put Fernandez up to pitch Game 1. Ricky’s a little more accustomed to throwing in the cooler weather.”

Reports have surfaced that Jeffrey Loria made the call to get the switch done. If true, it wouldn’t be out of character for the much-maligned owner as Loria has been linked to Joe Girardi and Fredi Gonzalez’s quick exits. He obviously dismissed Ozzie Guillen after only one season. Such a move would only undercut Mike Redmond and spell bad news for a franchise that is having a horrible start to the 2013 season already.

Yet there are reports that deny this is the case. Ken Rosenthal says Loria had nothing to do with that decision and Marlins beat writer, Joe Frisaro, also backs up that claim.

So we are left scratching our heads. I admit, it was a dubious decision to flip the two pitchers – I thought maybe it had something to do withe TV ratings, but Loria doesn’t have a direct investment in the ratings so that is probably a moot point. It would be a sigh of relief to know that Loria is not trying to micro-manage this franchise but instead letting his baseball people do the job they were hired to do.

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Could a Down Season Lead to a Long Term Deal For Giancarlo Stanton in Miami?

April 18, 2013 in Offseason, Regular Season

Miami Marlins v Colorado RockiesThe Marlins have no incentive to trade Giancarlo Stanton – yet.

Sure, he is arbitration eligible after this season, but he is not free agent eligible until after the 2016 season. But don’t expect that to mean that he will stay with the Marlins long term.

When Miguel Cabrera became arbitration eligible in 2007, he went from making $472K to $7.4M (the Marlins were offering $6.7M). He was later traded, along with Dontrelle Willis, in the offseason to the Tigers. The rest is MLB history in probably one of the most one-sided deals between two teams.

The Marlins were concerned because they were limited to a payroll budget, and felt that they could not give Cabrera the money he was looking for – something in the then-Alex Rodriguez range. Critics will say this is another instance in Marlins’ history where Loria unloads a star for pennies – and in point of fact, the Marlins really didn’t get anything in return from this deal (Cameron Maybin is on the Padres, while Andrew Miller has bounced around and is currently with the Red Sox).

Now there are rumors that teams are “preparing” offers for Stanton and will approach the Marlins to make a deal. This doesn’t seem very likely at this point – for starters, the Marlins are completely starved when it comes to hitting for power and although that would not preclude the Marlins from making a deal, there isn’t any incentive. The Marlins wouldn’t acquire a more promising power hitter in the game with such a valuable contract situation. The only way they would possibly make a deal is if they received two stud prospects, say a Jurickson Profar and a Mike Olt – and that may really be a stretch for both sides.

Yet right now, Stanton’s numbers are very weak. He is going to have to go through a transition and become a more patient hitter. He just won’t see many pitches as the rest of the lineup is not doing much to protect him. This could be a blessing in disguise though. With a down year, his arbitration numbers might actually come back more favorable to the Marlins. They could also decide to “buy up” his arbitration years by offering a longer term deal, through 2016 for example, to keep Stanton here more long term. It is something the Marlins did with Hanley Ramirez, so it isn’t like the Fish don’t have a history of doing this either.

The Marlins signed Hanley Ramirez, in 2008, to a 6 year deal with $70M. They cited the new stadium as the reason for the break with their normally frugal approach with contracts.

“I think [the stadium] is definitely a big part of it,” Marlins general manager Larry Beinfest said. “We’ve had a lot of good young players here. Whether it’s Derrek Lee or Dontrelle Willis, several players were probably worthy of multiyear consideration. But there wasn’t a stadium on the horizon. Now there is.”

Could Stanton net a 6 year, $100M deal? Possibly. The question is, do the Marlins think he would be worth it? They clearly would have to waive their no-trade clause, something they have been rethinking considering the reaction this past offseason. Yet, in getting Stanton after a down season, the Marlins may be able to save money and lock in a player that could be the face of the franchise moving forward.

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Jeffrey Loria Hasty, Impatient, Competitive and Perhaps Incompetent

April 11, 2013 in Marlins History, Marlins Park

Is Jeffrey Loria the devil? Or evil mastermind? Or just smarter than we all think?

Is Jeffrey Loria the devil? Or evil mastermind? Or just smarter than we all think?

The Marlins have been swept by the Braves in their opening series for the 2013 season. The Marlins offense scored a total of 2 runs in the series while the Braves dropped 6 in the top of the 6th alone yesterday in their series ending win.

The fans showed up for pretty much one game, then didn’t come back for the rest of the series. The 62,000 tally for a three game series is the smallest at Marlins Park in its brief history (previous low was 65,000 for a series in August against the Phillies).

There is a lot of anger and frustration over the decisions of the Marlins recently, and all fingers point back to team owner Jeffrey Loria. The protests have been squashed on opening day, but the fans involved have gotten their message out via Twitter. In fact, Twitter has become a valuable medium for fans venting their anger with many a “fire” Loria satire account, often filled with “trolling” comments. There even was a Marlins beat writer who had another frustrated fan’s account suspended on Twitter – which is odd because it seems that even some of the beat writers are getting overly sensitive about this issue. The beat writers, too, are tired of answering questions about Loria, his intentions, the attendance of games. Tired of dealing with fans’ attacks on the current roster and its performance. All of the negativity is starting to get to people.

One thing people have to keep in mind is who Loria is. Yes, he messed up this franchise quite a bit. Some argue it is irreparable. It is unfortunate, to put it mildly, that the legacy of this franchise has been tarnished yet again. The Florida Marlins were mired by the Wayne Huizenga decision to scrap the roster after the 1997 championship season. Here was a great franchise with an excellent roster and front office, poised to make runs into the future and poof! It was gone. 1998 was a dismal season as the team was rebuilt but germinating on that roster was the future makeup of a new champion, the 2003 version.

That was Loria’s first year. He came in, took a chance on an aging Pudge Rodriguez who was basically out of options and signed a 1 year, $10M deal with the Marlins. It led to his resurrection and a championship. Loria and the Marlins offered a fair deal to Rodriguez, but because he was a Scott Boras client, he was advised to take a $10M a year deal with the Tigers instead of the fair market price of only $7M which the Marlins made. The next two years, the Marlins were basically the same roster and Loria tried to keep that team together, but attendance and ticket sales did not prop up the roster enough he claimed.

The run was scrapped for the 2006 season but that team outperformed expectations as the Joe Girardi-led youth movement finished near .500. Girardi was run out of town by Loria, and got the last laugh by walking towards the Yankees with manager of the year hardware. Fredi Gonzalez came in, and even though he was more amicable towards Loria’s hands-on style, he too was eventually run out.

Then came some interim years and finally the arrival of Ozzie Guillen, who was disastrous in his return to the Marlins (previously he coached under the Expos with Loria and came over in 2003 for the championship run). Now, a new coach has been handpicked, former champion from the 2003 team, Mike Redmond.

If anything, the string of managers under Loria demonstrates that he is not an evil man simply trying to ruin a franchise. He is hasty (Girardi), Impatient (Gonzalez, Guillen), and most certainly a competitive man. In many ways, like the rest of us, he is spoiled by the sudden success of winning a World Series. For many Marlin fans, there is no perspective on what it takes to build and win a World Series – and how could there be? There is not a long history of professional baseball here in Miami as the franchise only dates back to 1993. In just four years, we won a title only to have the team scrapped. Then GM Dave Dombrowski did his best to reload the Marlins and make them a winner, which happened with the 2003 team. That is just 6 years to go from basement to top of the world – and beat a team in the Yankees that was steeped in experience and money. They were a miracle for a reason.

Fans have lost their perspective on this. They believe the hype that the media has been foisting on them for years. When Loria first got here, Dan Le Batard likened the signing of Pudge Rodriguez to putting “breast implants on a corpse”. I heavily criticized him for this macabre depiction and called him out on it. He ate crow at the end of the season. Mike Berardino, who was the beat writer for the Marlins, was so biased against Loria that practically all of his writings became unreadable as he continued to dump on the Marlins. He was re-assigned shortly after the 2003 season when it became apparent his eye was no longer objective.

Loria came in with a bad rap. He was found innocent of any business wrong doing for his actions in Montreal. If you look carefully, every franchise he has touched has increased in value. He started with the OKC 89ers back in 1989, leading a group of investors and purchasing it for $4.2M. He sold the franchise for $8M in 1993. Loria then turned his eyes towards MLB but failed in bids for Texas, Baltimore, and even Kansas City. In 1999 he realized his dream in an opportunity with the Expos, finally getting a stake in an MLB franchise.  He bought 24% of the franchise for a modest investment of $12M which then turned into a 94% hold for only $18M in investment. Then came the three way deal between the Expos, the Red Sox, and the Marlins.

Purchasing the Marlins for $158.5M (with a $38.5M interest free loan from MLB plus the $120M MLB bought the Expos for) back in 2002, he has seen his franchise value increase to an estimated $520M.

Say what you will about Loria, but he runs a tight fiscal ship. He will do whatever it takes to make financial sense within his market. The market, customers, fans or supporters, may not agree with the moves, but if his team loses money it is not for long. It was revealed that although he was stuck with a bad lease at Sun Life, he was able to squirrel away a pretty profit through subsidies. In 2008, he netted a profit of $29M.

Name an owner who has been able to win a World Series, deliver on a new stadium in Miami, and have the highest payroll in franchise history? Not Wayne Huizenga – who had deep pockets. Not John Henry, who although was well-intentioned, kept claiming poverty only to turn around and purchase the Red Sox for a then all-time high price tag. Nope, it is the toad-like Jeffrey Loria, the guy who was getting dumped on all along by the media before he really even set foot down here.

As the saying goes, it takes money to spend money. If anything, Loria has been able to increase the value of his franchises where ever he has gone. The Marlins franchise has increased in value and that has to be a positive thing for fans who claim they want (or need) an owner with deep pockets. Despite a history of bad attendance figures, the Marlins have been able to operate and survive in an unkind market, increase value, and be competitive at some level. Something they are doing must be right.

Loria is definitely not without his faults. He is egotistical to a fault. Instead of coming out and admitting fault, or at least admitting he was hasty, he tried to sell another “the future is bright” roster. You can’t sell sunshine in a place loaded with it. People won’t buy something they get for free. So we fans are supposed to take him on his word and be patient – but his credibility is ravaged. Which means fans get angry and frustrated and cry foul and point back to the “evidence” they were handed by the media back when Loria first arrived.

Does Loria even want to win, or just nurse along his franchise’s value? It is clear he intends to maximize profit. No one in the position of being a multi-millionaire or billionaire gets there by being nice. They get their by seeking value and trading in on it. They get their through capitalization. The fan up in the cheap seats doesn’t get it because they simply don’t think that way. If they did, they wouldn’t be settling for cheap seats after all. So yes, Loria is competitive in wanting to make money, but what about winning?

Loria is a former high school baseball player who is in love with the game. it is a life-long passion for him and that is evidenced through several anecdotes. Former players of his note his competitive fire – almost to a fault. He becomes impassioned with winning and wanting to win immediately – so much so it leads to hasty decisions that he really, shouldn’t be involved in. The Carlos Lee for Matt Dominguez deal last year, Larry Beinfest admitted, was an attempt to get the team’s offense right. It was a gamble, and it didn’t pay off. And instead of having a 3B of the future taking over, which this team could definitely use, they have a gaping void which is being filled by Placido Polanco – for now. There are no immediate prospects for 3B moving forward other than marginal prospect Zack Cox.

Supposedly, even the signing of Heath Bell was a move that was strongly encouraged by Loria. That backfired. John Buck currently has more home runs and about as many RBIs as the 2013 Marlins’ roster has. Maybe Loria could have pared down the payroll a bit, kept a few players from last season to build around for the upcoming season, but his temper and hastiness set in.

Think about this for a moment. For a guy who supposedly just wants to make money, why would he doom the revenue of his entire franchise for basically the next year or so? It seems he was fed up with something – perhaps it was simply the paychecks. Or maybe it was not getting value in return for his money? Or maybe, a bit more extreme, it was not only that there was not fair value, but that there was little hope of competing and the time was nigh to make a move to save the Marlins from a future of bloated contracts and mediocrity?

Loria may not be the owner you want or even like. But he has been able to increase the value of the franchise, get a stadium, and is willing to spend money to win – but the team has to perform in order to win. Is this a sustainable approach? Yes, it seems that the Marlins will remain financially viable and will function given the constraints of the market. If that means they have to blow up the roster and go young and unproven they will – and try to compete with that approach. If there are some target assets out there that have a chance to push competitiveness on the field, Loria will do that, too. See Pudge Rodriguez.

What should have happened is the Marlins should have only signed a guy like Reyes to the roster in last year’s offseason. Made a modest splash and improve the team on the field gradually. See if they could win then look for options to fill in holes that were needed. Instead, we have to face the horror of a hasty decision being blown up in our faces. We will have to endure the jokes about attendance again. Loria may not be the owner you want, but as hard as it sounds, he is the owner the city needs right now. Regardless, we are stuck with it.

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Divide Between Marlins and Fans Widening

April 10, 2013 in Marlins History, Marlins Park, Regular Season

SHIRT-224x300The promise was to be more transparent to the fans and to be more verbal about the direction of their team. Yet, it seems as though the Marlins operate as though pleasing their fan base is incidental to the success of their team.

I attended Opening Night against the Braves and was on the lookout for any protests or animosity expressed by fans. I was going to tweet about it throughout the game, but for some reason Twitter was not working while at the game. So, I just took it in and was surprised at how sterile the night was. Sure, the team only amassed 2 hits, but no one seemed to show must frustration about it or raise any concerns about how the team traded away its offensive talent. After all, John Buck mysteriously has almost as many RBIs on his own this year as the entire Marlins team does. (Where was that guy over the last few years?)

The concession lines were extremely long and unrelenting, to the point it wasn’t worth even going to get any food. The nachos that I usually love didn’t have much sauce on them and had been siting for a bit. These were things that seemed to take a step in the wrong direction from last season, but nothing too crazy or unfixable. Other than that, not real problems or fans raising ruckus.

Turns out the Marlins were keeping an eye out for that sort of thing and eliminated any threats before these targets could get planted in the game. Fans over at Rage Against the Marlins came to the came to voice their dissidence and were thrown out of the game before, they claim, they were able to get to their seats.

Dave Hyde writes about it over at the Sun-Sentinel. Joe Capozzi at the Palm-Beach Post also wrote about it. In fact, this video was uploaded by Joe Capozzi and Dave Hyde makes a brief cameo at the end and seems to like the shirts the guys were wearing.

Maybe this is why I didn’t see any protestors? As red hot as fans were (and are) you’d think there would have been more at the game. Then again, why would you pay for tickets only to protest? It would seem that such a position would keep you from contributing anything financially to the regime you loathe. There was a tweet about some protests outside the park, but for the most part the response was why would someone protest yet buy tickets?

It will be interesting to see if any of this gains traction and pressure can be mounted on the Marlins ownership. There is a very strong argument being raised that no matter how Loria or David Samson spin this, there is going to emerge a jilted fan base. Will they be able to organize and do something productive? That remains to be seen and something we’ll keep an eye on.

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Anger and Frustration Abounds, But Marlins Remain Compelling

April 10, 2013 in Regular Season

Ok, I admit it. I am a Marlins fan.

For whatever reason, I have this team fixed to my DNA. I am bound to watch and check the standings, stats, box scores, and any other nook and cranny to see how this team is performing.

And some of my ilk have thrown their hands up and are protesting. Well, protesting in their own way – which means they refuse to buy tickets or anything that would directly contribute to Jeffrey Loria’s pocketbook.

I recently went to Opening Night to see the Marlins get shut down by the Braves, 2-0, and only getting 2 hits. I left early because I had to work the next day and didn’t feel a comeback mounting. That said, I felt the Marlins threatened a lot more than the 2 hits they got. Last night, against the Braves again, the Marlins seemed to be able to mount enough pressure to make the game compelling despite another loss 3-2.

The Marlins offense is the missing component here. They rank #23 in MLB in hits (56) and #30 in RBIs (15). They flat out aren’t driving in runs but they are putting the ball in play – they are #21 in Ks (55). They have only scored 16 runs (rank #30) but have only given up 32 runs (ranks #17 in MLB) with a staff 3.88 ERA.

We know that this team is not going to score in bunches or score tons of runs. It is going to take a lot of hits to move guys around and score runs. That means, this team is not a compelling watch for most baseball audiences. Sure, they will pitch and defend very well, but they are just not going to get the big hits you want to see to drive in runs and drop 5, 6, or 7 runs in a game normally. Yet, I find that I am more compelled to watch this team this year than even last year. Why?

Most of the Marlins faction is divided on the issue of the team owner, Jeffrey Loria. Their allegiance to the team is being strained because of the way this team is managed. In listening to Larry Beinfest last night, there is little to think that anything will change. There is not a proclamation that the Marlins want to keep Giancarlo Stanton here long term; even Tommy Hutton suggested that he thinks Stanton would like to return to southern California. Yet, we know that guys like Christian Yelich and Jake Marisnick are waiting it out in AA Jacksonville for their call up. When looking at the talent of Jose Fernandez, and seeing what Yelich did in Spring Training arguably being the Marlins’ best player, there is a lot of hope for the future.

Sure, this team gutted its roster from last year. Most of the players that left were only here for one year, so it is rather confusing to see where the loyalty thing comes into play but it was never about the players departing. It was about the talent that was here and keeping it here. This year’s team, in many ways, is already improved. They play better in every facet even if they are not scoring runs, you can see the battles at the plate. The Marlins don’t have easy outs in the batter’s box.

And maybe this is why this team remains compelling to me. It is a team that battles – much like the teams of the past. The 2003 team battled and had great pitching with timely hitting. They had a young rookie pitcher that dazzled the league and a young LF that got called up and injected much-needed offense into the team. The comparisons of this year’s team to that team may be made; they also have a young rookie pitcher that has a chance to dazzle the league if his debut is any indication. They also have a young outfielder in the minors that could inject offense into this lineup – Cookie Rojas suggested yesterday that the Marlins call up Christian Yelich to hit behind Stanton. This would give someone to protect Stanton and could help “fix” his bat and thus propel the offense. Right now the Marlins are scoring a little over 2 runs a game – not enough to really win a lot of ballgames without amazing pitching performances each night.

This is the situation the Marlins are in. They do have options to improve the team that are available to them right now. The Marlins have always demonstrated that they will make the moves if the team shows it has the potential to make it work. Even last year, Beinfest admitted that he made the Carlos Lee deal to try and get the offense right. Does this team have the core set of players to be competitive? Again, we’ll have to be patient and watch but I suspect that a Christian Yelich sighting may be forthcoming soon.

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