Reds; Take Note From The Marlins

[camisadelgolf]

In terms of Votto, I don't think there was any doubt the Reds could sign him, but the question was, "At what cost?" Apparently the Reds have been saving up some money in anticipation of moves like this. Otherwise, we would've seen the Reds being forced to make decisions about whether keeping Votto around would be worth losing Brandon Phillips.

[westofyou]

http://baseballmusings.com/?p=86719

If I’m a Miami Marlins fan, I’m pissed. For years the ownership screamed and hollered about the stadium. They put teams on the field that were good, but not quite good enough and seldom made a move to take them to the next level at the trade deadline. They would use the revenue stadium excuse for their lack to trying to win.

What is their excuse now? Can this front office only build a team on a shoestring? Did they mis-read the injury status of their players? Did they sign the wrong free agents? Did they hire the wrong manager? Were they more interested in making a television show that playing baseball? (I like to think they killed a man. It’s the romantic in me.)

The next time a team holds up a city for a new stadium, someone should trot out the Marlins. The failed miserably in delivering on their promises, and the people of Miami and the fans of the team should be rightly upset at all the money wasted on the team and the stadium.

[westofyou]

DP

[traderumor]

The next time a team holds up a city for a new stadium, someone should trot out the Marlins. The failed miserably in delivering on their promises, and the people of Miami and the fans of the team should be rightly upset at all the money wasted on the team and the stadium.

Go back to 2003 and you'd see repeated very similar sentiments after GABP was opened to a thud, with Jimmy Haynes as the opening day starter and a thud of a beatdown by the Pirates. I've never thought an expectation that every new ballpark will coincide with a season of immediate prosperity was realistic just because it happened to the Indians in the mid-90s, but that seems to be the way it goes.

The Reds recovered quite nicely, but it took a change in ownership to do so.

[Vottomatic]

Very rarely do I see ownership groups that know how to win and make money. It's usually one or the other. There are some exceptions though.

[westofyou]

More note taking

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...ntent-in-miami

There's likely more to come. With Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante gone to Detroit, Josh Johnson could be the next major piece shipped to another area code. You could argue that the latest tear-down job by a franchise with a history of them (and no World Series preceding it this time) is a sign of bad faith by Marlins ownership, especially after snookering clueless local government into an unfavorable stadium deal. Or you could simply say that the Marlins' offseason spending spree was ill-advised, given the roster's multiple holes (for the record, I liked what they did and thought the team had a good shot at making the playoffs).

Either way, the big talk of the winter has given way to yet another summer of discontent in Miami.

[camisadelgolf]

Looks to me like the Marlins are focusing getting ready for location. They bet all their money that fans would come back to see the new stadium and keep coming back. Am I way off on this one?

[_Sir_Charles_]

Did you mean re-location? If so, I don't think so. They'll be there a while since they got the stadium now. But they'll never get the fans back until they play good baseball. They haven't. Anybody know how they drew when they were winning years ago? I'm sure they'd blame poor attendance with a winning team on the stadium back then, but how bad was it?

[Tom Servo]

I believed all along that both Florida teams should leave the Florida market. No offense to any Floridian Redzoners.

[westofyou]

Baseball pushed for the new park, they will not abandon it... bad mojo.

Tampa Bay though is a different animal

[camisadelgolf]

Did you mean re-location? If so, I don't think so. They'll be there a while since they got the stadium now. But they'll never get the fans back until they play good baseball. They haven't. Anybody know how they drew when they were winning years ago? I'm sure they'd blame poor attendance with a winning team on the stadium back then, but how bad was it?

Yeah, I meant relocation. I don't think it'll happen any time soon, but if they don't put butts in the seats within the next decade or two, they're in big trouble.

[westofyou]

LETTER TO OUR FANS

It's no secret that last season was not our best -- actually it was one of our worst. In large part, our performance on the field stunk and something needed to be done. As a result of some bold moves, many grabbed hold of our tough yet necessary decision only to unleash a vicious cycle of negativity. As the owner of the ballclub, the buck stops with me and I take my share of the blame where it's due. However, many of the things being said about us are simply not true. I've sat by quietly and allowed this to continue. Now it's time for me to respond to our most important constituents, the fans who love the game of baseball.

Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/fish_...#storylink=cpy

[Crosley68]

The comments after the article are BRUTAL! Sad times in South Florida.

[RFS62]

The comments after the article are BRUTAL! Sad times in South Florida.

No kidding.

And well deserved

[reds44]

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