For sure, Bendix must craft a plan based on Sherman's budget. Things would certainly be different (and a lot easier) with a fat budget. If he pulls this off, he's the next Theo! Have a pleasant weekend.
I know you didn't mean he could be the "next Theo" literally. But having worked closely with Theo for years in both San Diego and Boston, I will say there's NOTHING that Bendix could do in Miami to put himself anywhere close to Theo's league.
Hired at age 28, Theo was the architect of a Red Sox team that averaged 93 wins, won 2 World Series (including their first in 86 years) and was in the playoffs 6 times in his 9 years as GM. Then he went to Chicago, where he started from rock bottom, and built a team that went to the Playoffs 5 times in 6 years and won a World Series for the first time in 108 years.
And that only begins to tell his story. He also hired and nurtured, off the top of my head, at least 10 people--TEN, that is not a typo--who went on to serve as GMs and/or presidents of baseball operations for various teams, plus several others who ascended to very senior baseball operations positions.
His mark on the sport is unique in the history of the Game. He could be inducted into the Hall of Fame today, and no one would think twice about it. And he still has a lot ahead of him.
Yeah, Bendix could win a World Series or 2. Some GM wins one every year. But Theo's accomplishments put him in a different stratosphere.
Understood. I'm sensitive to the fact that people don't appreciate the full scope of Theo's accomplishments. He's done a lot more than "just" win a few World Series. His legacy will be historic.
I am driving down to Miami for the Giants series in a week. My experiences at the stadium have always been enjoyable. I wonder what to expect for this mid-week series with a mid-level recognition team. Could be a bleak turnout.
People will pay you to take them off their hands. I had my own personal season tickets most of the 15 years I worked there. As my kids got older, my family was too busy to use them often, so I’d try give them away to friends or to fans on social media. Sometimes I gave them to charitable organizations for their use. By about 2019, I couldn’t even give them away. I finally gave up my seats altogether.
It has been a rough start. "X" comments are more sarcastic, fatalistic, and vitriolic than at anytime since I started following the team in 2021. My pre-season prognostications are appearing more and more Pollyannish by the game. 😔
It's one thing to get off to a bad start. It's another thing for people to begin realizing they were sold a bill of goods by the organization talking about wanting to get to the playoffs in consecutive seasons and working to improve the roster. They never had any intention of adding for 2024. They could have just said that. All Sherman had to say is they're bringing in Peter Bendix to start over. We tried this in 2018, and it didn't work. We're forced to try it again with a guy we think is really smart. We've got to draft better. We've got to develop better. We have to overhaul the entire infrastructure. Yes, we acknowledge we're going to take a step back in the short term, but this time we're going to get it right for the long term.
Would people have been ticked off? Some, sure. But at least they would have been honest and fans wouldn't go into this year expecting something that was never the slightest bit realistic.
But he didn't say that.
You know as well as anyone that I repeatedly cautioned that the 2023 success was a bit of a mirage. Still, that team had pieces that, with key additions, could have formed the nucleus of a contender again in 2024 and, as importantly, could have helped to build some momentum with the fan base. The Marlins' problems are not just on-field problems. They need to make fans in this community actually care about the team.
It's like they pushed the boulder farther up the hill than in ages last season, only to intentionally let it fall back toward the bottom.
Yes, you were quite clear that 2023 was flukish. The stats would not support the record. That's why I thought the internal assessment couldn't believe it was replicable. I understand the public statements sound like a ruse. It's difficult to balance public expectations and the baseball reality. Especially with the franchise's history. I think Bendix reinforced the unicorn nature to Sherman and that substantive FA moves only delayed the inevitable makeover and exacerbated a dicey financial picture (muddied by the Bally's uncertainty).
They’ve planned to trade Luzardo and Arraez when the time is right for months. Remember the prominent national voices who talked about it November and December around the GM and Winter Meetings. Now they can use the injuries and the reality of the awful start as their rationale in an attempt to excuse what they were going to do all along. They’re operating in a universe in which the awful start helps them.
I can buy that. Perhaps, within the plan Bendix has, those moves are logical. Certainly, the fans aren't going to like it, even though many comments I have seen are resigned to it. I suppose Alcántara's $17.5m 2025 contract is in the cross hairs.
Bendix is executing a plan based on the money he’s been given and the marching orders he’s received from Sherman. If Sherman told him he had $300 million to spend, he’d be going about this differently. He’d forget about trying to be Tampa Bay South in a hurry.
People’s venom shouldn’t be directed at Bendix. He’s been put in a bad situation, told to build a club by an owner who has shackled him in handcuffs. That’s what Kim Ng walked away from.
If an owner is not going to give you the resources needed to compete (I didn’t say WIN, I said COMPETE), and you’re the one who has to face the media and fans and take the slings and arrows, is it worth it? It wasn’t to Kim.
Not surprised at the 0-7 start. I suspect they will also be swept in St. Louis and New York. Would not be surprised to see this team sitting at 2-18 or something around there. I predict that before the trade deadline, Arraez, Bell, and any veteran they can move in a complete salary dump will be gone. Who knows, maybe they will be forced to bring up and play Johnston, Edwards, Meyers. Maybe Amaya will pass waivers. Maybe one or a couple of them will turn out to be productive major leaguers. I don't really understand the last seven years under Sherman. I am assuming he is making money regardless of the poor attendance, etc. Aren't people who buy sports franchises supposed to have big egos. Doesn't bother Sherman that he has been a compete failure as an owner. At what point does baseball step in and start putting pressure on owners like Sherman? At what point do the other owners insist on a minimum payroll? He clearly doesn't want to spend the money it takes to win. The situation is not going to get better. I have been a lifelong baseball fan and longtime Marlins fan. It's reached the point where I want them to lose. I want them to lose 120 games or more, maybe break the Mets record in 1962. Maybe, just maybe, the other owners will get fed up enough of paying luxury tax money while owners like Sherman just milk the system. He should be forced to sell. Unfortunately, there isn't much likelihood of that happening.
Well said, Anthony. Many share your frustration. The problem is Sherman grossly overpaid for the team and, at this point, couldn't come close to making his (and his partners') money back on a sale. So he's trapped. All he can do is keep cutting expenses. I completely agree with you about anything that isn't nailed down getting dealt by the deadline barring an unforeseen turnaround. As I've written extensively, this was inevitable if Sherman refused to spend to upgrade the lineup and to acquire legitimate pitching depth. There are a small number of fans in this area who will support the team no matter what. You'd think even they might finally throw their hands up if Arraez and Luzardo are shown the door between now and the deadline. One thing I'll disagree on is this: Other owners couldn't care less about the Marlins' struggles. They're happy to see the team flounder and to pile up wins against them. Owners would never agree to a salary floor unless there was also a salary cap. And the Players Association will never agree to a cap. I had high hopes for Sherman when he came in. 7 years in, this organization is worse off than when he bought the team in virtually every way imaginable.
Right. He’ll be limited, probably even more than Eury was last year. They’re counting on him to eat up some innings early in the year because they’re assuming they’ll soon have Garrett, Cabrera and Perez back.
But here’s the thing. Rogers will be limited as well after working 18 innings last year. Perez, when he comes back, will be limited. Cabrera, when he comes back, has never thrown 100 innings in a ML season or more than 127 in the majors and minors combined a season. Puk is a reliever who has now made one ML start. You counting on him for 170 innings?
In a typical year, they’ve needed 14 starters to get through the season. Some will say their depth would have been OK if it weren’t for injuries. The inevitability of injuries is precisely why good teams build depth. When your “depth” is young and unproven and, in some cases, has injury history and is not able to pitch a full season, you’ve got problems. And this isn’t even taking into account the fact they’ve known since last September their workhorse Alcantara would not throw a pitch this year.
And it’s all exacerbated by the fact that they need to win on the back of their pitching because their offense is well below league average. If they were going to hit like the Braves, they could outslug some people. That’s not going to happen on a consistent basis.
They should have just told people the truth about what this season was going to be. Sherman needs PR help. Hasn’t had a competent senior-level strategic PR exec since he got here and let PJ Loyello go.
For sure, Bendix must craft a plan based on Sherman's budget. Things would certainly be different (and a lot easier) with a fat budget. If he pulls this off, he's the next Theo! Have a pleasant weekend.
I know you didn't mean he could be the "next Theo" literally. But having worked closely with Theo for years in both San Diego and Boston, I will say there's NOTHING that Bendix could do in Miami to put himself anywhere close to Theo's league.
Hired at age 28, Theo was the architect of a Red Sox team that averaged 93 wins, won 2 World Series (including their first in 86 years) and was in the playoffs 6 times in his 9 years as GM. Then he went to Chicago, where he started from rock bottom, and built a team that went to the Playoffs 5 times in 6 years and won a World Series for the first time in 108 years.
And that only begins to tell his story. He also hired and nurtured, off the top of my head, at least 10 people--TEN, that is not a typo--who went on to serve as GMs and/or presidents of baseball operations for various teams, plus several others who ascended to very senior baseball operations positions.
His mark on the sport is unique in the history of the Game. He could be inducted into the Hall of Fame today, and no one would think twice about it. And he still has a lot ahead of him.
Yeah, Bendix could win a World Series or 2. Some GM wins one every year. But Theo's accomplishments put him in a different stratosphere.
Oh, no, just trying to be funny and deliberately hyperbolic!
Understood. I'm sensitive to the fact that people don't appreciate the full scope of Theo's accomplishments. He's done a lot more than "just" win a few World Series. His legacy will be historic.
Understandably so, especially with your perspective. Most importantly, you're right about the accomplishments.
I am driving down to Miami for the Giants series in a week. My experiences at the stadium have always been enjoyable. I wonder what to expect for this mid-week series with a mid-level recognition team. Could be a bleak turnout.
It will be bleak, although there will be some Giants fans who turn out. They're enthusiastic at the start of this season.
I figure this is the time to buy last- minute tickets for those bid, comfy seats behind the plate!
People will pay you to take them off their hands. I had my own personal season tickets most of the 15 years I worked there. As my kids got older, my family was too busy to use them often, so I’d try give them away to friends or to fans on social media. Sometimes I gave them to charitable organizations for their use. By about 2019, I couldn’t even give them away. I finally gave up my seats altogether.
Ouch!
It has been a rough start. "X" comments are more sarcastic, fatalistic, and vitriolic than at anytime since I started following the team in 2021. My pre-season prognostications are appearing more and more Pollyannish by the game. 😔
It's one thing to get off to a bad start. It's another thing for people to begin realizing they were sold a bill of goods by the organization talking about wanting to get to the playoffs in consecutive seasons and working to improve the roster. They never had any intention of adding for 2024. They could have just said that. All Sherman had to say is they're bringing in Peter Bendix to start over. We tried this in 2018, and it didn't work. We're forced to try it again with a guy we think is really smart. We've got to draft better. We've got to develop better. We have to overhaul the entire infrastructure. Yes, we acknowledge we're going to take a step back in the short term, but this time we're going to get it right for the long term.
Would people have been ticked off? Some, sure. But at least they would have been honest and fans wouldn't go into this year expecting something that was never the slightest bit realistic.
But he didn't say that.
You know as well as anyone that I repeatedly cautioned that the 2023 success was a bit of a mirage. Still, that team had pieces that, with key additions, could have formed the nucleus of a contender again in 2024 and, as importantly, could have helped to build some momentum with the fan base. The Marlins' problems are not just on-field problems. They need to make fans in this community actually care about the team.
It's like they pushed the boulder farther up the hill than in ages last season, only to intentionally let it fall back toward the bottom.
Yes, you were quite clear that 2023 was flukish. The stats would not support the record. That's why I thought the internal assessment couldn't believe it was replicable. I understand the public statements sound like a ruse. It's difficult to balance public expectations and the baseball reality. Especially with the franchise's history. I think Bendix reinforced the unicorn nature to Sherman and that substantive FA moves only delayed the inevitable makeover and exacerbated a dicey financial picture (muddied by the Bally's uncertainty).
They’ve planned to trade Luzardo and Arraez when the time is right for months. Remember the prominent national voices who talked about it November and December around the GM and Winter Meetings. Now they can use the injuries and the reality of the awful start as their rationale in an attempt to excuse what they were going to do all along. They’re operating in a universe in which the awful start helps them.
I can buy that. Perhaps, within the plan Bendix has, those moves are logical. Certainly, the fans aren't going to like it, even though many comments I have seen are resigned to it. I suppose Alcántara's $17.5m 2025 contract is in the cross hairs.
Bendix is executing a plan based on the money he’s been given and the marching orders he’s received from Sherman. If Sherman told him he had $300 million to spend, he’d be going about this differently. He’d forget about trying to be Tampa Bay South in a hurry.
People’s venom shouldn’t be directed at Bendix. He’s been put in a bad situation, told to build a club by an owner who has shackled him in handcuffs. That’s what Kim Ng walked away from.
If an owner is not going to give you the resources needed to compete (I didn’t say WIN, I said COMPETE), and you’re the one who has to face the media and fans and take the slings and arrows, is it worth it? It wasn’t to Kim.
Not surprised at the 0-7 start. I suspect they will also be swept in St. Louis and New York. Would not be surprised to see this team sitting at 2-18 or something around there. I predict that before the trade deadline, Arraez, Bell, and any veteran they can move in a complete salary dump will be gone. Who knows, maybe they will be forced to bring up and play Johnston, Edwards, Meyers. Maybe Amaya will pass waivers. Maybe one or a couple of them will turn out to be productive major leaguers. I don't really understand the last seven years under Sherman. I am assuming he is making money regardless of the poor attendance, etc. Aren't people who buy sports franchises supposed to have big egos. Doesn't bother Sherman that he has been a compete failure as an owner. At what point does baseball step in and start putting pressure on owners like Sherman? At what point do the other owners insist on a minimum payroll? He clearly doesn't want to spend the money it takes to win. The situation is not going to get better. I have been a lifelong baseball fan and longtime Marlins fan. It's reached the point where I want them to lose. I want them to lose 120 games or more, maybe break the Mets record in 1962. Maybe, just maybe, the other owners will get fed up enough of paying luxury tax money while owners like Sherman just milk the system. He should be forced to sell. Unfortunately, there isn't much likelihood of that happening.
Well said, Anthony. Many share your frustration. The problem is Sherman grossly overpaid for the team and, at this point, couldn't come close to making his (and his partners') money back on a sale. So he's trapped. All he can do is keep cutting expenses. I completely agree with you about anything that isn't nailed down getting dealt by the deadline barring an unforeseen turnaround. As I've written extensively, this was inevitable if Sherman refused to spend to upgrade the lineup and to acquire legitimate pitching depth. There are a small number of fans in this area who will support the team no matter what. You'd think even they might finally throw their hands up if Arraez and Luzardo are shown the door between now and the deadline. One thing I'll disagree on is this: Other owners couldn't care less about the Marlins' struggles. They're happy to see the team flounder and to pile up wins against them. Owners would never agree to a salary floor unless there was also a salary cap. And the Players Association will never agree to a cap. I had high hopes for Sherman when he came in. 7 years in, this organization is worse off than when he bought the team in virtually every way imaginable.
Now that Bezos lives in Miami we should
start a petition to ask him to Buy the team!
😇
The problem is Sherman overpaid and would be hard-pressed to even get his money back as things stand right now.
And there were affordable free agents on this market that could have helped improve this team. On a positive note it
was wonderful to see Max Meyer pitch 5 innings yesterday. Hope it continues. Of
Course he will be limited in his pitch count this season as he is coming back from TJ
surgery. As a long term Marlins fan this season seems like it’s Dej ja vu all over again.
Right. He’ll be limited, probably even more than Eury was last year. They’re counting on him to eat up some innings early in the year because they’re assuming they’ll soon have Garrett, Cabrera and Perez back.
But here’s the thing. Rogers will be limited as well after working 18 innings last year. Perez, when he comes back, will be limited. Cabrera, when he comes back, has never thrown 100 innings in a ML season or more than 127 in the majors and minors combined a season. Puk is a reliever who has now made one ML start. You counting on him for 170 innings?
In a typical year, they’ve needed 14 starters to get through the season. Some will say their depth would have been OK if it weren’t for injuries. The inevitability of injuries is precisely why good teams build depth. When your “depth” is young and unproven and, in some cases, has injury history and is not able to pitch a full season, you’ve got problems. And this isn’t even taking into account the fact they’ve known since last September their workhorse Alcantara would not throw a pitch this year.
And it’s all exacerbated by the fact that they need to win on the back of their pitching because their offense is well below league average. If they were going to hit like the Braves, they could outslug some people. That’s not going to happen on a consistent basis.
They should have just told people the truth about what this season was going to be. Sherman needs PR help. Hasn’t had a competent senior-level strategic PR exec since he got here and let PJ Loyello go.
Totally Agree.