As usual I enjoyed your commentary. Bottom line, the Marlins have never been good for multiple seasons. At least in the Lorria/Samson era, they were mostly average. I do not understand this guy Sherman. Okay so he overpaid for a team and inherited a lot of debt. But shouldn't he and his investors seen that. You would think a man as successful as Sherman would be smarter than this. Just picture two years down the road. If you think attendance is bad now, who is going to show up for another "rebuild" The Marlins at this point are a team of veterans past their prime (Bell, Garcia, Anderson) and guys who are mostly AAA depth kind of players. They did have players who performed well in AAA and in short stints at the MLB level last year (Meyers, Edwards, Amaya, Johnston). Strangely enough all of them were shipped back to the minors, traded, or developed a "mysterious" injury. Could those players have performed any worse than the present roster. You had to know the bullpen was going to be a disaster coming into the season. You had to realize they had too many inexperienced and unproven guys in the starting rotation. Unfortunately, I do not see the situation improving. Drafting and developing a roster of MLB players will take 4-5 years starting from today. By then who is going to even be interested enough to care. I'm sorry but this guy Sherman just doesn't seem very smart. I stopped going to games several years ago. I used to drive down from Central Florida a couple of times a year. The last game I attended, I was there early and walked around the stadium. I passed by one of the color analysts, a former player (Hollandsworth). I didn't want to bother him but did not want to pass by him in silence eother. So I simply passed by and said something nice, like "I like you show or your work", something like that. He flashed me the most insulting, condescending look like he was better than me. That was the last game I attended. The team is bad, the stadium is hard getting to, and team officials are rude. I find myself watching less and less and certainly won't be spending my time and money to attend games at the stadium. Frankly I think Mr. Hollansworth (I know he was fired) and the team owes me an apology.
I know my biannual experiences at LDP have been enjoyable. We just made our first this year for the recent series with the Giants. The trip down from Jax is palatable. I don't mind anecdotal experiences as long as they're recognized as such. I was a season ticket holder for the Reds (and Bengals, Jaguars, and myriad minor league teams in many sports/cities) for years back in the day and can list many irritations. It's expensive and a pain to attend games, all in all. Anyway, I always ask the same question: how much increase in payroll would make everything ok? Fifty percent increase (to $150m)? The MLB average? Doubling the current payroll to $200m? If that still produces nothing, like last year's Mets, Padres, and Yankees, are we fans still overjoyed that at least Sherman "tried?" Does it matter if that is fiscally unsustainable?What if, perhaps miraculously, the team wins with a bottom-third payroll? Are BendixSherman geniuses? Are Dodger fans satisfied (forget the inane 2020 disgrace) that it's been 35 years since they won a real title? Thirty-five. All the regular season wins in the world mean nothing. They don't care about the $2b spent in the Roberts era. Fans are never satisfied, which is fine and dandy. But, no matter what, 29 of 30 teams lose on the field (not financially), and we fans if those 29 will start the rationalization process all over again every Spring Training. We hope our group of glorified carnies beat out the others. And, if they do, isn't everything forgiven? For a short time, perhaps, then it's right back at it!
Increasing payroll like the Mets and others you mentioned is not going to be successful, thats been tried over and over by several teams. What model they need to follow is more like the Braves (and Indians years ago) than the Rays. The Braves have been a lot more successful and have locked up the talent on their roster. They showed a commitment to players on the team, that tend to attract others to the team. You have to start building the culture by letting players on the team know you are committed to them. If you are just signing free agents to spend money (Garcia and Anderson) its not going to work. You have to make it a place players want to come and Miami with this owner do not have that. I believe Mr. Geffner wrote about several things the Marlins could address about the game experience that are simple and mostly free but would require a fundamental culture shift that I do not know there is a commitment to, I always question how owners are satisfied with one of their businesses being run in a manner that is probably not consistent with their other ventures.
Good points. I agree that the culture surrounding the organization is a key element. That's organic and it takes time, commitment from management, buy-ins from the rest of the organization, and bedrock principles. We should give Bendix time, even as we lament its necessity, or scold the Marlins for needing it (again). As a lifelong Expos fan, I understand the need (nay, the necessity) for low-income teams to create top-notch development as the only true answer. Lastly, we don't know the Marlins' financial situation. Sherman (apparently) took on $400 million in debt at the purchase time, then there was the costly 2020 debacle, along with more things we can list. The team has $30 million in obligations to Stanton still out there. I reiterate my question to fans howling about the payroll: how much more would satisfy you? If that number was magically reached, and the team failed, I suspect the shrieks would be how foolishly the organization spent money. Baseball success is a giant crapshoot, more than any other sport.
As usual I enjoyed your commentary. Bottom line, the Marlins have never been good for multiple seasons. At least in the Lorria/Samson era, they were mostly average. I do not understand this guy Sherman. Okay so he overpaid for a team and inherited a lot of debt. But shouldn't he and his investors seen that. You would think a man as successful as Sherman would be smarter than this. Just picture two years down the road. If you think attendance is bad now, who is going to show up for another "rebuild" The Marlins at this point are a team of veterans past their prime (Bell, Garcia, Anderson) and guys who are mostly AAA depth kind of players. They did have players who performed well in AAA and in short stints at the MLB level last year (Meyers, Edwards, Amaya, Johnston). Strangely enough all of them were shipped back to the minors, traded, or developed a "mysterious" injury. Could those players have performed any worse than the present roster. You had to know the bullpen was going to be a disaster coming into the season. You had to realize they had too many inexperienced and unproven guys in the starting rotation. Unfortunately, I do not see the situation improving. Drafting and developing a roster of MLB players will take 4-5 years starting from today. By then who is going to even be interested enough to care. I'm sorry but this guy Sherman just doesn't seem very smart. I stopped going to games several years ago. I used to drive down from Central Florida a couple of times a year. The last game I attended, I was there early and walked around the stadium. I passed by one of the color analysts, a former player (Hollandsworth). I didn't want to bother him but did not want to pass by him in silence eother. So I simply passed by and said something nice, like "I like you show or your work", something like that. He flashed me the most insulting, condescending look like he was better than me. That was the last game I attended. The team is bad, the stadium is hard getting to, and team officials are rude. I find myself watching less and less and certainly won't be spending my time and money to attend games at the stadium. Frankly I think Mr. Hollansworth (I know he was fired) and the team owes me an apology.
I know my biannual experiences at LDP have been enjoyable. We just made our first this year for the recent series with the Giants. The trip down from Jax is palatable. I don't mind anecdotal experiences as long as they're recognized as such. I was a season ticket holder for the Reds (and Bengals, Jaguars, and myriad minor league teams in many sports/cities) for years back in the day and can list many irritations. It's expensive and a pain to attend games, all in all. Anyway, I always ask the same question: how much increase in payroll would make everything ok? Fifty percent increase (to $150m)? The MLB average? Doubling the current payroll to $200m? If that still produces nothing, like last year's Mets, Padres, and Yankees, are we fans still overjoyed that at least Sherman "tried?" Does it matter if that is fiscally unsustainable?What if, perhaps miraculously, the team wins with a bottom-third payroll? Are BendixSherman geniuses? Are Dodger fans satisfied (forget the inane 2020 disgrace) that it's been 35 years since they won a real title? Thirty-five. All the regular season wins in the world mean nothing. They don't care about the $2b spent in the Roberts era. Fans are never satisfied, which is fine and dandy. But, no matter what, 29 of 30 teams lose on the field (not financially), and we fans if those 29 will start the rationalization process all over again every Spring Training. We hope our group of glorified carnies beat out the others. And, if they do, isn't everything forgiven? For a short time, perhaps, then it's right back at it!
Increasing payroll like the Mets and others you mentioned is not going to be successful, thats been tried over and over by several teams. What model they need to follow is more like the Braves (and Indians years ago) than the Rays. The Braves have been a lot more successful and have locked up the talent on their roster. They showed a commitment to players on the team, that tend to attract others to the team. You have to start building the culture by letting players on the team know you are committed to them. If you are just signing free agents to spend money (Garcia and Anderson) its not going to work. You have to make it a place players want to come and Miami with this owner do not have that. I believe Mr. Geffner wrote about several things the Marlins could address about the game experience that are simple and mostly free but would require a fundamental culture shift that I do not know there is a commitment to, I always question how owners are satisfied with one of their businesses being run in a manner that is probably not consistent with their other ventures.
Good points. I agree that the culture surrounding the organization is a key element. That's organic and it takes time, commitment from management, buy-ins from the rest of the organization, and bedrock principles. We should give Bendix time, even as we lament its necessity, or scold the Marlins for needing it (again). As a lifelong Expos fan, I understand the need (nay, the necessity) for low-income teams to create top-notch development as the only true answer. Lastly, we don't know the Marlins' financial situation. Sherman (apparently) took on $400 million in debt at the purchase time, then there was the costly 2020 debacle, along with more things we can list. The team has $30 million in obligations to Stanton still out there. I reiterate my question to fans howling about the payroll: how much more would satisfy you? If that number was magically reached, and the team failed, I suspect the shrieks would be how foolishly the organization spent money. Baseball success is a giant crapshoot, more than any other sport.