It’s only May, and already yet another Miami Marlins season is circling the toilet bowl. In the grand scheme of things, this is neither surprising nor all that troublesome. Few people in Miami are losing sleep over the Marlins' nightly debacles. And those who do care have seen worse and in an odd way have come to embrace the fact that this is who they are — fans of an irrelevant baseball team counting down the days until the season is over.
Long ago, Jeffrey Loria killed baseball in Miami for thousands of fans who once enjoyed watching even-shittier Marlins teams lose in a 20-percent-filled Hard Rock Stadium. Those people aren’t coming back. If they do come back, it won't be until the Marlins owner is gone, which might be soon.
When Loria finally exists the premises, he’ll take about a billion dollars in profit with him. Loria will leave in his wake a franchise void not only of a strong fan base but also of a fruitful minor-league system like the one he inherited when he purchased the team.
That stocked system was what was directly responsible for winning Loria the 2003 World Series. Loria and his front-office doofuses pissed it all away. Draft pick after draft pick, shortsighted trade after terribly lopsided trade, the Marlins depleted their minor leagues to the point that up and down each level, their teams are cellar-dwellers, just like the big club, with little to no major-league talent.
So what can Loria do to make this all up to Marlins fans before he skips town? Nothing. And, Loria, whatever you do, do not try to do anything. Marlins fans do not need another rebuild attempt or win-now run on your watch. Been there, seen that disaster movie. Spare us the grand finale of your pitiful attempt at sports ownership. Take your ass home, and leave the competent minds some pieces to trade or build around, whatever they chose. Not you. You're bad at this. It's been established.
The worst thing Loria can do right now is trade away players such as Marcel Ozuna, Christian Yelich, and Giancarlo Stanton. In Stanton's case, a trade would actually indicate Loria might have changed his mind about selling, because when Stanton signed a backloaded $300 million deal a couple of years ago, it was the poorest-kept secret in sports that its escalation would coincide with Loria selling the team or pawning the deal off on an actual baseball team looking to win games, not profit.
In the case of Yelich, the Marlins have an all-star-caliber player locked up for the foreseeable future on a bargain contract. The only way the Marlins can Marlins that up is if they try to trade that valuable asset for a handful of prospects. No thanks. Leave him be. The next, more competent owners can decide what the best course of action is to build a winner.
Leave everything alone as you ready to exit, Loria. We'll hold an estate sale when you're dead.