(Photo by the New York Times)
So, I took a long nap on July 27 and when I woke up, I decided to check my phone for updates on what's going on in the world. One particular update made me sad and shocked at the same time....
The Miami Marlins agreed in principle to trade Jazz Chisholm Jr. to the New York Yankees.
It's like recycling to the world, the Marlins continue to trade their elite talent for prospects who they hope to develop. This has become a tradition for this franchise. Who needs to have a long-term commitment to winning and getting the fans excited when management continues with the recycled plan of wash, rinse, repeat.
Throughout their over 30 years as a functioning baseball club, the Florida/Miami Marlins have achieved opportunities that most franchises wish they can achieve. They won two World Series championships; they are located in a baseball hotbed and have a shiny mecca of a stadium in Little Havana. At least 75% of MLB teams dream of having one of these achievements, and the Marlins have checked off all of those boxes. They won their first World Series title in their fifth year of existence! The Marlins should be the model franchise that can push other clubs to use this blueprint for success.
Take a guess why the Marlins have been in a recycling mood? Well, it's kind of in the title.
During the 1997 World Series championship season, Wayne Huizenga, who was the owner of the club, wanted a new stadium since what is now called Hard Rock Stadium isn't a place designed for baseball purposes. He was saying that after the Series win, the franchise lost $34 million. In actuality, the franchise made $12 million, and he just didn't want to own an MLB franchise. There wasn't going to be a new stadium for him, and he made the move to trade everyone in sight to put the payroll under $20 million. He self-sabotaged his championship-winning team and made them into a laughingstock in one year.
Fortunately, the Marlins were able to secure the #2 pick due to their awful '98 season and selected Josh Beckett. They were able to snag an international gen-talent in Miguel Cabrera and a left-handed pitching phenom in Dontrelle Willis as well. Florida was making waves in trying to reestablish their franchise.
It is 2003, and Wayne Huizenga is long gone as the Marlins are Struggle City. Management decides to fire Dale Torberg and install an old school guy to right the ship in Jack McKeon. Guess what, Old School Jack was able to right the ship as the Fish were able to make the playoffs for the first time since their championship season. Florida won the division series over the San Francisco Giants and headed to the NLCS against the heavily favored Chicago Cubs. The curse was close to being over with as the Cubs were six outs away from returning to the World Series. Then, we know the story, Bartman interferes and causes the Cubbies to open the flood gates as Florida escaped Game 6 and took Game 7 to go to the World Series. Against the mighty New York Yankees and behind Beckett, Cabrera and Willis, the Florida Marlins shocked the world and won another World Series! Things will be better for the Marlins, right?
By the way, let's say congratulations to the owner of this championship team, Jeffrey Loria......wait, Jeffrey Loria? The same Jeffrey Loria who let the Montreal Expos go to waste? (Sigh). But he won't break the team up like Huizenga did.....They traded Derrek Lee, Mike Lowell and let Pudge Rodriguez go to free agency. Oh, yeah, the Marlins had Pudge for a year. They would trade Beckett, Cabrera and Willis to teams who were looking to contend as Florida began the cycle again.
If there was one thing that was positive about the Jeffrey Loria reign, it happened in 2011. The Marlins are getting out of the eyesore of a park now known as Hard Rock Stadium and finally, into their own place in the middle of Little Havana. They will be rebranded as the Miami Marlins and what's this, they signed Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and hired Ozzie Guillen as manager. Despite a feeble attempt to get Albert Pujols, the Florida, sorry, Miami Marlins were finally going to breakthrough and stay the course of a winning organization. Then, they had a horrible 69-93 season, Ozzie Guillen decided to praise Fidel Castro and they traded Reyes and Buehrle to Toronto. Here we go again.
It is 2016 and the Marlins, honestly, were not a contender, but they are a young and exciting team who were fun to watch. They had a core of Giancarlo Stanton, Dee Gordon, Marcell Ozuna, Christian Yelich and JT Realmuto. But the one player who was front-and-center due to his infectious laugh and joyous matter was pitcher Jose Fernandez. His story of defecting Cuba is an amazing one. After many attempts to defect Cuba, he was successful, despite a woman going overboard which turned out to be his mother. Fernandez was a local hero due to his success on the field and off it. Then, tragedy struck when he and his two colleagues were killed in a boating accident on September 25, 2016. The Marlins' community and the city of Miami were saddened by the loss as he was the lightning rod of the team. The game after the tragedy saw emotion from Marlins Park (now known as LoanDepot Park) as Fernandez's best friend on the team, Dee Gordon, hit his only home run of the season. As he was rounding the bases, tears were flowing down his face as he saluted his fallen friend. Miami continued to fight on towards the end of the 2016 campaign.
GOOD NEWS, EVERYONE! JEFFREY LORIA IS SELLING THE TEAM! (Hallelujah! Hallelujah!) and Derek Jeter is one of the people buying in as one of the owners, RE2PECT! So, there's no way that Jeter and his homies will trade everything that moves.....Oh, A.J., you should know the drill by now. Giancarlo, see-ya!; Yelich, gone; Ozuna, bye; Gordon, peace out; Realmuto, adios; legacy jobs, going to yes men. The Marlins were in reset after being a team who was scratching the surface for like the 15th time in their history.
But in a weird 2020, the Miami Marlins shocked everyone again and made the playoffs. I even joked about how everyone couldn't name five players on that team in the preview that year. (Cheap plug: You can read that on our website, Facebook page and the app.) Then, there was last year when the Fish, who was beautifully constructed by GM Kim Ng, the first woman general manager in the four major sports in North America, were surging. Led by Chisholm Jr., Miami made the postseason as manager Skip Schumacher snagged the MOY (Manager of the Year) award. Despite a feeble showing, the team was looking forward to flourish as a bidding contender entering 2024. Then, Ng abruptly leaves for (checks notes) "a different approach for the franchise." I'm paraphrasing this, but you get the idea. The Marlins started the 2024 campaign terribly and Team President Peter Bendix already waved the white flag and declared that this team was not playoff eligible. They traded Luis Arraez in a flash as the cycle began again.
I want to go back to the Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade. So, the Marlins and the Diamondbacks made the perfect trade in 2019 as Arizona received a budding ace in Zac Gallen as Miami received a budding superstar in Chisholm Jr. They developed JCJ into a player who became the face of the franchise. Despite the rumblings of his carefree attitude rubbing his teammates the wrong way, Jazz had a connection with the fans in Miami since he was from the Bahamas. He isn't an elite talent, yet he was blessed with being the cover athlete for The Show 2023. This trade was one of a long line of trades that caused the team's identity to go to greener pastures.
For over three decades, this organization has reached the pinnacle of baseball, yet don't have time to celebrate it since management already has their finger on the reset button. I can imagine how frustrating it is to be a Marlin fan. They don't really have a situation where they can honor their greatest players in the franchise. As of today, other than Jackie Robinson's 42, the Marlins did not have a retired number. The great players they had went on to be legendary in other places. Edgar Renteria, who delivered the game-winning hit that clinched their first World Series title, won the World Series MVP...with the Giants. Christian Yelich secured a regular season MVP....with the Brewers. And of course, Miguel Cabrera. He would go on to win the Triple Crown and a guaranteed trip to Cooperstown after a Hall of Fame career. Unfortunately, it will be with as a member of the Detroit Tigers. Hell, they have even reset their logo and uniforms. Their classic pinstripe with teal lettering is a fresh look and their City Connect jersey is the best of the bunch (Tell me I'm wrong). Also, management has racked up losses at LoanDepot Park. It seems Bruce Sherman, the current owner, is going along with the chain of bewilderment and not establishing a winning culture.
The Miami Marlins will probably win a World Series in the future, unfortunately, the script will always be the same thing again.
I'm sorry, Marlins fans.
(References: ITalk Studios, Secret Base, ESPN, MLB.com, Baseball Reference, NBC 6 South Florida, Bleacher Report)
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