Reply With QuoteHeath Bell is now a Miami Marlin. 3 years, $27m, vesting option fourth year for $9m more.
But he totally did. Oh Mariners.
Heath Bell is now a Miami Marlin. 3 years, $27m, vesting option fourth year for $9m more.
That is a crapton of money for a guy who stopped missing bats last year. Prediction: Heath Bell is going to need to take some healthy swigs from the Ryan Franklin babip potion to stay a closer by halfway through the second year of that contract.
Yoiks.
The SEC (which is not an athletic conference in this case) is investigating the sweet lease arrangement recieved by the Miami Marlins.
Not sure how big a deal this is just yet, but a couple of national baseball writers think this could blow up into a huge story.
What the SEC is investigating is exactly how $500m in public bonds actually got sold to build that stadium in Miami. They're investigating contributions from Jeffrey Loria and others associated with the Marlins ownership to various Florida and Miami political leaders that may have resulted in a quid pro quo on getting those bond issues sped along the way towards getting that new stadium built.
I'm not sure about Florida, but up here that would be the political news story of the year.Originally Posted by triggercut
Its an interesting story for sure, but what is the worst case scenario? Loria and some politicians go to jail? That stadium is almost done now. The lease has been signed. Unless they can tie MLB people to some fraud or something (which seems unlikely to me).
Looks like the Fish are going to land Reyes. Probably a six year deal where they'll be lucky to get five years worth of games out of him. It was a bit of fun, Jose, but mostly bitter, bitter disappointment.
Apparently Manny is tired of his rocking chair and has filed for reinstatement. On the condition that he sit out another 50 games this season, which he would complete right around his 40th birthday.
So...any takers?
6 years, $110m to Reyes, who is a Marlin.
6/106, more accurately.
Last edited by triggercut; 12-05-2011 at 03:37 AM.
Marlins will be upping the money and going aggressively after Pujols next.
FWIW, based on what a friend who works for another team in the NL East sent me in a text last night that by this time next week Albert Pujols is very likely to be a Florida Marlin.
I have mixed feelings about Albert. I'd hate to see him go but the tail end of the contract he wants might hamstring any team that signs him.
I do hope the Cards sign him, though. I think with Wainwright coming back the Cardinals have a real shot at the playoffs again and could make a run to the World Series with Pujols.
If that turns out to be the case, that's amazing, and a complete coup for the Marlins.
Yeah, they'd sell a lot of tickets if they sign Pujols.
So are they made of money now? Are they going to tie up $40M a year with two players, Reyes and Pujols, for the next six years?
Who knows, but it will be exciting. If they don't pull fans after that, Florida is a lost cause. And here I am, watching the paint dry with the Orioles. God we're awful.
Eh, I don't think so. This area has so many transplants with loyalty to other cities. The insane dismantling of the last World Series team coupled with continued trading of players that went on to play in other World Series pretty much burnt through any goodwill they got in 2003. The new uniforms aren't helping matters either.
My son and his friends are all growing up Marlins fans so maybe there is hope for the team with the younger generation.
$40m? Heh.
Try $50m when you figure in the ridiculous contract they gave Heath Bell. Talking real briefly with my friend--who is understandably bitter being with another NL East team, but still--there's a prevailing view that every dollar the Marlins spend this offseason puts them closer to having all contracts voided by next season my MLB when the SEC comes down hard on this ownership group. It all looks very, very hinky, I'll give him that. If the Marlins sign Pujols, they'll have committed $360m to contracts in the last week. Since the end of the World Series, the rest of MLB has committed about $125m in contracts from every other team.
Contracts being voided is an armageddon scenario very unlikely to happen. If the SEC comes down hard on the Marlins ownership, MLB will talke the team and then run it itself before selling it off to someone else. Just like every other case where owners have fallen apart financially - Dodgers this year, Rangers last.
True, but this NL East team (and others) think there's a chance that the Feds, and not MLB, may be voiding those contracts if they decide there's been some really bad hanky panky going on in Florida.
More likely worst-case for the Miami Marlins: MLB takes over the team, trades off all the players (stop me if you've heard this one before) and the Marlins continue their boom-bust franchise ways. Miami currently has a policy of not offering No Trade Clauses in their deals. That may be the main holdup with them and Albert.
Its a very long way from what we know now and what you are suggesting might happen. And it also ignores Congress and its attitude towards MLB via the anti-trust exemption and the power that gives them over the sport. Even if the SEC wanted to make the Marlins organization pay for what its owners did (and thats what contract voiding would do), I seriously doubt that Selig's friends in Congress would allow that to happen. Especially when you have the much cleaner option of just letting MLB take control of the team and disassociate it from the owners and politicians who did the allegedly illegal things. Depending on how the team is doing and fan support, then sure, at that point players might be traded. But thats no different then when the same thing happens in other markets.
Either way, there is a huge difference between trading players away and voiding contracts. Even if all the allegations are true in Miami, the likliehood of contracts being voided is extremely low.
since the nuance of "really bad" seems lost to you, I'll just say that Congress won't get involved if the SEC wants to go all in, period, and then realize again who I'm talking to here.
Your sources are not infallible based on previous posts you've made and you've already admitted that the ultimate armageddon of contracts being voided is unlikely, so I don't know what point you are trying to argue.
Marlins offered 10 years, at apparently 220-something. That's just a stupid, stupid contract and if the Cardinals match it I'll be pissed.
Vaya con dios Alberto.
I agree. $200m+ for a 32-year old player is loopy. It would not make sense for the Cardinals to match that.
Of course, nobody is really sure what the AAV of the Marlins' offer is. This could easily be Lozano and and the Fish using each other to pump up interest in the Marlins and Albert's asking price. That sort of contract makes so little sense for the Marlins, you have to consider the possibility that it's a phantom.
Albert's a Marlin, probably will be announced tonight, or at least rumblings to that effect.
Bob Nightengale is saying that 3 teams have offered Albert a deal of at least 10 years and $200 million: The Cardinals, Marlins, and an unknown. Teams are CRAZY.
The "third team" is being widely derided as a fabrication by Dan Lozano by writers on the ground, who refer to them as "Mystery Team" and wonder why Mystery Team doesn't spend more in player development so they can avoid having to be so involved in the Free Agent process...
(Mystery team isn't the Cubs, btw, who did put an 8 or 9 year offer on the table today.)
Mets came to terms with reliever Jon Rauch for a one year deal. Oh, that takes the sting out of Reyes' departure and motivates me to buy some tickets.
Giants are sending Andres Torres and Ramon Rameriez to the Mets for Angel Pagan.
Its like a OF swap (with Angel being younger) plus some right handed relief for the Mets.
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