The Marlins are always cash-strapped. I'm still amazed at the fact that they've won two world series using different teams to win both. If they just had some money, they could do wonders. Too bad they have a stingy owner, a horrendous stadium, and an apathetic fan base. Either they get a new stadium or another city is looking at a new ballclub. As for Beckett, I was never sold on him. He has amazing ability and potential but he's been another Kerry Wood so far in his career, wildly inconsistent and injury prone. It's a crap shoot for the Red Sox. Either they strike gold or the marlins figured out that he was going to become another carl pavano.
Beckett is an ass anyway...I hope he curses the Red Sox all over again. While he was in town a couple of years back, Spring high school was going to retire his jersey. Dude didn't even show up to his own jersey retirement while he was in town, and he made a committment to do so.
Red Sox got lucky. Whatever prospects they gave up (assuming it's not the next Jeff Bagwell), I don't care. Beckett is an absolute STUD. He's a legitimate ace with wicked stuff. I wish the stros could have gotten him. He does not have chronic injury issues ala Kerry Wood. He just has a blister issue that pops up about twice a season (due to his throwing style) that keeps him out for a couple of weeks. I'm sure the Sox will put up with that.
I've heard that he was big into drugs in high school....not that that has anything to do with anything....
Beckett may be an overrated jerk, but he beat the Yankees in Game 6!!! I have my doubts if he will ever put together 3-4 great seasons. I like the trade because the Sox will be disappointed and the Marlins might be back in the WS in 3-4 years.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2233531 With no stadium deal, Marlins to explore move Associated Press MIAMI -- The Florida Marlins will look into relocation as early as the 2008 season, after years of unsuccessful attempts to secure a baseball-only stadium in downtown Miami. Marlins president David Samson said Tuesday the team has received permission from the commissioner's office to investigate its options in other cities. Samson added owner Jeffrey Loria's primary intention is to keep the team in South Florida, but added that no deal will be struck for a ballpark in Miami. "No longer can baseball in South Florida be assured," Loria said in a statement read by Samson. "It is now clear to us that there will be no baseball stadium in the city of Miami. So we must begin to explore other options. Therefore, we will expand our search beyond the city of Miami." Loria was in Europe and unavailable for further comment. The Marlins' lease with Dolphins Stadium -- owned by former Marlins owner H. Wayne Huizenga -- is in effect until 2007. The team has a series of one-year options that could keep it there through the 2010 season. Samson said the team will not extend its current lease at Dolphins Stadium under any circumstances. "We simply must play in a baseball-only facility," Samson said. Samson wouldn't get into specifics of any trades, but said there would be an immediate "significant market correction" to the team's payroll, which was $60 million at the start of last season. He said several trades are being considered, but cautioned against calling the moves a "fire sale" like the one that occurred following Florida's 1997 World Series championship. The Marlins won only 54 games the next season. "That's not what this is," Samson said. "This is a deliberate effort by the Marlins to correct what ails them. And what ails us is the amount of money lost." Samson said some cities have called the Marlins to discuss possibilities, including Portland, Ore., which moved quickly after Tuesday's announcement. Portland also wooed the Montreal Expos before they became the Washington Nationals. "We made an introductory phone call," said Drew Mahalic, chief executive of the Oregon Sports Authority. "Hopefully this opens a dialogue with Portland and the state of Oregon as far as the advantages of relocating a team here." The team has lobbied for its own stadium since Huizenga, the original owner, sold the team to John Henry in 1999. The team's latest ballpark plan, 38,000-seat stadium with a retractable roof that would be built next to Miami's Orange Bowl, came apart this spring. Gov. Jeb Bush said he hopes the team remains in South Florida. "I'm more than happy to work with the ownership of the team and the Florida Legislature to come up with a solution," Bush said. The ballpark had an estimated cost of $420 million to $435 million, and the financing plan included $60 million in state funding. While money was approved in April by the Florida House, the state Senate refused to go along. Then, South Florida government officials and the team didn't meet a June 9 deadline established by Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, for a detailed update on the funding plans. Miami Mayor Manny Diaz didn't immediately return messages seeking comment. Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez said he will "continue to be supportive of the team's efforts to build a stadium in South Florida." Meanwhile, the Marlins appeared to have begun paring payroll. The Red Sox and Marlins reached a preliminary agreement Monday night on a trade that would send pitcher Josh Beckett -- the MVP of Florida's 2003 World Series championship -- and third baseman Mike Lowell to Boston for three prospects. The trade wasn't finalized because physicals were pending, according to a baseball official who requested anonymity. The 25-year-old Beckett, eligible for salary arbitration, is expected to earn between $4 million and $5 million next year and can become a free agent after the 2007 season. Lowell, 31, is owed $9 million each of the next two seasons. Samson did not specify how much the Marlins planned to slice from payroll for 2006, other than saying that it would match the team's revenue. The Marlins have said they've lost $20 million annually in recent years. "The fiscal insanity that Jeffrey was willing to be a part of for all these years is over," Samson said. "We've been asked time and time again, when does it end? And today is that day."
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=2233891 Bright lights attract Marlins with dim outlook at homeBy Jayson Stark ESPN.com So where do the Florida Marlins go from here? Boise? Binghamton? Bismarck? Belize? OK, we all know it will be none of the above. As anybody who followed the quest to move the Expos knows, the Marlins have more options to move Carlos Delgado than they do to move the franchise. So what are those options? Let's take a look: LAS VEGAS -- There are rumblings that the folks from Vegas were on the phone to the Marlins within minutes of Tuesday's announcement. And let's just say there is major mutual interest. Team president David Samson told ESPN.com he would "expect us to make a trip [to Vegas] within the next two weeks." And according to one longtime friend of owner Jeffrey Lorie, he has long viewed Vegas as "a gold mine." But Vegas does have its obstacles. One is those pesky little gambling issues, which the commissioner and Loria's fellow owners would have to resolve. But an even more practical issue is the same one that faces the Marlins in Florida: Lack of a real ballpark. The minor-league park in town, Cashman Field, is barely adequate to house a Pacific Coast League game, let alone a big-league game. And while there has been lots of talk about building a park near the fabled Strip, nobody has thrown out the first jackhammer -- or blank check. One baseball man familiar with the situation says there is "no way" Vegas could get a ballpark up and operable before 2010. But since the Marlins have a lease in Florida till then, they could, in theory, stagger through four lame-duck seasons while they're waiting for the moving vans. It's not a perfect situation. But people who know Loria continue to predict that if Vegas builds it, the Marlins will come. ODDS: 2 TO 1. PORTLAND, ORE. -- Portland made a serious run at the Expos. And while it never made it beyond baseball's Plan B list, the city at least positioned itself as a landing place for The Next Team Looking to Move. But Portland is yet one more city that would need to build a ballpark. And inside baseball, folks were privately skeptical that the city's announced financing plans for a park to house the Expos were politically viable. Nevertheless, there were immediate noises out of Portland on Tuesday that it was still interested. So you can bet you'll be hearing plenty more about that possibility over the next few months. ODDS: 25 TO 1. NORTH JERSEY -- As a native New Yorker, Loria has always fantasized about lugging a team up the Turnpike to the Meadowlands. But that fantasy is already stuck in traffic, without ever getting a chance to pull out of the Vince Lombardi rest stop. After the deal MLB cut with Peter Angelos and the Orioles to sign off on the Expos' move to D.C., just imagine what George Steinbrenner and the Wilpons would ask before they'd allow another team to move to North Jersey. Heck, it's a figure that would make A-Rod's contract look like subway fare. So forget that. ODDS: 2.9 TRILLION TO 1. MONTERREY, MEXICO -- Believe it or not, this is one of the MLB power brokers' most preferred destinations. Monterrey has 3 million people hanging around the neighborhood. Many of those people seem to have some decent affection for baseball. And enough of them have money in their checking accounts that MLB looks at Monterrey as its No. 1 destination for international expansion. But does that mean Loria has any interest in moving there? From all indications, it sure isn't at the top of his list. ODDS: 50 TO 1. PARIS -- As the global art-dealing kind of guy he is, Loria loves Paris almost as much as he loves winning the World Series. Too bad most of those 2 million Parisians wouldn't know a sacrifice from a sacre bleu. ODDS: 78 GAZILLION TO 1. SOUTH FLORIDA -- Samson made a point Tuesday of telling anyone paying attention that it's still the Marlins' preference to stick around and play under the palm trees. And in a perfect world, that's what should and would happen. It's wrong. All wrong. But without a real ballpark, with a real retractable roof, it ain't happening. So it's awfully hard to blame the Marlins for announcing what they announced on Tuesday, after all these years of trying to build a stadium that apparently is destined never to leave the architect's pad. "We had to do something," Samson told ESPN.com. "We've come to the end of the line. Time has run out." Those South Florida ballpark proposals aren't 100 percent dead, Samson said. But it's close. "It's like the great Billy Crystal line from 'Princess Bride,' " Samson said. "It's mostly dead. And by mostly dead, that means it's somewhat alive. So there are some situations that are still percolating. But you need a stethoscope to hear the heartbeat, because it's so faint." The Marlins didn't do what they did Tuesday because they're hell-bent to leave. They did it because it was the only way they could let their community know: It's now or never. Figure it out -- or somebody else will. We're not convinced yet that someone in South Florida won't figure out some new idea, some new formula. So we'll place the odds at a way too optimistic 5 TO 1. But if we were betting men, we'd bet that by 2010, the Florida Marlins will be known as the Vegas Craps Rollers. Or something like that. And we bet the sports book at Caesars will be happy to take that wager, too.
