BlueJays on verge of acquiring Josh Johnson

[Frobby]

But now they've guaranteed that they're going to draw well under 2M. With this team's history of packing it in and going into full revenue sharing profit mode the few fans that are left have to be livid. The taxpayers just agreed to spend a giant sack of cash for a new stadium for these goons, and they repay it by immediately going into a full-on rebuild. With the folks who already signed up for several years of luxury boxes and/or season tickets, and a $25M payroll, Loria can probably gold-plate his yachts this year.

The Marlins have a decent track record of rebuilding quickly. I don't know that there's a lot of logic to sticking with a $100 mm payroll if the team is going to be bad. My biggest issue with this deal is not the guys they dealt, but whether they got enough young talent in return.

[waroriole]

Was Johnson hurt this year? Because when you look at his home/away splits his numbers weren't all that great. Both he and Buehrle had ERAs in the four and a half to five range in road games, and dropping them into the AL East I have to think those stats will probably get worse in the long run. Looks to me like both of them were pretty mediocre this year, but the numbers still looked good due to the effects of playing their home games in a great pitchers park.

Johnson's ERA + was 104

Buehrle's was 106.

I would say they're solid #3 SP.

[DrungoHazewood]

The Marlins have a decent track record of rebuilding quickly. I don't know that there's a lot of logic to sticking with a $100 mm payroll if the team is going to be bad. My biggest issue with this deal is not the guys they dealt, but whether they got enough young talent in return.

The point is that they're trying to build a fanbase and a viable team. By continually ripping apart their foundations and selling off their best, most recognizable faces they're committing suicide. There is zero trust with a very shaky fanbase. This is already a franchise that has finished dead last in attendance, behind the hapless Pirates, in years where they were in strong contention (like 2009).

Regardless of the on-field merits of the deal (which I still think were poor from the Marlins' perspective) the larger franchise issues just seem catastrophic. It'll be many years before anyone trusts the team again. You almost have to start with gradeschoolers and hope by the time they have jobs and money the core fanbase will be built up to a respectable level.

[LookinUp]

They didn't but the goal is to get rid of the contracts.

I'm not advocating that they turn right around and make the same mistakes with bad contracts, but this position has credibility if they implement a plan B that actually replaces some of this talent with good, but cheaper (in the long run) players. Guys like Edwin Jackson, Keppinger and Koji, for example. If this remains a totally cheap organization for long, this will be proven to be about just getting cheap and not realigning to a more sustainable business plan.

[tennOsfan]

If I live in Miami, the Marlins have given me zero incentive to buy tickets. If they want to slash their payroll from $100 million to $30 million or whatever, then they need to make the $80 seats become $25 seats and the upper decks seats all $5, every night. Because that's about what's it worth to a fan.

[BrunoCherrytown]

The point is that they're trying to build a fanbase and a viable team. By continually ripping apart their foundations and selling off their best, most recognizable faces they're committing suicide. There is zero trust with a very shaky fanbase. This is already a franchise that has finished dead last in attendance, behind the hapless Pirates, in years where they were in strong contention (like 2009).

Regardless of the on-field merits of the deal (which I still think were poor from the Marlins' perspective) the larger franchise issues just seem catastrophic. It'll be many years before anyone trusts the team again. You almost have to start with gradeschoolers and hope by the time they have jobs and money the core fanbase will be built up to a respectable level.

Nobody has cared about the Marlins down here for years. Nobody cared about that stadium one month after it opened. You'd hear people talk about how nice it was from time to time, but nobody was just itching to go to games. I didn't go to one game for example, and the most games I heard anybody attend just from talking to them was two. Marlins fans by and large are also fans of another team in the AL I've found - usually the Yankees. That's really common. I know probably 20 "Marlins Fans" who wear Yankees gear more often than the Teal and Black of Marlins.

The Miami Dolphins had to blackout a playoff game on local TV some years back because they couldn't sell it out. This is not a "hometown" sports area down here since everybody's hometown is somewhere else.

In Delray Beach the local Dolphins Bar is called Brus Room - every Sunday for years it became a Ravens bar. We overflooded the place. Hardly a Dolphins fan in sight, which is ironic because Brus Room is named after Bob ?Bru? Brudzinski of Dolphins lore.

That stadium deal was an incredible hustle. I could see some attempt at another lawsuit, regardless of how improbable a win would be for it, coming from the city of Miami after this unloading. It's going to be a political landmine even more so than it already became during its building. Politicians and advocacy groups may just use it as a springboard to score some points.

[Brendan25]

I'm still not convinced that the Jays, Red Sox, or even Rays are better then us next year. There is still ALOT of movement left to be done this offseason.

I do think though that we may need more then just McLouth, Reynolds, and Saunders to compete. Not sure what the right move is yet.

[Dark Helmet]

I can only hope OH earns additional revenue because I have to now log in just to activate my ignore list. No more merely lurking and reading the news, updates, well founded opinions.

Looks like a panic trade on the part of AA to me. Bernardina and Johnson are the only Mia players in that deal with a chance to be worth the money owed to them. Decent prospects headed back not to mention the major league ready talent. I wonder if one could get odds on Alvarez out-performing Johnson/Buehrle next season? AA witnessed the O's success, imagined a window of opportunity had opened due to the Boston kerfuffle and NY "transition" so made the biggest splash deal he could negotiate. Toronto is a sleeping giant that would likely wreak havoc in the AL if the owners' assembled a top management team.

The sweet smell of desperation emanating from one of our opponents .... aaaaaahhhhhh nice.

And yet again, you can't post a comment without a making a "smug" remark. Shocking.

[Dark Helmet]

You aint kidding partner. I dont care if most of the board doesn't agree with us, nor the Orioles FO either. We need to step up now. And Jonny Gomes isnt the answer.

Good luck with that Roy. Luckily, your Roy Firestone so you wont face getting comments that make you seem like just a troll. Even though you know me outside of the HO, and you know im as passionate and die hard of an Oriole fan around. Oh well.

[Slappy]

The Red Sox (assuming they're active) ... can both be contenders.

Name recognition only works in politics. The Red Sox come into the offseason with a simply awful team. That team went 26-50 in the second half. They have maybe 3 viable solutions in the field and 2 starters that might be "okay". I don't consider them a contender and don't think they repeat their past mistakes and splurge on free agents for a quick fix.

In Delray Beach the local Dolphins Bar is called Brus Room - every Sunday for years it became a Ravens bar. We overflooded the place. Hardly a Dolphins fan in sight, which is ironic because Brus Room is named after Bob ?Bru? Brudzinski of Dolphins lore.

No joke, a Ravens bar in Miami. That's sweet.

Miami just isn't a very good sports town. Like you said the Dolphins don't draw and the Marlins never have, not even in championship seasons. Attendance at Hurricanes games is laughable now. If the city cares about anyone it's the Heat, but that team has been so ridiculously successful it's hard not to root for them.

[Art Wing]

Nobody has cared about the Marlins down here for years. Nobody cared about that stadium one month after it opened. You'd hear people talk about how nice it was from time to time, but nobody was just itching to go to games. I didn't go to one game for example, and the most games I heard anybody attend just from talking to them was two. Marlins fans by and large are also fans of another team in the AL I've found - usually the Yankees. That's really common. I know probably 20 "Marlins Fans" who wear Yankees gear more often than the Teal and Black of Marlins.

The Miami Dolphins had to blackout a playoff game on local TV some years back because they couldn't sell it out. This is not a "hometown" sports area down here since everybody's hometown is somewhere else.

In Delray Beach the local Dolphins Bar is called Brus Room - every Sunday for years it became a Ravens bar. We overflooded the place. Hardly a Dolphins fan in sight, which is ironic because Brus Room is named after Bob ?Bru? Brudzinski of Dolphins lore.

That stadium deal was an incredible hustle. I could see some attempt at another lawsuit, regardless of how improbable a win would be for it, coming from the city of Miami after this unloading. It's going to be a political landmine even more so than it already became during its building. Politicians and advocacy groups may just use it as a springboard to score some points.

This is interesting to read. Thanks for posting this. Miami is one of my favorite American cities.