11/21/24
September 14, 2006
Once again,: Jeffrey Loria the Major League Baseball franchise killer is up to his old tricks. Death of the Marlins?
posted by Ufez Jones to baseball at 12:01 AM - 6 comments
Yeah, I never see what the big deal is. They've won two world series in the past decade. Say all you want about fire sales, franchise killing, etc, but I don't think Loria is the ass that a lot of people make him out to be.
posted by corpse at 06:54 AM on September 14, 2006
Loria is the ass that people make him out to be, and he was the owner during one WS win and one firesale. I really don't know why that article was focusing so much on the radio show and whatnot. There is plenty of evidence that Loria is a franchise killer without using those kind of anecdotes.
posted by bperk at 07:02 AM on September 14, 2006
Nice of you guys to give Loria benefit of the doubt by virtue of the scouting prowess of the previous Marlins management, but Loria is the worst thing to happen to baseball since Tim McCarver picked up a glove 40-odd years ago and starting talking to himself. As far as I'm concerned, this guy bought one franchise and out and out lied to the community about his intentions, buffooned a wicked stadium deal and subsequently killed a team and then was rewarded buy the sweet-ass deal he got to purchase the Marilins while MLB tried to clean up the Montreal mess. Now he's going to kill that one, too. All of this seems far too purposeful to be conicidental. Who needs contraction or realignment when you have Jeffrey Loria?
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:10 AM on September 14, 2006
The days of running your team as something of an expensive hobby disappeared with the onset of free agency. Nowadays you have to make a profit, or at least be able to break even year-to-year while watching the value of your franchise appreciate. Unfortunately, this tends to attract the quick-buck artists like Loria. These are the guys who buy a succesful franchise, run it into the ground while wringing every bit of profit out of it, then sell off the remains for good money. It happens all the time in industry as well as in professional sports. The only way to stop it in sports is for better dilligence on the part of the league's existing owners over who is allowed to buy a franchise. I have to put some blame on these guys (existing owners) for being tempted by the money they might receive from the sale of a franchise. ...the worst thing to happen to baseball since Tim McCarver picked up a glove 40-odd years ago and starting talking to himself Amen, Weeds, but you're preaching to the choir. (It's off topic too, but fun)
posted by Howard_T at 08:40 AM on September 14, 2006
Well, you've all heard my theory, and I'm sticking to it.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 12:36 PM on September 14, 2006
How credible is this source? The writer takes so many weird shots I have to wonder whether his animus towards Loria is making him misjudge the situation. For instance:
So the Marlins are a "glorified Triple AAA" team that "somehow" won the 2003 World Series? Results are results. If you're going to hammer Loria, you should acknowledge that the teams win better than most franchises on low money. How many gutted Triple A teams have a series ring?