The Marlins Payroll and Revenue Sharing

[DoubleX]

Jon Heyman at SI.com had this little tidbit about the Marlins payroll:

Florida's payroll could go lower than $15 million, which is half what they get in revenue sharing. The Marlins' profit should be substantial by this point.

That really pisses me off. The point of revenue sharing is to achieve greater competitive balance by taking spending money away from rich teams, and giving it to the less-rich teams so that they can build a more competitive team. It really annoys me when billionaire and millionaire owners use the system to personally profit rather than put the money into their team as they are meant to do. If a team does not comply, they should not get the revenue sharing. I believe MLB should require a large percentage of a team's funds from revenue sharing to be put into the actual team. It is indefensible, IMO, for a team to be spending significantly less in payroll than what they are earning from revenue sharing alone. What Luria is doing, IMO, is essentially stealing - he's pocketing the money that other teams earn, instead of using it to build a better team.

[zemtech]

Owners like Loria need to have their teams taking away from them. This kind of greed is not in the best interest of Baseball!!!!

[Honus Wagner Rules]

This has been going on for years. The Pirates and D-Rays do the same thing. One of the selling points for the new ballpark is that the Pirates could increase revenue and sign top free agents. Well do we ever hear rumors of the top free agents going to Pittsburgh? Did we ever hear that A-Rod may go to the Pirates?

[KCGHOST]

If you have young players and are building through the draft your payroll will not be as high as teams that aggressively sign FA's. Revenue Sharing has another goal besides assisting the receiving team: It also exists to limit the expenditures of the teams that pay it.

If you are a payer you are better off if the receivers don't spend it to improve their club. And merely being a payer of revenue sharing does not endow a team with some kind of moral superiority over the receivers.

[skyking162]

One, who says the Marlins aren't going to sign anyone this off-season? Odds are against it, but it's possible.

Two, there are a ton of mediocre teams spending way too much on overpriced talent. Is THAT a good use of revenue sharing money? The Pirates' acquisition of Matt Morris comes to mind.

Three, even with scant payrolls, the Marlins, Nationals and Devil Rays have fielding decent teams. One would expect the minimum payroll to buy about 50 wins. The Marlins have been consistently better than that. If the Marlins had the same team but it cost $30 million more, would you be ok with that?

Four, the Marlins have shown they are willing to dish out the big bucks when the young guys are ready. They HAVE won two championships with their firesale approach.

Fifth, revenue sharing is not just for making low revenue teams good and controlling spending on high revenue teams. It's to reward all teams for what they provide to the sport. The Yankees would not make all their money if there wasn't a strong 30-team league to be a part of. Small market teams do not make as much money directly, but they are responsible for the success of the sport.

Listen, I actually agree that it's better for baseball if teams (wisely) spend more than $25 million per season. But many teams can't compete on a yearly basis with the big-spenders. If you require these teams to throw more money at free agents, two things will happen. One, salaries will go even higher. Two, the low-payroll teams still won't be able to compete consistently and you'll get rid of their way to compete on a cyclic basis.

As a fan, pay attention to how much talent the Marlins and Rays actually do have and admire how smartly they've acquired it all. Follow along so that when they do have a playoff season, you can appreciate it more.

[TonyStarks]

This has been going on for years. The Pirates and D-Rays do the same thing. One of the selling points for the new ballpark is that the Pirates could increase revenue and sign top free agents. Well do we ever hear rumors of the top free agents going to Pittsburgh? Did we ever hear that A-Rod may go to the Pirates?

I don't think the Rays can be lumped in with the Pirates.
Look at the Young kids the Rays have been pumping out: Gomes, Badelli, Upton, the pitcher James, Crawford, Dukes, Gathwright, Young

So they are investing in their development system.....the Pirates on the other hand...where are their kids? I've seen Dukes, Perez and Bay...but does Bay really count? He came over via San Diego. That's it though!

[BeatEmBucs]

This has been going on for years. The Pirates and D-Rays do the same thing. One of the selling points for the new ballpark is that the Pirates could increase revenue and sign top free agents. Well do we ever hear rumors of the top free agents going to Pittsburgh? Did we ever hear that A-Rod may go to the Pirates?

Not quite at the Marlins level though. Hell, the last time the Pirates "only" spent $10 million on a team payroll, they came as close to a winning season (and a division championship) as they have throughout this 15 year streak of sub-500 seasons. The Bucs need to spend their resourses better. Why spend so much on Matt Morris when that money can be used to keep Snell,Gorzo, or LaRoche around for a few more years. I would hope that the new administration will spend the Pirates limited resources more wisely than Littlefield did.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

I don't think the Rays can be lumped in with the Pirates.
Look at the Young kids the Rays have been pumping out: Gomes, Badelli, Upton, the pitcher James, Crawford, Dukes, Gathwright, Young

So they are investing in their development system.....the Pirates on the other hand...where are their kids? I've seen Dukes, Perez and Bay...but does Bay really count? He came over via San Diego. That's it though!

Yes, I know the D-Rays have been stockpiling top young talent for some time now. But there comes a point where the top young talent has to move forward and bring some wins to the team. What's the point of having all this top young talent if it doesn't lead to more wins? You can't keep losing 95 games a year and keep saying "one day our top young talent will be really good!". And some of this talent has not really taken the next step. When is Baldelli going to be a consistenly productive player? He's 26 already and he hasn't really established himself yet. He's had spurts when he has been good but injuries and slumps have kept him from establishing himself. He still has time but he needs to get a move on here.

[TonyStarks]

Yes, I know the D-Rays have been stockpiling top young talent for some time now. But there comes a point where the top young talent has to move forward and bring some wins to the team. What's the point of having all this top young talent if it doesn't lead to more wins? You can't keep losing 95 games a year and keep saying "one day our top young talent will be really good!". And some of this talent has not really taken the next step. When is Baldelli going to be a consistenly productive player? He's 26 already and he hasn't really established himself yet. He's had spurts when he has been good but injuries and slumps have kept him from establishing himself. He still has time but he needs to get a move on here.

I want to believe the Rays are getting better, but again they need to develop pitching. They sure as heck now how to pump out OFers but they've only produced 1 pitcher.

Baldelli is a nice player, but the guy just cannot stay on the field.

As for the Bucs, where is their young talent?

[NightHawks2007]

The point of revenue sharing is to make the low money teams be able to afford high priced talent. The Marlins old excuse for their firesales was that they couldn't afford the talent as it got better and required more money, same thing with the A's. They shouldn't be required to spend all their revenue sharing money, but it looks bad for the team if they don't. Maybe the reason that Marlins fans don't support their team is because they don't like his lack of spending when they know the money is available. The "we can't afford it" excuse is not valid if you are spending less than half of the money that you didn't create.

[skyking162]

I want to believe the Rays are getting better, but again they need to develop pitching. They sure as heck now how to pump out OFers but they've only produced 1 pitcher.

The Rays really don't need pitching any more than most teams need pitching. Two things make people believe they do. (Plus, who are Kazmir and Shields, chop-suey?)

1. They mostly have prospects, which haven't yet made a name for themselves. But all of these "no-name" guys are expected to be at least league-average pitchers, and a couple will be studs (with some flameouts, naturally.)

Matt Garza
David Price
Jae-Kuk Ryu
Jeff Niemann

2. Tampa Bay fielding has been awful, bumping up ERAs by at least half a run. These guys are actually much better than they've appeared:

Edwin Jackson
JP Howell

This is a very good top three:
Kazmir
Shields
Garza

And it won't be difficult to find two more solid pitchers from among the rest.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

The Rays really don't need pitching any more than most teams need pitching. Two things make people believe they do. (Plus, who are Kazmir and Shields, chop-suey?)

1. They mostly have prospects, which haven't yet made a name for themselves. But all of these "no-name" guys are expected to be at least league-average pitchers, and a couple will be studs (with some flameouts, naturally.)

Matt Garza
David Price
Jae-Kuk Ryu
Jeff Niemann

2. Tampa Bay fielding has been awful, bumping up ERAs by at least half a run. These guys are actually much better than they've appeared:

Edwin Jackson
JP Howell

This is a very good top three:
Kazmir
Shields
Garza

And it won't be difficult to find two more solid pitchers from among the rest.
The D-Rays are really not far away from being a 85-90 win ball club. I think once they start winning games the fans will come.

[ChrisLDuncan]

That really pisses me off. The point of revenue sharing is to achieve greater competitive balance by taking spending money away from rich teams, and giving it to the less-rich teams so that they can build a more competitive team. It really annoys me when billionaire and millionaire owners use the system to personally profit rather than put the money into their team as they are meant to do.

Actually I think the Steinbrenners are the poorest owners in baseball. I think Kellerman discusses revenue sharing here:

http://ne.edgecastcdn.net/0000A6/stations/1367/071204_max.mp3


I think this is all BS, I am sick of hearing of the "big market" and "small market" teams...thing is the teams with the most fans tend to spend the most money and have the best teams. If fans don't show up to the games then their teams suck, and that's the way it should be IMO.

[Brian McKenna]

Baseball is the only sport dumb enough to allow one team to outspend a division rival 8 times over. If the game needs a salary cap, it is in greater need of a floor.

USA Today:
2007

Team Total payroll
New York Yankees $ 189,639,045
Boston Red Sox $ 143,026,214
New York Mets $ 115,231,663
Los Angeles Angels $ 109,251,333
Chicago White Sox $ 108,671,833
Los Angeles Dodgers $ 108,454,524
Seattle Mariners $ 106,460,833
Chicago Cubs $ 99,670,332
Detroit Tigers $ 95,180,369
Baltimore Orioles $ 93,554,808
St. Louis Cardinals $ 90,286,823
San Francisco Giants $ 90,219,056
Philadelphia Phillies $ 89,428,213
Houston Astros $ 87,759,000
Atlanta Braves $ 87,290,833
Toronto Blue Jays $ 81,942,800
Oakland Athletics $ 79,366,940
Minnesota Twins $ 71,439,500
Milwaukee Brewers $ 70,986,500
Cincinnati Reds $ 68,904,980
Texas Rangers $ 68,318,675
Kansas City Royals $ 67,116,500
Cleveland Indians $ 61,673,267
San Diego Padres $ 58,110,567
Colorado Rockies $ 54,424,000
Arizona Diamondbacks $ 52,067,546
Pittsburgh Pirates $ 38,537,833
Washington Nationals $ 37,347,500
Florida Marlins $ 30,507,000
Tampa Bay Devil Rays $ 24,123,500

Only 9 of 30 teams spend at least half of the Yankees payroll and only 1 is within $70M.

[BeatEmBucs]

Damn $38 million for that?? We probably could've done as well spending $3.8 million. Funny to see the 2 teams just ahead of the Pirates in spending were the NLCS representatives. What's that say about the other NL teams above them?

[placount]

I really dont like the idea of salary caps, and i hope we never get one. just put more of a penalty for revenue sharing and create a floor that if the team spends less it wont get the revenue sharing benefit.

[ChrisLDuncan]

I really dont like the idea of salary caps, and i hope we never get one. just put more of a penalty for revenue sharing and create a floor that if the team spends less it wont get the revenue sharing benefit.

PLACOUNT FOR COMISH!!!! :eek::bowdown::bowdown::bowdown:

[Solrac]

Next year the marlins highest paid player would ne miller 1.3 million and the the next-highest salary would be $575.000...you do the math for a 25-man roster...8 million?? 10 million??

[plask_stirlac]

This is pretty miserly but we in no way know if the Marlins didn't offer contracts to various free agents, just not at an escalating pace. They might have offered Andruw Jones a short deal to use a Brave against them. Or at least Torrealba types, maybe Livan for a reunion.

They have no attendance but they still know what they're doing. They had a potent offense last year, but all the young pitching starters faltered other than Mitre.

I think Miller makes a good chunk because he signed as a "hot-shot" prospect. Kevin Gregg is getting arbitration and as a good closer these days I can see $5 million if his reps push that (Florida will probably say $750,000 lol) so they'll have to move him soon.

[Gregory Pratt]

I never thought I'd live to see the day where someone not named Mama Loria defends that vile man

[plask_stirlac]

They don't have fans, just South Florida residents.

Some of it was from tearing up that 1997 team, but they did "buy" players in the first place. Also, Miami is one of those cities with prominent transplanting... if they had about 15 former Yankees, Mets, and some Cuban players they'd probably draw more fans but it's also more common to find something inside or go to the beach especially for those day games they have, I assume for travel reasons but it's 100 degrees, humid, and sunny and then throw in the low interest in baseball.

I'm not sure if Miami was the right place for baseball.

[bigtime39]

Or, maybe they're just socking the $$$ away for when they either
1) need to actually pay somebody
2) or need to pick up a free agent to get them over the hump some year.

Players who make $300K today don't always make $300K tomorrow.

And when you drink from the endle$$ river$ of ca$h that flow through the Bronx or the Fen$, you probably should only be allowed to complain about how other teams spend revenue-sharing money AFTER you open the books, and show just how much ca$h you're $ta$ing in your TV network$.

The forensic accountants would have a field day! :thumbsup:

[Erik Bedard]

I'm not sure baseball needs a salary cap, but they do need to stop owners using the revenue sharing money just to line their pockets. Perhaps a rule that some amount of the revenue sharing money has to be put into team-related expenses, such as building a new stadium, staff and player salaries, etc. There are probably a lot of loopholes in that, but MLB could probably find some way of closing them off. They're smart enough for that, right?

[digglahhh]

Great post Skyking.

Signing middling free agents who are past their primes for twice the value of their production is NOT a recipe for success, despite the fact that the myopic see it as the only way to "reinvest the money in the team."

The Marlins' approach at least keeps the door open for success - it's happened before. They could have dumped $90 at Torii Hunter and made you guys happy - assuming their goal was to ensure years of mediocrity!

One man's upgrade is the next man's albatross!

[Silver Blaze]

One, who says the Marlins aren't going to sign anyone this off-season? Odds are against it, but it's possible.

Two, there are a ton of mediocre teams spending way too much on overpriced talent. Is THAT a good use of revenue sharing money? The Pirates' acquisition of Matt Morris comes to mind.

Three, even with scant payrolls, the Marlins, Nationals and Devil Rays have fielding decent teams. One would expect the minimum payroll to buy about 50 wins. The Marlins have been consistently better than that. If the Marlins had the same team but it cost $30 million more, would you be ok with that?

Four, the Marlins have shown they are willing to dish out the big bucks when the young guys are ready. They HAVE won two championships with their firesale approach.

Fifth, revenue sharing is not just for making low revenue teams good and controlling spending on high revenue teams. It's to reward all teams for what they provide to the sport. The Yankees would not make all their money if there wasn't a strong 30-team league to be a part of. Small market teams do not make as much money directly, but they are responsible for the success of the sport.

Listen, I actually agree that it's better for baseball if teams (wisely) spend more than $25 million per season. But many teams can't compete on a yearly basis with the big-spenders. If you require these teams to throw more money at free agents, two things will happen. One, salaries will go even higher. Two, the low-payroll teams still won't be able to compete consistently and you'll get rid of their way to compete on a cyclic basis.

As a fan, pay attention to how much talent the Marlins and Rays actually do have and admire how smartly they've acquired it all. Follow along so that when they do have a playoff season, you can appreciate it more.

Your first point - it's already a bad year for FAs, I see no reason why Florida would pay quite probably more money to someone from outside than Cabrera is currently costing them.

Your second point - the Morris trade was so atypical for the Pirates under Littlefield that it made many stand up and say "huh?" There's really little explanation or excuse for such a dumb move. I've read that as of first thing on the deadline day, Morris wasn't even on their radar. Meanwhile, the Giants would gladly pay a large portion to get the salary off their hands, until Littlefield pops up and takes the whole thing. Can you say desperation? Insanity? Combination of the two.

Your fifth point I don't agree with at all. To quote Marilyn Manson, "the weak ones are there to justify the strong."

[Silver Blaze]

Jon Heyman at SI.com had this little tidbit about the Marlins payroll:



That really pisses me off. The point of revenue sharing is to achieve greater competitive balance by taking spending money away from rich teams, and giving it to the less-rich teams so that they can build a more competitive team. It really annoys me when billionaire and millionaire owners use the system to personally profit rather than put the money into their team as they are meant to do. If a team does not comply, they should not get the revenue sharing. I believe MLB should require a large percentage of a team's funds from revenue sharing to be put into the actual team. It is indefensible, IMO, for a team to be spending significantly less in payroll than what they are earning from revenue sharing alone. What Luria is doing, IMO, is essentially stealing - he's pocketing the money that other teams earn, instead of using it to build a better team.


Many good points on this thread, but let's not get away from the central one. For a major league team in 2008 to have a potential payroll of $10mil while continuing to charge major league ticket prices is even more grotesque than the Yankees profligate spending.

[DoubleX]

Great post Skyking.

Signing middling free agents who are past their primes for twice the value of their production is NOT a recipe for success, despite the fact that the myopic see it as the only way to "reinvest the money in the team."

The Marlins' approach at least keeps the door open for success - it's happened before. They could have dumped $90 at Torii Hunter and made you guys happy - assuming their goal was to ensure years of mediocrity!

One man's upgrade is the next man's albatross!

It's not just about signing middling free agents, it's also about retaining their own talent. The Marlins can afford to keep Miguel Cabrera around, for example and spend to build a better team for the present while also building for the future. With constant turnover and payroll downsizing, it makes it hard to maintain the fanbase beyond the already terrible stadium issue. And if the Marlins do become successful through building, based on history the fanbase has absolutely zero confidence that the team won't be promptly dismantled.

IMO, if a team is going to receive millions from revenue sharing, they should be obligated to put at least part of that money into their team. If the Marlins are unwilling to do so, let other teams have that money so that they can put it to the intended use - building the team.

[EyeCandy]

The Marlins' attendance would be so much better if a new stadium was in NW Broward County.

[digglahhh]

It's not just about signing middling free agents, it's also about retaining their own talent. The Marlins can afford to keep Miguel Cabrera around, for example and spend to build a better team for the present while also building for the future. With constant turnover and payroll downsizing, it makes it hard to maintain the fanbase beyond the already terrible stadium issue. And if the Marlins do become successful through building, based on history the fanbase has absolutely zero confidence that the team won't be promptly dismantled.

IMO, if a team is going to receive millions from revenue sharing, they should be obligated to put at least part of that money into their team. If the Marlins are unwilling to do so, let other teams have that money so that they can put it to the intended use - building the team.

I think you make two separate points.

The first point, I thought was valid at its face, but I'm not sure when I think about it further... At first I said, yeah, you're right, you have one of the best hitters in the game who is like 25 years old, do what you gotta do to keep him. He'll still be around and still be awesome (presumably) when your next crop of young guys matures and you're ready to compete again. But then, I thought about Minnesota...

Now, Minny lays out more cash than Florida to be sure, but they are considering dumping the best pitcher in baseball because they can't afford to pay him. Teams with bigger payrolls than the Marlins get priced out of keeping their own talent too! Some teams do it, and it doesn't work out so well. Todd Helton is a damn good player, and had a nice rebound season in 2007, but he makes basically a third of the Rock's entire payroll. Now, hypothetically, what if that money given to Helton ultimately precluded them from being able to keep Holliday, Atkins, Tulo? This is actually part of the case with the Twins too, I guess. If you do find the money to keep Johan, you're basically saying goodbye to Morneau and/or Mauer, when it's time for them to get paid... So, I'm not sure it's as simple as, this guys is awesome, pay him.

The second point I disagree with totally, and it goes back to my original point of what is and what is not an efficient use of limited resources. Who is to say that they are not reinvesting that money in their team simply because they are dumping players? There are many other ways to "invest in their team." They could try to lure the best scouts in the game. They could invest in the development of better training facilities in their minor league operations. They could invest in international scouting, in the establishment of facilities in Latin America, etc. Many of these types of investments would actually be more prudent for a team in a situation like Florida's, IMO. They can't afford to get stars, so they have to invest in their capacity to identify and produce them at a higher rate than anybody else.

[Erik Bedard]

But then it comes back to the first point. What's the point of developing stars if you're not going to pay them when they hit their prime?

[digglahhh]

But then it comes back to the first point. What's the point of developing stars if you're not going to pay them when they hit their prime?

Then what is the point of being in the league...

They also have to develop stars so that they can command trade value, and keep the well of talented prospects from running dry.

Not to restate the obvious, but they have won the World Series twice in the last ten years.

The fans of rich teams, especially those who aren't particularly successful, should be careful what they wish for when complaining that a team like the Marlins doesn't invest enough in improving their team...

[DoubleX]

I think you make two separate points.

The first point, I thought was valid at its face, but I'm not sure when I think about it further... At first I said, yeah, you're right, you have one of the best hitters in the game who is like 25 years old, do what you gotta do to keep him. He'll still be around and still be awesome (presumably) when your next crop of young guys matures and you're ready to compete again. But then, I thought about Minnesota...

Now, Minny lays out more cash than Florida to be sure, but they are considering dumping the best pitcher in baseball because they can't afford to pay him. Teams with bigger payrolls than the Marlins get priced out of keeping their own talent too! Some teams do it, and it doesn't work out so well. Todd Helton is a damn good player, and had a nice rebound season in 2007, but he makes basically a third of the Rock's entire payroll. Now, hypothetically, what if that money given to Helton ultimately precluded them from being able to keep Holliday, Atkins, Tulo? This is actually part of the case with the Twins too, I guess. If you do find the money to keep Johan, you're basically saying goodbye to Morneau and/or Mauer, when it's time for them to get paid... So, I'm not sure it's as simple as, this guys is awesome, pay him.

The second point I disagree with totally, and it goes back to my original point of what is and what is not an efficient use of limited resources. Who is to say that they are not reinvesting that money in their team simply because they are dumping players? There are many other ways to "invest in their team." They could try to lure the best scouts in the game. They could invest in the development of better training facilities in their minor league operations. They could invest in international scouting, in the establishment of facilities in Latin America, etc. Many of these types of investments would actually be more prudent for a team in a situation like Florida's, IMO. They can't afford to get stars, so they have to invest in their capacity to identify and produce them at a higher rate than anybody else.

While the Twins could probably afford to spend more as well, given that they have the richest owner in the game and just convinced the public to fund a new stadium, let’s not confuse them for a second with the Marlins. The Twins spend considerably more to begin with, and unlike the Marlins, they have made efforts to retain their players. They did offer Santana a contract that would pay him 20 mil per, can you imagine the Marlins doing anything close to that? And Torii Hunter was kept around for several years on a contract extension, and it's likely that team will try to extend both Morneau and Mauer. Again, can you imagine the Marlins even extending a star player? Who wants to be a fan of a team when you know that team has little interest in keeping players once they’ve developed. Consistently dumping the good players and turning over the roster is an affront to the fans, IMO, it’s telling them we don’t care about winning consistently and putting out an attractive product, we care about the bottom line, and in return for our penny pinching strategy, you might get a good team every six or seven years, but then you’ll have to watch that team completely dismantled. Yeah you've pointed out they've won the World Series the past two years, but the fans haven't stuck around, because the team totally disrespects the fans by completely dismantling successful teams and showing zero interest in maintaining a consistent product. Fans like to have stars to root for, fans hate it when they see a good thing dismantled, so what's the point in being a fan of the Marlins if you know that everytime a star develops, the team is going to ship him off. What is there for you to root for? You can watch some unfamiliar young players develop for a few years then watch them leave, and then again, and again. There's just nothing to latch on to for fans and the team does nothing with its roster to build and sustain the fanbase. Plus, let's take a second to win their two World Series. The first was essentially bought as Huizenga went out, overspent, and stocked up on free agents, then promptly traded them all away the next season. Those trades laid the foundation for the '03 team. Perhaps in trading the '03 players away, the team has laid the groundwork for a future World Series, but the dismantling of the two teams was very different. The '97 team was filled with high paid veterans, and it was a financial necessity to dump payroll. The '03 team, for the most part, was composed of cheap young players that all just clicked at the right time, and thus there was no financial nececssity to dump payroll, and the team probably could have afforded to keep several of the players around. I just don't see how a team can go from building a strong young nucleus that wins a title, to spending just 15 million on payroll a few years later. Who wants to be a fan of that team? It's almost as if the Marlins hate winning because it's too expensive.

As for your second point, if the Marlins are reinvesting in such a way as you suggest, it likely only accounts for a small fraction of what they receive in revenue sharing. The fact that the team will likely field a roster being paid around 15 million, while receiving twice that in revenue sharing, is inexcusable, as it is so far below what any other team is spending on their rosters (and those teams spend on scouting as well). You’re telling me that the entire gap is made up in scouting? Is there any evidence of this? If every other team is spending at least twice as much as the Marlins, with most spending about four times more, and with the Marlins receiving significantly more in revenue sharing than they are spending on payroll, it is inexcusable IMO that their payroll is so low. If a team cannot document that it is using its funds from revenue sharing into building the team, the funds should be withdrawn and given to other teams that will use it for the desired purpose. So if the Marlins are spending the revenue sharing into scouting and whatnot, all I’m asking is that they document it - the fans and other teams are owed this, because given the facts and comparison to the rest of the league, it's hard to swallow that the Marlins with revenue sharing, are spending so much less than everyone else.

[digglahhh]

XX,

I'm not saying that the Marlins do use all of the revenue sharing money to build infrastructure. Perhaps, let me pose the question to you a different way, other than retaining Cabrera, what financially efficient player moves have been made in the offseason, that the Marlins should have "invested in?"

I just don't see the point in spending money just to spend it - like if I go shopping for a product and it isn't in stock, I'm not going to just buy something else for the sake of buying something - even if the money I'm using to purchase the item was a gift.

I understand that it can be frustrating knowing that virtually any player you grow to like and root for will leave. But, that didn't stop us from lusting after hot girls in high school, only to finally hook up with them knowing they'd cheat on you with a college guy... Seriously, I understand the frustration of the fan base, but I also think the market down there is poor in general, so it's kind of a catch-22. Break the hearts of the fans who support you by letting studs go on a regular basis or spend big money to really try to field a winner year in and year in knowing you could be rewarded by winding up in the red.

Valid points about the Twins actually attempting to resign their mega-stars.

My main point is that it is about spending money efficiently, not just spending money. Keeping Cabrera would have been a good use of money though!

[DoubleX]

XX,

I'm not saying that the Marlins do use all of the revenue sharing money to build infrastructure. Perhaps, let me pose the question to you a different way, other than retaining Cabrera, what financially efficient player moves have been made in the offseason, that the Marlins should have "invested in?"

I just don't see the point in spending money just to spend it - like if I go shopping for a product and it isn't in stock, I'm not going to just buy something else for the sake of buying something - even if the money I'm using to purchase the item was a gift.

I understand that it can be frustrating knowing that virtually any player you grow to like and root for will leave. But, that didn't stop us from lusting after hot girls in high school, only to finally hook up with them knowing they'd cheat on you with a college guy... Seriously, I understand the frustration of the fan base, but I also think the market down there is poor in general, so it's kind of a catch-22. Break the hearts of the fans who support you by letting studs go on a regular basis or spend big money to really try to field a winner year in and year in knowing you could be rewarded by winding up in the red.

Valid points about the Twins actually attempting to resign their mega-stars.

My main point is that it is about spending money efficiently, not just spending money. Keeping Cabrera would have been a good use of money though!

I actually think we're mostly on the same page. One thing though, I'm not talking about spending money just for the sake of spending money, but when the Marlins are spending just 15 million, well below what any other team is spending, and is receiving significantly more than that in payroll, you have to wonder. They do not need to spend just for the sake of spending, but they could afford to spend more and put out a more consistently competitive team that's just not based on essentially kids that would still be in the minors with most franchises.

[TonyStarks]

Although I don't agree with how the Marlins are going into next season....keep in mind that they are just 1 of the 3 teams to have won Multiple Championships in the last 15 Years or so.