The Latin American community in Miami showed their commitment to baseball during the 2023 World Baseball Classic and continued their support through the 2024 Caribbean Series.
This message was clear to the Miami Marlins management.
Despite this, they failed.
While Major League Baseball faces the challenge of relocating a historic franchise to Las Vegas, they are also allowing the Miami Marlins management to run their franchise without clear intentions to compete.
Since Bruce Sherman bought the Miami Marlins, they have squandered every opportunity to improve the franchise. They had all the resources to build a competitive team, including one of the best stadiums in baseball and the support of the Latin American community. They also had talented players capable of achieving positive results.
Yet, they chose to squander these opportunities repeatedly.
Luis Arraez was a perfect player to build something around. He is a great hitter, and people remember Tony Gwynn every time Arraez reaches a historical milestone. Tony Gwynn was one of the most beloved players in the history of the game.
Yet they decided to trade him.
They will pay the remainder of his salary to have him play for another team, just seven months after their first playoff appearance in a complete single season since 2003, and a year and a half before Arraez could hit free agency for the first time in his career.
How the hell does that make sense after dealing one of your best pitchers and three prospects to acquire him just one year ago?
The Miami Marlins decided it was a good idea to force their general manager to resign, then let Jorge Soler walk to the San Francisco Giants and traded Luis Arraez, all within a span of 7 months.
They did that while the sports industry is experiencing a great moment in Miami.
The Miami Heat went to two NBA finals in the last four seasons, and they just fell short against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. Inter Miami FC signed soccer star Lionel Messi, and their impact is being felt nationwide. As a result, MLS game ticket prices have increased significantly in the past year.
The Miami Marlins management could build a great team around former Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara, 2-time batting champion Luis Arraez, and Jesus Luzardo, who is one of the most interesting pitchers in Major League Baseball right now, but his future now seems to be outside Miami.
And they could leverage everything that is going on right now in Miami, including the excitement that we were able to see in the 2023 World Baseball Classic and the 2024 Serie del Caribe.
But, once again, the Miami Marlins have failed.
