Marlins are jokes

By Jeff

How are the Miami Marlins still a professional franchise?

For the third time in my lifetime, they have sent their best players packing to say boatloads of money. Josh Johnson, Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, John Buck and Emilio Bonifacio are all headed to Toronto for Yunel Escobar, Jeff Mathis and three of the Blue Jays' top prospects.

Baseball should be furious. Other teams should be furious. Marlins fans should be furious. The three Marlins players left should be furious.

In the words of Donald Trump, we need a revolution! (Seriously, what a joke the Donald is. What's scary is some people think he makes good points.)

Marlins ownership lied to the public. In order to get more than $300 million of public money for their new stadium, they said they would field a competitive team. They tried for one year. Yes, they started with a bad year, but that's not reason to blow it up. The team had boatloads of talent. Maybe it just needed to gel. Maybe it just needed a manager who cared more about managing and less about attention.

Sad to say it, but the Pirates are in a similar boat. They received hundreds of millions of public dollars to fund PNC Park and promised a winning team. They haven't had one and have consistently made questionable baseball decisions.

This is a problem for baseball and fans in these cities. With no salary floor and revenue sharing, teams like the Marlins can make a lot of money while putting terrible teams on the field. It doesn't matter that people don't show up for games, because teams like the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will fund the poor teams.

What a joke.

Now, as a Blue Jays fan, I am excited for Toronto. If Johnson and Reyes stay healthy, they could actually compete for the AL East for the first time in a long time.

As a fan of baseball, the deal angers me and just shows how silly this league can be. Teams that are not committed to winning should not be rewarded. If you don't have a payroll of X amount, then you should not be eligible for revenue sharing.

David Bowie - Heroes