Marlins Stadium Hunt: Light At the End of the Tunnel?

Or is that Selig holding the match?

Well, as we have been following this story for the better part of 7 years now, this could be the best news yet. In fact, it could be the most pivotal moment.

Bud Selig has come to town to meet with officials about the possibilities of a new stadium for the Marlins. With UM bolting the Orange Bowl after this season for the updated Dolphin Stadium, the door has swung wide open for the Marlins to fall upon the OB and develop a project for a home.

Further Reading (and listening)
Selig's press conference
Miami Herald: Selig Visits South Florida
SI: Selig Lobbies for South Florida

Ultimately, this deal should get done. The Miami-Dade metropolitan area has one of the largest TV markets in the country - more so than any other alternative site being used as a "threat" to move the Marlins to. Selig knows this, and also is relying a bit on Jeffrey Loria to get a stadium because MLB put up a loan that made Loria ultimately the Marlins owner.

"I believe in this market," Selig told the press today. But he also stated that this market needs a roof on its stadium, indicating that he is in line with the thinking around the Marlins front office and even Bob DuPuy about what approach the Marlins should take to their design.

With the demographics of South Florida, Selig agrees that the South Florida market would be competitive with the rest of MLB - provided they get the right stadium facilities in place.

Selig also was reluctant to stamp a deadline on the project, but recognizes there is a practical concern over getting it done within a certain time period.

UM Leaves OB; Marlins Moving In?

The Hurricanes are finally done with delaying the inevitable and are giving in to Wayne Huizenga's desires and moving out of the Orange Bowl and into the faux OB, Dolphin Stadium (which will forever be known as Joe Robbie Stadium to this humble writer).

Not a shock at all. But Cane fans will be debating this move for some time, talking about the tradition of the dingy Orange Bowl and all its history. They have one final season to soak it up.

Yet, what will the city of Miami now do with this increasingly outdated structure? They had promised to put over $200M in improvements into the renovation project - should the University of Miami committed to staying.

Further Reading
UM Leaves OB
Shalala Didn't Want to Do It
A Sad Day When Tradition Loses

But now, it is time for the Marlins to explore this situation very carefully. There were plans, how serious is debatable, to see the OB turned into a sports complex with the Marlins attaching their new stadium to the side of the Orange Bowl. That vision never fully materialized due to funding and other concerns, but now that the city is losing its only tenant of the Orange Bowl, they may be pressed to strike a deal with the Marlins. The city is faced with not only missing out on the promise of their major college football tenant but could also lose out on their MLB franchise which is looking to plant roots somewhere in South Florida.

And that will mean major bucks and a lucrative tourist attraction. For the area around the Orange Bowl, it would be a needed boost.

Marlins On Two Game Win Streak

One against the Phillies and now another against the Mets. The Marlins are, dare I say, rolling. Frank the Tank would be proud:



Ok, so I shouldn't get too excited. After all, it is just two games. Yet, this is a sign of hope as the Marlins have been able to come together against two division rivals and with another chance tonight against the Mets, who knows? It is a little late to crash the Wild Card party, but it isn't too late to crash someone else's season.

Marlins Dead in the Water?

Seems like it is over too quickly for the Marlins this season.

Suffering injuries to 3/5ths of their stellar starting staff from last season hasn't been kind either. Then again, neither has this coaching staff.

Incidentally, they may all get an incomplete considering the injuries to this team but make no mistake, the Marlins have taken a big step backwards this season. There was a lot of hope and expectation for this young team coming into the season, building on the rookie seasons of Josh Johnson, Scott Olsen, Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, Mike Jacobs and even Anibal Sanchez and Ricky Nolasco. Olsen has turned into a headcase; Jacobs, Johnson, Sanchez and Nolasco have all been injured while only Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla have been able to consistently get into the starting lineup each day.

And it shows.

On top of this struggle, the Marlins made changes to their coaching staff and it doesn't seem to have paid off at all. Girardi left, mostly because he blew out the starters and didn't play the right personnel - and the fruits of that destruction have come to bear as we see Josh Johnson is now out for the rest of this season and possibly next. Yet the hiring of Fredi Gonzalez, met with some fanfare since he is a local kid, has turned out to be a quagmire.

Gonzalez has yet to show any kind of leadership abilities, instead deferring mostly to bench coach Carlos Tosca. The lack of direction shows on the field as these young players tend to go up and down like elevators but never seem to find ways to get out of funks or focus on being professionals day to day. That is not to say that the Marlins have huge problems with their personnel, yet only to say that the challenge of great players is their potential and developing it to its fullest. Miguel Cabrera was battling a big weight issue and the Marlins seemed to lack any courage in addressing it and challenging Cabrera. Dan Uggla went through a big slump and very little got better for him as did Jeremy Hermida. These young players need to have a plan in order to get out these slumps or spells where they just play bad and the Marlins staff seems to side-step the opportunity to hold them accountable as professionals.

It just seems that there is too much focus on personal feelings with this group and a fear to do what is necessary to win.

Say what we want about Girardi, but his crew cut no-nonsense approach made him the focus of the team from the players and no one questioned who was in charge in that dugout. In fact, that may have been what got him fired in the end - he couldn't stop himself. Fredi seems to be the opposite - he doesn't know where he should begin.

As a result, the Marlins have performed worse despite their strong offensive numbers and their talent. Mistakes like letting Armando Benitez even set foot on the field continue, while former problems - Randy Messenger and Jorge Julio, for example - continue to improve.

Byung-Hyun Kim was a shrewd move for Julio, but now he has been placed on waivers and picked up by Arizona. A payroll move and a signal that the Marlins brass is waiving the white flag for the remainder of this season. They might as well get rid of the coaching staff too since they have seemed to all but run the Marlins into the ground now.

There is little to watch for right now other than the development of young talents like Jeremy Hermida and Rick Vanden Hurk. Of course Miguel Cabrera and Hanley Ramirez are having fine seasons and are worth the price of the ticket alone to watch each night. In fact, that is the problem - these young guys have talent and deserve to put it on display and win. For some reason, it isn't working out right now.