Miami With the Cheap Dad Vibes
Marlins Are Only MLB Team Not to Spend This Offseason
As a Mets fan, sometimes I think I have the market cornered on miserable fan experiences. Over the past five years we’ve seen some improvements under the Steve Cohen era, but preceding that was LOT of wasted years of a Front Office that didn’t invest in their team. So when I heard that the Miami Marlins were (at the time of this writing) the ONLY major league franchise not to spend this offseason I had to do a double-take. “Wow, this is like peak 00's Mets,” I told myself. But first, a primer:
The Miami Marlins were founded as the Florida Marlins in 1993. And even though the franchise is one of the sport’s youngest, it already has two World Championships to its name. The team plays in vibrant South Florida, and there’s a heavy Spanish influence throughout the team, from the branding to the concessions. Indeed I had the pleasure of taking the ballpark tour two years ago, and “#MiamiBeisbol” signs were everywhere.
HOWEVER. The Marlins franchise has been riddled with start-and-stops and reboots ever since it was founded. Those two World Championships? After winning them, the front office sold off players while touting “Mission Accomplished.” Most fans attend games in support of the visiting team due to the number of transplants, and so the #MiamiBeisbol branding is lost on a huge portion of the folks not originally from Miami who bought a ticket. The team got a playoff berth in 2023, and they responded by telling Kim Ng, the only female GM in baseball history to ever do so, they were going to hire someone above her. Ng rightfully walked:
Fast forward a year later and this off-season, the money is coming fast and furious. Aging first baseman Paul Goldschmidt is getting 12.5 million from the Yankees, pitcher Corbin Burnes is getting $210 million over six years, the Mets did some shopping of their own, and the lowly Vagabond Athletics just signed their biggest free agent contract ever:
Now the A’s are a special case. The reason they are throwing out money is because the Player’s Association (the “union” for the players sort to speak) had threatened to file a grievance due to the lack of spending on payroll. This makes the Marlins situation even MORE frustrating.
You let the people who made you good go, you decline, and you see other teams possibly getting into trouble for not investing in their team and you’re just chillin’…? Oh, I get if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, but “it’s broke, what’s the point of fixing it?” is the kind of Cheap Dad energy that ends up with a stack of 8-tracks in the garage.
Or a pair of ratty boots that are “older than muh’ kids.”
It sucks because the social media term works triple hard to keep this Marlins squad relevant but when you don’t throw some dollars on improving your team in the short and medium run, videos like these feel hollow:
Let me know if you need my help Miami, I got five on it.
Anyway, if you made it this far thank you. Just the Sandwich was founded one year ago this week. Your help, support and eyes helped this page grow and for that, I’m grateful.