Larry Brown Sports

Miami Marlins fans are not entering the 2013 season with a great deal of optimism, and why should they be? After building a brand new ballpark, bringing in Ozzie Guillen as manager, and signing big names like Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle last offseason, the team has already decided to blow up their rebuilding project and start fresh.

According to Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post, a handful of Marlins fans decided to protest the team’s recent failures at the home opener on Monday by showing up wearing shirts and holding signs that were critical of the team and owner Jeffrey Loria. Those fans say they were kicked out.

“We’re Marlins fans,” 25-year-old Dan Barton, one of the fans who was ejected, said. “We’ve been there since 1993. We’ve been through only two winning seasons. We’re tired of it. I’m just over it. Free the Marlins.”

“It’s just sheer selfishness. Now you have this guy coming in. False promises, false hopes. I’m tired of it. We’re tired of the ownership. We’re tired of Jeffrey Loria.”

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Over a week has passed since the Miami Marlins agreed to a massive trade that sent most of their top players to the Toronto Blue Jays, and the team’s fans are still fuming.

The Miami Herald spoke to 400 Major League Baseball fans — 90 percent of whom were self-described Marlins fans — for a poll, and they learned that the majority of the fans are really upset with the team and owner.

83 percent of those polled by the Herald had an unfavorable opinion of team owner Jeffrey Loria. Of the six percent who had a favorable opinion of him, six say they know him personally.

95 percent of those polled viewed the Blue Jays trade as a fire sale, while only four percent believed the trade was made to make the team better.

10 percent of fans say they are no longer fans of the team following the trade.

Fans described Loria as a “greedy crook,” a “leech,” and “lousy.”

That sounds about right. We somewhat mocked Marlins fans for only having five fans show up at a protest, but we acknowledged they had the right idea in mind.

There were so many questionable aspects of the Marlins’ trade.

While the deal could make them a better team in the future, it’s impossible to get past how unethical and deceitful it was. The team backloaded the contracts for the players they signed so they wouldn’t have to pay them the big annual salaries. They also shed the payroll as soon as their agreement to be reviewed by MLB expired, ostensibly so they can pocket their revenue sharing money rather than spend it on the on-field product. Lastly, and perhaps most egregiously, they had the city fund the stadium based on a promise that they would be competitive. It’s impossible to get around that point.

Forearm bash to Hardball Talk

A group of Miami Marlins fans decided to stage a protest of the franchise on Tuesday, but in typical Marlins fashion, the crowd was sparse.

Brendan Tobin, a producer at 790 The Ticket in Miami, decided to head down to the protest, which was publicized and organized on Facebook. He snapped the two photos you see of the five fans in attendance.

The fans have the complete right idea by protesting the team, but unfortunately they didn’t put together a very compelling crowd. We support their mission.

The Marlins deceived MLB and its fan base by re-branding last year with a new name, stadium, and uniforms, and by signing a slew of new players, and then blowing it all up after one unsuccessful season. That happened despite the team’s promise to the city, whose funds were used to finance the new Marlins Park stadium, that they would field a competitive team.

As if dismantling the team wasn’t deceitful enough, the fact that the Marlins backloaded their contracts to the players they signed last season made it seem like this was all part of a carefully planned backup option. Additionally, the Marlins come out looking extra slimy now that we’ve learned their agreement with MLB to spend their revenue sharing money expired right before they made the blockbuster trade with the Blue Jays in a massive salary dump.

It’s sad that only five fans showed up to protest the team on Tuesday, but what the Marlins have done to the fans is even sadder. Jeffrey Loria should be forced to sell the team. He is corporate evil personified.

Another photo via Tobin is below:

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