Jeffrey Loria's "Letter to our Fans"

       VIERA -- Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria took out a full-page ad in all three major South Florida daily newspapers on Sunday in which he explained not only the team's decision-making, but appealed to fans to stay the course with the franchise. Loria also plans to speak with the media on Monday.

        Here, word for word, is what Loria wrote. Let's hear it. After reading Loria's letter, tell us what you think:

        LETTER TO OUR FANS

        It's no secret that last season was not our best -- actually it was one of our worst. In large part, our performance on the field stunk and something needed to be done. As a result of some bold moves, many grabbed hold of our tough yet necessary decision only to unleash a vicious cycle of negativity. As the owner of the ballclub, the buck stops with me and I take my share of the blame where it's due. However, many of the things being said about us are simply not true. I've sat by quietly and allowed this to continue. Now it's time for me to respond to our most important constituents, the fans who love the game of baseball.

        THE ROSTER

        Losing is unacceptable to me. It's incumbant upon us to take swift action and make bold moves when there are glaring problems. The controversial trade we made with the Toronto Blue Jays was approved by Commissioner Bud Selig and has been almost universally celebrated by baseball experts outside of Miami for its value. We hope, with an open mind, our community can reflect on the fact that we had one of the worst records in baseball. Acquiring high-profile players just didn't work, and nearly everyone on our team underperformed as compared to their career numbers. Our plan for the year ahead is to leverage our young talent and create a homegrown roster of long-term players who can win. In fact, objective experts have credited us with going from the 28th ranked Minor League system in baseball to the 5th best during this period. Of the Top 100 Minor Leaguers rated by MLB Network, we have six -- tied for the most of any team in the league. We'll evaluate this roster and possibly bring in additional talent based on our assessment of what we need. The very same naysayers who are currently skeptical once attacked us for bringing Pudge Rodriguez to the Marlins in 2003. More than any other, that move contributed to our World Series Championship.

      THE BALLPARK

      The ballpark issue has been repeatedly reported incorrectly and there are some very negative accustations being thrown around. It ain't true, folks. Those who have attacked us are entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts. The majority of public funding came from hotel taxes, the burden of which is incurred by tourists who are visiting our city, NOT the resident taxpayers. The Marlins organization also agreed to contribute $161.2 million toward the ballpark, plus the cost of the garage complex. In addition, the Marlins receive no operating subsidy from local government funding. The ballpark required that all debt service is paid by existing revenue. Furthermore, many are attacking the County's method of financing for its contribution, but the Marlins had nothing at all to do with that. The fact is, with your help, we built Marlins Park, a crown jewel in our beautiful Miami skyline, which has won over twenty design and architecture awards and will help make us a premiere ballclub moving forward.

      OUR FINANCES

      The simple fact is that we don't have unlimited funds, nor does any baseball team or business. Fans didn't turn out last season as much as we'd like, even with the high-profile players the columnists decry us having traded. The main ingredient to a successful ball club is putting together a winning team, including a ncecessary core of young talent. Are we fiscally capable and responsible enough to fill the roster with talented players, invest in the daily demands of running a world-class organization and bring a World Series back to Miami? Absolutely! Is it sound business sense to witness an expensive roster with a terrible record and sit idly by doing nothing? No. I can and will invest in building a winner, but last season wasn't sustainable and we needed to start from scratch quickly to build this team from the ground up.

      COMMUNICATION

      An organization is only as good as its connection with the community. We know we can do a better job communicating with our fans. That starts now. From this point forward we can ensure fans and the entire community that we will keep you abreast of our plan, rationale and motivations.

       Amidst the current news coverage, it an be easy to forget how far we went together not so long ago. In 2003, I helped bring a second World Series Title to South Florida. We know how to build a winning team, and have every intention of doing so again. I know you share my passion for great Marlins baseball, my love of MIami and my desire to win again. We're in this together and I humbly ask that we start fresh, watch us mature qjuickly as a ball club, and root for the home team in 2013.

      Sincerely,

      Jeffrey Loria

Comments

[mark]

and for god's sake tear down that horrid "sculpture" in the outfield. it is tacky, cheap, and stereotypical of all that is wrong with miami. i am a true baseball fan from miami... i am boycotting until further notice (went to 20 games last year, spent about a thousand dollars). jl leave our community, take your sculpture with you, and don't let the door hit you on the way off. gfy.

[Marc Maguet]

What I find funny about this whole ordeal...he has essentially made himself a bigger enemy of the South Florida fan base than even Jeff Ireland. Kudos to you Jeffrey Loria....

[Former Season Tckt Holder]

Dear Mr. Loria,

Please just sell, your damage is irreparable. Nothing you do or say will mean anything. You have lied and your arrogance of no apology to this day is deplorable. There is a special place in hell for you Mr. Loria.

Respectfully, former season ticket holder

[Bobo]

I agree, Loria. Best to start over with the talent pool than to remain mediocre with a high salary. Hopefully the salary will escalate slowly to match the on-field performance.

[richard]

Hey Loria , you kill baseball in Montreal. I'm hoping the Marlins will draw 600,000 fans in 2013. So , Major League Baseball will take care of the team and get rid of you Loria and Samson.Your a shame for baseball.
Miami deserve a real owner who truly love baseball.

A Expos fan 4ever

[Givejonadollar]

It's not a horrible piece by Loria, but I think what is missing in his letter is the claim that he told Reyes to buy a house locally because he was going to be around for a long time.

The business strategy is understandable. I think the issue that people (and fans) have with Loria seems to be trust.

[formerfan]

The only baseball I will see this summer will be the Tampa Rays and the Yankees when I go on vacation on the west coast. The value is much better and I will no longer give any money to the Marlins.

[FZ B]

Hey Loria..

Blow me

[Manny]

I have been a baseball fan for a # of years and support all the local teams.
FORGET ABOUT THE MARLINS ! (the paper hold any BS that you write in it)

[Richard Nixon 2012]

My my...look at how much better the comment section is when you don't have to risk your job and reputation by allowing the TRUE FEELINGS OF YOUR READERS to come out. You actually get....COMMENTS.

As for The Marlins, they are no different than any of the other professional sports teams. ALL of the owners are lying sacks of crap who routinely screw over the locals. Vote with your feet if you don't like it.

[Chris]

Loria and his minions will get what they deserve. Let's hope he will sell the team and let the few loyal fans see what a good owner does for their team.

[Definitely NOT Alex Anthopolous]

Dear Mr. Loria,

Well said, sir! I applaud you for....whatever it is...you may or may not have written.

Hey, I'm just wondering, can we have Giancarlo Stanton after you've broken his soul?

Love,

Every Blue Jays fan.

[Jmv2013]

Wow Jeffrey you are really feeling the heat now, fans of south lets hurt this guy where it hurts him the most, his pocket, boycott the marlins for as long as he owns the team, I love the marlins but this guy has destroyed the franchise , please Jeffrey stop sending emails selling your merchandise unsubscribe me, sell the team, As for David Sampson I wouldn't trust you with my garbage bag you little Lair , get the hell out of Miami for good.

[charlie]

B.S.

[Miamiandy24]

Jeffrey;
1-The premise that because we, the fans didn't sell out the cow pasture that meets prison walls aka as your work of art is an insult to everyone that sat in the sauna known as Sun Life Stadium. After just one season?
2-If you really cared about public opinion in 2003, then you would have signed Pudge and kept D. Lee for the 2004 season and really tried to repeat.
3-You build your team around Hanley, a known malcontent who wished more managers into the cornfield than that kid did on the Twilight Zone.
4-Nice that you brag about Selig "approving the trade". How many times did you speak to "Trader Jack" to convince yourself that this is the best move to make?
5-Professional organizations don't have to trade off their top level to restock the talent supply line. For you, it was like trading stock options, you pay for one season of a players talent then cash them in for a new portfolio. Only, now people won't trade with you, like you were going to lead top level players down the garden path twice. so, who cares?
6- Let's see what the S.E.C. has to say about the park financing.
7-You may try to hang on for another couple of seasons, but sooner than later, you will have to sell.

[Jeff]

i think Loria is saying the truth when he says

"the controversial trade we made with the Toronto Blue Jays ...and has been almost universally celebrated by baseball experts outside of Miami for its value"

of course this was the value for the Toronto Blue Jays that was celebrated

[Shark]

What a crock!!! The only thing Loria and Sampson need are tickets out of town on the fastest means of transportation possible. Thanks for destroying the dream of Major League Baseball in South Florida. Bring back the AA Marlins....oh wait...they're here.

Loria and Sampson have less credibility than OJ as a glove salesman. Time to say "goodbye" and don't let the bats hit your in your sorry backsides.

[JamesDAttwood]

Hey Loria, perhaps a lesson in your personal history?

http://www.azsnakepit.com/2013/1/14/3876672/bud-selig-and-the-declining-state-of-baseball

[EricM]

Selig and Loria are BFFs...it's only reason why Loria's been able to get away with his crap for some long.

[Jonnie Berk]

What a crock of crap

[Mike]

Jeffrey, sell the team, get out of town.

[bob]

Loria must think we're all idiots. I won't even go into the finances. First, so what if the farm system is so highly ranked. We're supposed to watch baseball in Miami not Jacksonville. And at least in 2003 the Marlins added, and didn't shed $100M in salary to give us a AAA+ team. And he wants to talk about communication? He shuts down Samson's weekly radio show and he wants to talk about communication??

Boycott this team till Loria sells.

[R. Gardner]

"The controversial trade we made with the Toronto Blue Jays was approved by Commissioner Bud Selig and has been almost universally celebrated by baseball experts outside of Miami for its value."

WTF is Loria thinking and where does he get his information? The fact Mr. Loria you started this downfall by trading Infante and Sanchez before the collaspe. The Toronto trade was reprehensible and irresponsible to say the least. Please sell this team to an owner who actually likes baseball.

[Nevin Shapiro]

Does Loria not understand that the hotel tax revenues could have benefited our city in a different way? Like building a stadium for the "U"!!!! Stop mentioning 2003, you can only take 1 percent of the credit for that. Then you gave the team away. Samson is a joke, I will never go to another Marlins game while he is involved.

[William the Marlin]

Naah,you don't fool me again Loria. You are a cheap bum who wants quality players bought at the dollar store. I will continue to fly the Marlins car-window flag upside down in protest of the ownership and his administration. Go raid aother franchise if they let you, stop trying to convinse us that the Sponge Bob painting is really the Mona Lisa. Take your circus and get outta town!

[Chris]

"The controversial trade we made with the Toronto Blue Jays was approved by Commissioner Bud Selig and has been almost universally celebrated by baseball experts outside of Miami for its value."

Yes, celebrated for the great value the Blue Jays got for their minor league roster-fillers.

[New Rays Fan]

There are no words to describe the contempt I have for this guy. I just hope he's wrong on his calculation that we are all idiotic children to be manipulated with razzle dazzle and shiny objects.

[Carlos Fernandez Blanco]

...I was looking for Bobby Maduro Stadium to see some Florida State Miami Marlins action.
We remember that all the games we attended, played against MLB farm teams, resulted in losses for our FSL franchise Marlins. We think we can live with the caliber of players in the present Marlins camp, after all, they won their Grapefruit League opener, in a satisfying way.

[D]

The best part of the entire open letter "The majority of public funding came from hotel taxes, the burden of which is incurred by tourists who are visiting our city, NOT the resident taxpayers." This is an actual argument that Loria has attempted to use in defense of the stadium!! First off, a tax is a tax. Just because the people of Miami are not paying it, does not make it any less of a tax. Every dollar that visitors are taxed in support of building your stadium is a dollar that is not going to another business. So basically we are financing a 2.5 billion dollar stadium for a man that is a billionaire himself! Not to mention this will have an affect on the amount of tourists that actually visit. You can only tax people for so many things before those people just stop coming. I will not support the Marlins in any way. I will not go to or view a single game that they are involved in. Selig and the rest of baseball's owners need to rid themselves of Loria before I even consider giving them another chance.

[Charles Ferguson]

Mr Loria : the only word to describe you and your letter is...you are an imbecile ! not only you but your VP Mr Samson... you guys should be ashamed of the letter and the comments Mr Samson made during a speech in front of the "1% imbeciles of Miami cream of the crop "

[Ken]

Pathetic. Anybody who buys this crap....I've got a bridge I want to sell! Name some names, Loria, don't hide behind "objective experts"! You and your entire organization should be ashamed of yourselves, but of course you are not. Love baseball, cannot support this team until a REAL owner buys it.

[J. Rojas]

I don't doubt that Loria is a baseball fan. However he is a fan of making a prifit more than baseball.

It's obvious that he is in this to make money, win or lose, something he did when he had the stadium built. I know he put in more money than any other owner ever di to build his stadium but the franchise's value went up much more than the money that he put in. Let's say the Marlins were valued at 200 millions before the stadium just the team alone. You add the value of brand new state of the art stadium which is another 215. So now we are at 415 million. Now you take the salary of the contracts we got rid of, subtract 120 million from what they have to pay and you now have an "up profit" 300+ mmillion. He put in money but the value of the team far outweighs the money he put in.

Again, I feel Loria is a baseball fan but to think that he is in this to win it is a lie. He is in this for the profit and if they happen to win without risking too much money then so be it. He said he built a winner, no. He inherited a winning team that needed a piece or two.

I never even got into what he did to Reyes.

I will still go to root for my team but I will not return to that stadium untill Loria sells this team.

[D]

Please save your breath Loria. You only add insult to injury. I would prefer if you remain silent and sell the team and skulk away. As stated by another poster, the first thing you SHOULD do, is sign Stanton to a long term, no-trade contract. But, since we know that you would not do that, we prefer that you sell the team. Like others, I will never again support the Marlins financially as long as you are the owner. I hope all of baseball is embarrassed by the lack of attendance. You disgust me.

[David Coleman]

I live in Dunedin Florida ...thanks boria I am a marlins fan and always wanted to see the marlins in spring training.

[John Talarico]

I completely agree with all the former sentiments posted here. We are stuck with that 650 million white elephant in LIttle Havana and a AAA team to play in it. What a disaster. We should have seen it coming. These guys have been incompetent for 10 years, especially Beinfest. He wouldn't know talent if it hit him in the face. Don't support these losers.

[stan harmon]

Dont forget Loria told Jose Reyes to buy a nice home in Miami and told him hes here to stay and then traded him two days later. Did the same to Buehrle. By the way the letter in the papers today was written by the expensive public relation firm he hired to improve his image. Would like to see which media reporters he has invited to Marlins stadium for the media interview. Bet Dave Hyde of the Sun Sentinel wont be there , because he writes the truth about this carpetbagger Loria.

[bill]

Chutzpah!

http://randompixels.blogspot.com/2013/02/about-that-full-page-ad-marlins-owner.html

[sad]

what a lying thief. the hotel taxes belong to the city. this team stole them, by making false representations. the tax $ exists one way or another . . . and it could have gone to good use but was not, therefore the citizens were robbed, and the money diverted to a rich, scheming liar

[Micky]

TOTAL BS!

[DSmithee]

Lies, lies, and more lies--from the king of lies. I hope you spontaneously combust, Loria.

[Die Loria]

Step 1: Tell Loria there's a surprise for him in the ballpark.

Step 2: Wait for Loria to arrive, burn down ballpark with Loria inside.

Step 3: Watch the next Heat game.

[KE]

In the paper does he actually misspell "incumbent"?

[CED]

I can't wait to see how many hyprocats will show up for season openner, for what it concern me I will not even wacth a Marlin's game on TV. or listen on a radio station, they are dead meat and don't deserve my time or money, sorry guy's but just tired of the same old sh*&^t

[frank]

THE BOYCOTT IS WORKING!

It seems like the boycott by my fellow citizens, friends, family and myself is working. We can smell the putrid desperation of this scumbag in his letter.

Remember, we are talking about the idiot owner who fired the coach of the year, literally!

HOLD THE LINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BOYCOTT MARLINS STADIUM!

[frank]

The way the citizens of Miami have come together to support the Boycott of Marlins stadium reminds me of how we came together during Hurricane Andrew.

This tourist is going to be sent back to where he came from, the hard way.

BOYCOTT MARLINS STADIUM!

[Marcie]

The county commissioners r the ones that approved the funding, just like with the red light cameras, the state and local politicians r in the pockets of big business squeezing the public, many of whom r hard working family people. we need the media to help remind the public of how these politicians voted on these matters when the elections come around. Joe and Jane public r often too busy paying mtg, taxes, and scam red light tickets to pay attention to all these thieves and cheats selling the country and public out on the cheap.

[Rudy]

The bridge with the fans has been burned down, idiot. There's no going back. Selling the team is the only thing that's going to bring fans joy again. You actually have the guts to talk about not enough attendance? Get lost, you cretin!!

[bobbyd12]

I can care less what Loria puts out. I purchased season tickets last year and even though disappointed, I never expected this. Tearing this team apart instead of keeping and building around players like Jose Reyes was nothing but disgusting. To many players have come out and said Loria lied and the fact he would not give out long term contracts backs that up. I am done, not one cent to this organization till this guy sells the team, not one.

[johny rocket]

Loria and Sampson are the devil. FU Loria. Go to hell and take your double A ball club.

[The Master's way!]

youtube.com/user/TubeSalvation?feature=mhee