They started last season like a team of piscine destiny, but everything ended in heartbreak and betrayal. Would the Marlins have had a shot to contend in 2013 if they'd tried one last time?
Nearly a week after the new broke about a huge trade sending high-priced veterans from Miami to Toronto, Commissioner Bud Selig has approved the deal, which is now official.
Well, this is a fine how-do-you-do. After all of the outrage and the name-calling directed toward Jeffrey Loria, there's a chance that Bud Selig might stop the trade? From Bob Nightengale:
Nightengale then twote that Selig "feels for the Marlins fans and will take everything in consideration before making (his) decision." I think what's important here is how they called the trade on the field. There has to be irrefutable evidence.
Kuhn took as his authority an article of the Major League Agreement that was written in 1921, shortly after the ascendancy of the dictatorial Kenesaw Mountain Landis to the game's highest office. This empowers the commissioner to take any steps he deems necessary to protect the best interests and the "honor" of baseball.
The little known c'mon-don't-be-a-dick clause is rarely invoked, though. And it's hard to see Selig setting a new precedent here by telling a team they can't dump high-contract players. Still, Marlins fans, there's a chance. Even though you now know what evil lurks in the heart of Loria. Or, at least, had that knowledge reconfirmed.
The Marlins' latest auction of the great majority of their best players is just the latest example of a long and regrettable tradition, going back nearly a century.
The Marlins and Blue Jays reportedly are set to pull off one of the biggest trades in recent baseball history. Florida's players are confused and angry, while Toronto is a bit more pleased with it all.
Baseball's first blockbuster trade of the winter is nearing completion, as the Blue Jays are on the verge of acquiring Josh Johnson, Jose Reyes, and Mark Buerhle from the Miami Marlins.