The new Miami Marlins ownership has torn down the team, and as a result, the fans quickly have alienated that group, which includes Derek Jeter.
Jeter and co-owner Bruce Sherman kicked in the doors upon taking over the team and proceeded to have a fire sale, shipping out Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna and Dee Gordon.
After getting below-market value on almost every return, and the team essentially left in shambles, things are not off to a tremendous start for Jeter and Co.
Turns out, however, the Marlins getting torn apart was not an inevitability.
The Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson talked to investors — or sources close to investors — who bid for the team.
It turns out Jeter’s group was one of the few — if not the only — group that planned on tearing down the franchise that finished 2017 eight games below .500.
“Miami businessman Jorge Mas conveyed to me this month that if his Marlins offer had been accepted, he would have had a $130 million payroll in 2018, retained Giancarlo Stanton and hired a new general manager,” Jackson wrote.
“Mas bid slightly more than $1 billion for the team, less than the Bruce Sherman/Derek Jeter $1.2 billion bid,” Jackson continued. “That extra $200 million could have been used toward payroll if the Jeter group hadn’t overpaid, with the Marlins convincing Jeter and Sherman they wouldn’t get the team for any less. Even a Marlins official privately concedes Jeter and Sherman probably overpaid by $400 million, but credit Jeffrey Loria and David Samson for cajoling Sherman/Jeter to pay that much.”
Jackson goes on to cite another group that also was in the running for the now-beleaguered ballclub who had intentions of trying to cut finances elsewhere so as not to hinder the on-field product. However, the group lost out after a $200 million investor bailed.
Most of Jeter’s tenure has been a public relations nightmare, and information like this likely won’t help patch up the relationship with fans.
