Marlins lock up Yelich

[gunnarthor]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/03/marlins-close-to-extension-with-christian-yelich.html

 

Nice deal for Miami.  It gives them control of his first two FA years (and eight years in total, assuming option is picked up) for about 64.5m.  

[Paul Pleiss]

The Marlins are very quietly having a nice off-season and building something exciting down in Miami to go along with their new neon lime green stadium (which I actually think is a lot nicer than it gets credit for. A huge improvement over playing their games in the Miami heat of Sunlife stadium).

Jeffrey Loria, Michael Hill and Dan Jennings probably deserve a lot more credit than they get. And likely a little less of our ire as well. Now if only the fans down in Miami would start showing up.

[markos]

I think the really fair thing about the Yelich contract is that it buys out a couple of prime-age FA years (good for Miami) but still allows Yelich to become a FA at age 30 (good for Yelich).

 

This deal made me think of Arcia. He isn't quite in Yelich's class because of his defensive and plate discipline issues, but he is of a similar age, has had decent production so far, and has a lot of potential. I'm not completely sold that he is worth locking up long term due to his aforementioned issues, but he is a lot closer to the age-talent sweet spot for a long-term deal than a guy like Dozier.

[biggentleben]

Loria deserves no praise. Ever.

 

That said, it's nice to see the Marlins actually attempting to have a team for more than one season.  As a fan of a team in the division, it's disheartening to talk with Marlins fans who constantly have their hearts torn out and really have no player they have felt comfortable cheering for.  Now they have Yelich and Stanton for the next half-dozen years.

[Paul Pleiss]

 

Loria deserves no praise. Ever.

Loria is probably deplorable, especially considering the Expos fiasco, but he's done well in Miami. We may not like the way he does business, but he's having success. Anytime you can get a publicly funded ballpark, the owner is winning. Maybe at the expense of Marlins fans, but hey. 

[Mike Sixel]

I look forward to the miracle day when the Twins have reason to do this.

[biggentleben]

 

Loria is probably deplorable, especially considering the Expos fiasco, but he's done well in Miami. We may not like the way he does business, but he's having success. Anytime you can get a publicly funded ballpark, the owner is winning. Maybe at the expense of Marlins fans, but hey. 

 

If only because of the Expos fiasco, he should never receive praise.  Then you add in the deception he was able to pull off on the Miami taxpayer, and he belongs at the bottom of all sports owners, if not at the very bottom.

[Otto von Ballpark]

If only because of the Expos fiasco, he should never receive praise. Then you add in the deception he was able to pull off on the Miami taxpayer, and he belongs at the bottom of all sports owners, if not at the very bottom.

Slightly off topic, what is your take on the Braves new stadium situation?

[biggentleben]

 

Slightly off topic, what is your take on the Braves new stadium situation?

 

Interestingly, it's becoming heavily influenced by the combination of a likely new TV deal the same season the stadium opens, led by an offer that likely wouldn't have been there in the previous location.

 

Turner Field was in a terrible location. There is simply nothing around the stadium, and the area around the stadium is not only "boring", it's flat out dangerous late at night.  There are numerous abandoned buildings and boarded-up buildings within two blocks of Turner Field.  There is some comment that the new stadium is being built in its location to "white it up" as the Turner Field location was more inner city accessible, though it is a mess to get there off of major interstates.  The new location in Cobb County will be accessible through multiple interstate exits, and the stadium is only part of a whole community revitalization plan that includes a community center, parks, a shopping center, and other building in the neighborhood.

 

Many of the Braves' trades this offseason seemed to have an eye on 2017, which would be the first season in the new stadium.  Now that a new TV contract partner may be willing to buy out the remaining TV contract to set up a deal with the Braves in that new stadium for naming rights and access into the other events that will be held in the stadium throughout the year (concerts, etc.), that 2017 goal looks not only like when the prospects will be ready, but also when the Braves may be able to plug some heavy finances into the team.  Many believe the Braves will be major players in this year's offseason, offering players a low 2016 contract for a better overall contract than other teams can offer. With Heyward, Justin Upton, Alex Gordon possibly, and Denard Span free agents this offseason along with guys like Johnny Cueto, Doug Fister, David Price, Jeff Samardzija, and Jordan Zimmermann, the Braves could make a big splash, especially with classes getting weaker by the year in free agency and the reasonable strength of the 2016 group.

[Paul Pleiss]

 

Slightly off topic, what is your take on the Braves new stadium situation?

It's unbelievable. I know that Turner Field doesn't get high praise, but when I was there in 2012 I was really impressed with the feel of the stadium. No bad seats, despite not being built as a baseball only facility. The biggest thing that I think is odd with the Braves stadium is the move to the suburbs. The new location will not solve traffic issues (it may actually make it worse!). But I think for Team execs, if you can get the taxpayers to fund you a new stadium, you take that deal as often as you can get it. And they did. It makes business sense, but I'm not sure the people of Atlanta, or Braves fans, are getting their monies worth. 

[biggentleben]

 

It's unbelievable. I know that Turner Field doesn't get high praise, but when I was there in 2012 I was really impressed with the feel of the stadium. No bad seats, despite not being built as a baseball only facility. The biggest thing that I think is odd with the Braves stadium is the move to the suburbs. The new location will not solve traffic issues (it may actually make it worse!). But I think for Team execs, if you can get the taxpayers to fund you a new stadium, you take that deal as often as you can get it. And they did. It makes business sense, but I'm not sure the people of Atlanta, or Braves fans, are getting their monies worth. 

 

I just cannot agree with the traffic take, especially when you add in the surrounding areas around the stadium. Turner Field was also intended for baseball only at its conception, so I'm not sure what you're referring to.  Old Fulton County Stadium, which shared a lot of the same space, was a multi-use facility, but the Olympics came in and solved basically all other facility needs in the Atlanta area, so by the time Turner Field was built, it was only built for baseball.

 

The finances can be spun a few ways.  The stadium funding news is very different with the news of the possible Comcast partnership with the new site, but the community was going to be rebuilding the land, so taxpayers were already going to be on the hook for redevelopment of the land.

[Paul Pleiss]

 

I just cannot agree with the traffic take, especially when you add in the surrounding areas around the stadium. Turner Field was also intended for baseball only at its conception, so I'm not sure what you're referring to.  Old Fulton County Stadium, which shared a lot of the same space, was a multi-use facility, but the Olympics came in and solved basically all other facility needs in the Atlanta area, so by the time Turner Field was built, it was only built for baseball.

 

The finances can be spun a few ways.  The stadium funding news is very different with the news of the possible Comcast partnership with the new site, but the community was going to be rebuilding the land, so taxpayers were already going to be on the hook for redevelopment of the land.

Turner Field is a retrofitted Olympic stadium. They built olympic stadium for the 96 games and then retrofitted it for baseball only following the games and was then branded Turner Field. So I guess Turner Field has always been baseball only, but Olympic Stadium was more. 

 

I just don't see how the new stadium location will solve traffic issues. And I'm against any state financed stadiums. I'm not sure of a place outside of Seattle's Century Link stadium that's actually been a money maker for the community. Even that seems dubious. 

 

I just am sad to see Turner Field go so soon. I love the grand entry with all of the brick. It's beautiful. I love the way it felt like the stadium was tucked into the city, and that parking was close, cheap and readily available. I'm definitely sad to see it go. 

[biggentleben]

 

Turner Field is a retrofitted Olympic stadium. They built olympic stadium for the 96 games and then retrofitted it for baseball only following the games and was then branded Turner Field. So I guess Turner Field has always been baseball only, but Olympic Stadium was more. 

 

I just don't see how the new stadium location will solve traffic issues. And I'm against any state financed stadiums. I'm not sure of a place outside of Seattle's Century Link stadium that's actually been a money maker for the community. Even that seems dubious. 

 

I just am sad to see Turner Field go so soon. I love the grand entry with all of the brick. It's beautiful. I love the way it felt like the stadium was tucked into the city, and that parking was close, cheap and readily available. I'm definitely sad to see it go. 

 

I will agree that the foyer and setup of the stadium was tremendous.  I loved games there and I loved the way the stadium was set up.  It was one of the better stadiums once you were in the grounds, but it was rated as one of the worst as far as safety once you left the park, really because it was tucked into the city - but not into a good area of it.

 

The stadium funding, last I saw anyway, was a municipality-funded stadium and not a state-funded one.  Like I said, Cobb County was planning a major overhaul of that area anyway that was going to cost taxpayers, and there will be more foot traffic to possibly make those extra taxes bring extra revenue in the area over parks and a community center being the primary focus of the area.  They are already adding in a lot of Comcast advertising to the artist renderings, which tells me the funding expected from Comcast has already been finalized, which was still not 100% as of Thursday, but this link talks about the basics of the deal.