NYT has a story about five moves that show how Rays make great deals for little money to go deep into playoffs. Two are Victor Mesa Jr. and Lian Hicks. Another is Nick Martinez, Belen grad. Story notes that Victor Jr. was designated for assignment by Fish in early February, and the Rays pounced. 14 HR and .260 as a solid starter in the playoffs. Hicks, I can kind of understand: We have a lot at catcher/1B/DH. Another of the five: Bryan Baker, picked up from Orioles for a song, had 41 saves this year at a salary of $1.3 million. He replaced Fairbanks, whom the Rays let slip away to the Marlins for $13 million.

Nabbed a 1/1 Sandy card too

Also pictured: some Rick Porcello cards

Using some nebulous metrics like Twitter followers, the Marlins made a change with Minervi. Sielaff called fans “brain dead,” on social media, which seemed to hurt him. They also like the prospect of the radio guy so they bumped him up and sent Sielaff packing. Sielaff was never my favorite so I don’t care but it’s stupid reasoning.

Nelson was deemed too old school. Gaby stays because they say he’s analytics-minded. Ok. But the worst part about these explanations, if they’re true, is the idea that the broadcast has to be a propaganda arm of the team.

Reading just a little between the lines, the Marlins want broadcasters who will agree with their decisions more often than not. They equate that agreement and willingness to sell to more subscriptions to their tv package. I think that’s idiotic short-term thinking that will sacrifice the quality of the broadcasts while not doing anything for their bottom line unless the team starts winning. Like everyone will say, that’s their choice.

But in reality, especially as compared to other baseball broadcasts, whether the Rays or the Dodgers, the Marlins already do way too much selling of themselves on the broadcast. Toward the end of the season, they had an interminable half-inning-long interview with some head of customer service or something. Unlistenable garbage, zero to do with baseball, and it just would not end.

I don’t think the Marlins executives understand that they look really pathetic when they force the broadcasters to say “come to the ballpark, we need fans here!” And it sounds like they just want more of that garbage.

It’s ok. I’m gonna get good at watching games on mute, not because the broadcast will be better or worse, but because this idiot team can’t get out of its own way and sacrifice the maybe short-term gain of more subscriptions to the long-term gain of having a good broadcast if the team ever gets good.

It's a well-known fact we have a small fanbase, but how many of us have never lived in Florida? How far does our fandom reach?

I've only lived in NC and AZ (currently AZ sinxe 2015). However, I've always had extended family in Davie and spent a large portion of my summers there from '98 until I graduated HS in '04.

I haven't been to FL in 5 years, but I'm moving back to NC next year so it'll be easier to drive down and attend more games. More opportunities than the single series they play in Phoenix every year.

I love seeing Marlins fans in the wild. It's rare but that's what makes it fun.

Derek Jeter, Kim Ng, Don Mattingly, Skip Schumaker, Kyle Sielaff, Tommy Hutton and Craig Minervini are all people who were asked to leave or left under Bruce Sherman. Sherman is clearly the problem. We need a new owner.

How do you fire Craig Minervini? Dude has been solid, energetic, and fun over the past 30 years. Marlins lifer. He deserves better. I feel for him, the Marlins were his identity.

This team needs to be contracted

Just because a player goes on to have more success with another organization doesn’t mean it was a horrible trade. There are two parts to this:

1. The fact remains that the Marlins have a logjam of outfield talent. People complaining about losing Mesa seem to think we had sub-replacement-level play from our outfield, when in fact Hernandez and Conine were outstanding, Marsee and Caissie had long slumps but also showed major potential as well, and Stowers was largely relegated to first base because we had nowhere to put him. Additionally most of our best prospects who are close to major-league ready are outfielders, like Cam Cannarella, Brandon Compton and Kemp Alderman. It’s not like we’re desperate for outfielders; we actually have too many even after trading Mesa.

2. There’s no guarantee that Mesa would have had a breakout performance without the trade. Sometimes players need a change of scenery, new coaching, new environment etc. in order to unlock new levels in their development. I personally think it’s very unlikely Mesa could have had this type of season if he’d stayed with the Fish. Maybe the trade motivated him. Maybe a new hitting coach taught him a new idea that really changed things for him. There’s no telling, but player performance is not a constant that can just be assumed. Even after one decent season there’s no guarantee about Mesa remaining a viable big leaguer for many years.

So just relax everyone. Be happy for Mesa, Jr. This is not evidence that Bendix has no idea what he’s doing or whatever. Honestly he was a very borderline prospect who didn’t seem that likely to become a productive big leaguer, and he’s had a very nice season but he’s certainly not an irreplaceable superstar-level talent. We’re talking about a guy who has beaten the odds to become an average-to-above-average big leaguer. There’s still a very strong possibility of Marsee having the better career, and I’m far more excited about the potential of Cannarella than I ever was about Mesa Jr. We already have several outfielders just as much talent or potential as him; too many to even get on the field at once in fact. Stop acting like we traded away Miguel Cabrera or Christian Yelich.

This isn’t about being “cheap.” It seems to me like the team wants to actually put out a better show.

Kyle Sielaff is probably the worst play-by-play guy in MLB. His preparation is average, he doesn’t have a nice sounding voice (particularly when he gets excited and raises his voice it sounds whiny and throaty) and he also doesn’t have any cool home run calls or iconic phrases. In big moments he tends to say awkward or forgettable things. He’s not very charismatic either, and he’s also a completely unapologetic homer. You can call me a journalism purist if you want, but broadcasters are not supposed to be openly rooting for one team to win. That’s just unprofessional! It sounds stupid and corny! Do your job and broadcast the game and just tell us what’s happening.

The few times I listened on the radio this year I was like, “wow this radio guy Jack McMullen is terrific, he’s way better than Kyle!” And it sounds like that’s the direction they’re going which is awesome. Jack is more interesting, less of a blatant homer, more well-prepared, and has a much better-sounding voice. It reminds me of Vin Scully or Dave Van Horne. Classic broadcaster baritone.

Also keep in mind: previous changes like the stuff with Rich Waltz and Paul Severino were handled by broadcast partners not the actual team. This is the Marlins taking control of the situation basically for the first time ever. And for those of you crying about Minervini, he’s been with the team for a while but he’s been mid for a while and it’s no great loss either if you ask me. We’ve had one of the worst broadcasts in the sport for ages and there’s nowhere to go but up imo.

Like it or not, the Marlins were the second most efficient MLB this year – spending $1.03 million per win. Only the playoff Guardians did better – with $934,118 per win.

I know Fish fans don’t get excited about efficiency. They want the team to spend more and make the playoffs. Their payroll is a puny $82.8 million. Only the Guardians have a smaller total salary.

And even that puny figure is misleading. I use Spotrac for salaries, because they measure all expenses, including injured and “buried,” meaning players getting paid who are now longer with the club.

The Marlins, for example, used $10 million to pay part of Giancarlo Stanton’s salary as a New York Yankee, thanks to a deal worked out by Yankee HOF Derek Jeter.

In fact, at the end of the season, the Marlins’ active payroll was a mere $34 million – one-tenth that of the Dodgers. That’s because of injured players like Fairbanks ($13 M) and dumped players like Paddock ($3.8M), Morel ($1.8M) and King ($1.5M). The long-forgotten Avisail Garcia hauled in $5M this year from the Marlins.

Note some of these mistakes belong to Bendix, but previous administrations saddled him with the money for Stanton and Garcia. And with the worst attendance in the National League and a half-ass broadcast contract, the team doesn’t have a lot of revenue to spend. (A possible exception: shared luxury tax. See below.)

Putting it in perspective: The least-efficient, once again, were the big-spending Mets, with the second highest payroll, spent $4.7 million per win. The Bluejays also threw money away -- $3.65 million per win – and finished way behind the Rays, who had the best record in the American League for a fairly cheap $1.1 million per win.

In fact, three of the four most efficient teams – the White Sox being the other -- made the post-season. The best record in the National League was the small-market Brewers, who paid $1.4 million per win, contrasted with the high-flying Dodgers at $3.8 MPW and the Yankees at $3.2 MPW.   

This is my ninth year measuring cost per win. A lot of fans don’t like my efficiency measures. The Rays in Tampa Bay are always near the best in this category, but their fans constantly complain that the owners don’t spend more to win the elusive World Series. Still, the measure reveals how smart front offices in this era can navigate this era with wide gaps between the biggest and the smallest payrolls. The Rays, Guardians and Brewers are among the leaders year after year.

Baseball is the only major American sport without a salary cap, and owners have vowed to force a cap in the upcoming negotiations with the union. A cap is likely to include a floor, meaning the cheapest teams, including the Marlins, would be forced to spend more.

Certainly, the numbers reveal consistently stupid behavior. The big-market, big-spending Angels haven’t been in the playoffs since 2014. For all the time I’ve been measuring, they have been among the least efficient teams, spending huge sums for poor results. This year, they spent $2.8 MPW – more than twice as much as the playoff Guardians, Rays, White Sox and Brewers. The Halos now have a new owner and perhaps things will improve.

What’s missing from my measures are the teams’ underlying financials. All but one team has completely opaque financials, especially how much revenue they’re taking in. Are some teams making a lot of money they’re not spending? We don’t know.

One example: Last year, nine teams paid the so-called “luxury tax” for a total of $402 million, led by the Dodgers ($169M), Mets ($91M), Yankees ($62M) and Phillies ($56M).

Supposedly, half of that money ($201M) went to the poorest teams, but what teams got what is not public knowledge. So the Marlins with their cheap payroll may be rolling in gifted cash.

The Braves, a publicly traded company, is the one team publishing audited financials. For 2025, looking purely at baseball operations, the Braves had revenue of $635 M and expenses of $497 M, for a surplus of $138 M. Still, with marketing, depreciation and various other expenses, the corporation reported a net loss of $23.2 M.

Smart spending can get a team into the playoffs, but when it comes to going all the way, big bucks still pave the way for ultimate victory. The last time a small-market team won a World Series was 2015 with the Royals. Will this year be different? Could the Rays or Brewers finally conquer? Some union leaders may hope so – so they can claim there’s no need for a salary cap.

Here's the complete list. Playoff teams in bold face.

smh, guy was in our system since 2018, only to get traded for a 19 yo lottery ticket.

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i know we have a log jam of OFs but damn we spent so much time and resources trying to develop this guy.

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and this is coming from someone who thinks most of Bendix trades have been pretty solid, this IMO is the worst and totally taints his reputation - mesa jr is the one who got away

Guys do we go for the rays since its our closest team near us and btw hicksy is there..