In Ft. Lauderdale, Craig Davis writes Marlins President David Samson "defended the legacy of outgoing owner Jeffrey Loria," pointing to the '03 World Series title, "getting the ballpark built and bringing the All-Star Game to Miami as well as numerous charitable efforts." Samson, in his final news conference as team President, said, "The fact is, there’s two people responsible for baseball in South Florida. It’s (original owner) Wayne Huizenga and Jeffrey Loria. Without Wayne, there’d be no team to start with. And without Jeffrey, there’d be no team to end with" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 9/29). Asked what baseball needs to succeed in Miami, Samson said, “We need a few breaks. ... To have complete calmness around the Marlins and to have people who have faith in leadership. ... Are people happy for a change? They may be" (MIAMI HERALD, 9/29).
MEET THE METS: On Long Island, Marc Carig cites sources as saying that Mets co-Owner Fred Wilpon "repeatedly protected" manager Terry Collins as COO Jeff Wilpon and GM Sandy Alderson "sought the manager’s dismissal at various points during his tenure." Sources "described organizational dysfunction, discord between Collins and his players, and a broken relationship between the manager and the front office." Sources also said that efforts to "explore a change seriously were thwarted" by Fred Wilpon. Collins’ contract is up at season’s end (NEWSDAY, 9/29).
DECISIONS, DECISIONS: In K.C., Vahe Gregorian reports Royals Senior VP/Baseball Operations & GM Dayton Moore has "already begun sitting down with players" who are soon-to-be free agents. He will soon meet with some of their agents as well as Royals Owner David Glass and President Dan Glass to discuss “where the payroll’s going to be and where we project our revenues.” Moore said, "The last two years, we haven’t made the playoffs, and we’ve had the highest payroll in the history of the Kansas City Royals. ... I certainly don’t want to be in the business of losing Mr. Glass a lot of money" (K.C. STAR, 9/29).
