Marlins' Deal With Ramirez A Sign Of Commitment From Ownership
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Marlins, Ramirez Agree To Six-Year,
$70M Contract Extension |
The Marlins and SS Hanley Ramirez have agreed to a six-year extension worth $70M, which “would be the richest contract in franchise history,” according to Joe Capozzi of the PALM BEACH POST. Sources said that “much work remains” on the deal, but it is expected to be announced after the club completes its current road trip on Thursday. The deal would top the six-year, $61M contract RF Gary Sheffield signed with the Marlins in ’97. The team plans to have a new ballpark ready for the 2011 season, and the signing shows the Marlins are “ready to start building a team to showcase that ballpark.” Marlins 2B Dan Uggla: “With the new stadium we kind of figured they’re going to make an effort to lock a few guys up” (PALM BEACH POST, 5/11). In Ft. Lauderdale, Craig Barnes noted the deal also would be the “first multiyear agreement since January 2005” that the Marlins have given a player and is a “signal that ownership could be changing its fiscal policy” (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 5/11).
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Many Feel Ramirez Signing Shows Commitment
Heading Into New Ballpark In 2011 |
SIGN OF COMMITMENT: In Miami, George Richards reported players “weren’t talking about walking away from the Marlins but instead being a part of their future” after news of Ramirez’ contract. Marlins LF Josh Willingham: “The team showed commitment by signing their best player. I think that’s important. You want to sign your best players and make a commitment to the team, the fans and the city.” Marlins RF Luis Gonzalez: “The Marlins have committed to one of their bright young stars. … It just shows a unity now. The young guys see this and get excited about it” (MIAMI HERALD, 5/11). ESPN’s Steve Berthiaume said the signing is “huge news for the Marlins organization and its fans. They’ve been giving players away since they’ve been in existence, really.” ESPN’s Buster Olney: “I know this: there’s probably people in Boston and New York who are disappointed at this news because it was an expectation eventually the Marlins won’t be able to keep him, he’s going to be too expensive” (“Baseball Tonight,” ESPN, 5/10). In Ft. Lauderdale, Mike Berardino wrote under the header, “Ramirez Deal Shocks, Makes Sense.” Berardino: “Locking up one of baseball’s best young players at age 24 would be a no-brainer just about anywhere else on the landscape of a booming sport, but we had come to accept the sad fact it probably wasn’t going to happen here” (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 5/11). In Pennsylvania, Stephen Miller wrote it is "time for the Marlins to stop their binge-and-bust cycles. ... Keeping Ramirez around has to be a starting point, not an end point for spending on salaries" (Allentown MORNING CALL, 5/11).
NEW STADIUM, NEW LOOK: In Miami, Greg Cote wrote a team with an “earned reputation for trading away rather than paying its best young players [is] finally changing course and doing what grown-up big-league teams do.” The deal is “strong, tangible evidence of commitment” and is an “indication the Marlins plan to be not rebuilding, but fully built, when the new stadium opens.” Cote: “Signing [Ramirez] long-term was the litmus test for this ownership and its claim that the new stadium would be the precursor of expanded payrolls” (MIAMI HERALD, 5/11). In West Palm Beach, Greg Stoda wrote the deal is “about legitimizing what team bean counters long have insisted a new stadium could mean regarding increased player payroll.” Stoda: “The Ramirez situation represents an unusually significant commitment to a player by an ownership group so long hesitant to do such a thing, and its willingness to make the new stadium count in a manner it suggested it would” (PALM BEACH POST, 5/11).
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