The Marlins' sale process thus far has been "chaotic and disorganized," and has required MLB to "step in and fix it," according to financial experts cited by Kaplan & Fisher of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. A source said, "I have done a lot of deals in my life, and the commissioner needs to step in and say to [Marlins Owner Jeffrey] Loria, 'You ran your process, now drop the price and get it done.'" That source and several others, either connected to the process or outside of it, "voiced a plea to MLB to straighten out the situation." But MLB sources said that there is "no plan to take a more active role in the sale or clamp down on bidding groups speaking about their efforts" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 7/24 issue). In N.Y., James Wagner noted in Marlins bidder and MasTec co-Founder & Chair Jorge Mas, MLB "sees a deep-pocketed investor with strong local roots." Mas, a Cuban-American, would also give MLB its "second owner of Latino background." Mas could make the Marlins the "linchpin in baseball’s efforts to expand its Latino audience." If Mas does get the Marlins, his family history could "possibly affect baseball’s continuing efforts to create a working relationship with Cuba." It was Mas' father who was "regularly reviled by the Cuban media as the leader of 'the counterrevolutionary Miami mafia' because of his longstanding efforts to cripple the government of Fidel Castro." However, Mas' attitude toward Cuba "appears to have moved away from his father’s tough stance." Wagner: "What Cuba would think of all this if Mas does take over the Marlins remains to be seen" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/22).
WHAT ABOUT THE PLAYERS: Marlins President of Baseball Operations Michael Hill said that the team intends on "retaining their best players until the team’s ownership situation clears up" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 7/24). ESPN's Israel Gutierrez before Hill's statement said Loria likely "would be more than happy to make his fan base unhappy again by trading away" RF Giancarlo Stanton less than a year after the death of P Jose Fernandez. Gutierrez: "It would just feel dirty, but that's exactly what this ownership group has been about" ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 7/21). Baseball writer Ken Rosenthal in a sarcastic letter to Loria wrote he had one last request: "Free Giancarlo Stanton." Rosenthal: "Do this, and all those people who have ripped you over the years ... will say, 'You know what? Loria, on his way out, did the right thing.'" MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred likely is "discouraging a significant selloff, and that the prospective owners want to make such decisions for themselves." However, the "eventual buyer, who will inherit the team’s bleak financial state, will want no part of Stanton’s remaining obligation." Rosenthal: "If I asked Rob Manfred his preference -- seeing Stanton’s biggest moments occur in the Home Run Derby or in the postseason, on the sport’s biggest stage, with a higher-profile franchise -- we both know what he would say" (FACEBOOK.com, 7/23).
