Marlins Owner Bruce Sherman said the "time is now" for the team to "be much better this year," according to Greg Cote of the MIAMI HERALD. Going into Year 3 of Sherman's ownership and Derek Jeter's tenure as the team's CEO, the team "needs to show dramatic improvement in terms of wins and competitiveness after a disheartening step back to a 57-105 record last season." Marlins crowds "averaged an MLB-worst 10,016, nearly 5,000 worse than anybody else" and a near 50% drop from '17. The Marlins are "trying to end a 16-year MLB Playoff drought, and a streak of 10 straight seasons below .500." Sherman "seems to get it." He said, "We knew it would be tough. We knew we'd have to earn fans' support. We want to build a sustainable winning program. We're here for the long haul" (MIAMI HERALD, 2/18). In Ft. Lauderdale, Steven Wine notes the Marlins "do believe they're finally on the upswing." Sherman: "We're going to put a championship-type quality team on the field that can do wonderful things." But Wine notes the team's payroll still ranks among the smallest in MLB, and "most prognosticators expect Miami to win around 70 games" (South Florida SUN SENTINEL, 2/18).
THE TIME IS NOW: In Miami, Jordan McPherson writes improvement is a "necessity heading into Year 3 of the team's rebuild" under Sherman and Jeter (MIAMI HERALD, 2/18). In West Palm Beach, Tom D'Angelo writes all the moves that "had to be made early on were with the shedding of bad contracts and unhappy players, and the restocking of the farm system." Now, those "young players who were either drafted or acquired" are "on the clock." Promises have been "made before only to result in one disappointment after another" (PALM BEACH POST, 2/18).
