Billionaire owner H. Wayne Huizenga opened his checkbook last year and bought a world championship for the Florida Marlins.
Good baseball. Bad business.Huizenga, who says he was losing more than $30 million a year on the team, said Thursday that he is in negotiations with team president Don Smiley, who is leading a group of investors planning to buy the Marlins.
Huizenga said the team can't afford to pay its roughly $50 million payroll while it has to surrender some money to repay bonds on Pro Player Stadium.
Attendance improved this year, but was still low, and Huizenga says the only way to break even or make money is to have a new retractable stadium.
And Huizenga thinks he has tapped out his political capital in asking for public help for a new stadium.
"We don't want to sell the Marlins, but we feel we must in order to improve the chances of a new stadium being built," Huizenga said.
"And unless a new stadium is built, where luxury suite (income) and all other revenue go directly to the team, which will enable the team to compete for the best players, I do not believe the Marlins will ever be in a World Series again."
Being the top team in baseball couldn't eliminate the bottom-line reality.
The new owners will have to drastically cut the payroll, until a new stadium can be built, said Smiley.
"We can't go on at that level, because that's what forced Mr. Huizenga to put the team up for sale," Smiley said. "It was his checkbook the money came from. I don't have that luxury. I have to run it in a fiscally responsible manner."
Smiley and his group of at least 25 investors has 30 days to come up with the money to buy the team. The asking price for the team was not disclosed, but published reports said it is $150 million and Smiley's group has about two-thirds of the money.
Huizenga has said he feels there is no way local governments would work with him on building a domed stadium after just negotiating a tax-supported arena currently being constructed for his Florida Panthers hockey team in nearby Broward County.
Smiley said the constant threat of summer rain in south Florida scares away fans. He wants a stadium with a retractable roof, like the one in Toronto.
The Marlins were rained out only twice last season, but there were 30 rain delays, including 19 of more than an hour. Smiley said many people won't travel from nearby counties to see the team unless they can be assured the game will start on time.
The team should know by mid-1998 whether the funding will be available to build a new stadium, but Smiley wouldn't say whether he would seek public financing.
At the beginning of this year, the team increased its payroll to nearly $50 million to attract marquee players such as outfielder Moises Alou, pitcher Alex Fernandez and third baseman Bobby Bonilla, as well as Manager Jim Leyland.
Fernandez will miss the season with a torn rotator cuff, and will remain on the team. But that is about the only guarantee. Every other contract will be scrutinized carefully, general manager Dave Dombrowski said.
"It's going to be different," Dombrowski said. "We're not going to be putting a world championship-caliber team on the field."
Another who might be leaving is manager Jim Leyland, who left the low-budget Pittsburgh Pirates and might exercise an escape clause in his contract if there are major payroll cuts. Leyland has said he plans to manage in Florida if he manages anywhere next year.
"It's all up to Jim," Smiley said. "If he wants to come back and manage, we'd love to have him."
The franchise player may also want out. Gary Sheffield, who would make about $10 million next year, has a no-trade clause in his contract, but Dombrowski said the outfielder has been open-minded about agreeing to a deal if there are drastic cuts.
"I don't think he wants to play on a team that has no chance to play in a championship," Dombrowski said.
"If you didn't fall in love with this club, you'll never fall in love with a club," Dombrowski said. "Our club captured the hearts of this community. And you can never take that away."
Dombrowski said breaking up the team "is sad for us and for our fans, but unfortunately it's the reality of the game."