Miami Marlins Are Ruining Baseball : Ian Miller

The last week or so across Major League Baseball has been dominated by fans complaining about the Los Angeles Dodgers and their aggressive offseason after winning the World Series. The Dodgers have added starters Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, reliever Tanner Scott, outfielder Michael Conforto, infielder Hyesong Kim, and Kirby Yates while resigning outfielder Teoscar Hernandez. 

This has resulted in a chorus of "the Dodgers are ruining baseball" complaints from fans of opposing teams, even teams with huge payrolls and star-studded rosters like the San Diego Padres. 

What fans have not complained about though, is the Miami Marlins. And they should be.

As Baseball America writer JJ Cooper pointed out on X Sunday afternoon, the Marlins are estimated to rake in $70 million in revenue-sharing distribution from MLB. Their payrolls generally run about $70 million per year. 

So effectively, the Marlins are taking in revenue sharing distributions, using it to cover payroll, and pocketing the money they make from ticket sales, television revenue, concessions, merchandise, parking, memorabilia sales, concerts and other events they host at Marlins Park. Why aren't fans outraged? 

Aug 21, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA;  Miami Marlins third baseman Jake Burger (36) rounds the bases after hitting a two -run home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first inning at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Rhona Wise-USA TODAY Sports

Marlins, Other Teams Avoid Criticism For Being Cheap

The Marlins obviously do not take in the revenue that the Dodgers do; Miami is not the Los Angeles market, ticket sales are much lower, and the franchise doesn't have nearly the recent track record of success. But the gap isn't as big as the Marlins ownership and front office are allowing it to be. And it raises questions as to why they're allowed to get away with it.

The Marlins have one (1), one, as in, a single player, signed to a guaranteed major league contract. That's it. Starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara is signed through the 2026 season, with a club option for 2027. Effectively, the Marlins have zero players they have committed money to after the 2026 season. Though given how the team operates, their strategy might be to simply stop employing baseball players to play professional baseball games on the field in 2027 and pocket the revenue sharing along with whatever they can get in ticket sales and television money from fans still showing up or tuning in to watch an empty stadium.

This is what "ruining baseball" looks like. 

Fans are mad at the Dodgers for actively trying to win, taking their increased revenue from marketing Shohei Ohtani and winning the World Series and reinvesting it into making the team better. Even though regular season success is almost entirely irrelevant when it comes to getting through the postseason tournament.

But they're not mad at the Marlins for effectively telling players and agents that they have no interest in signing even short-to-mid term contracts with free agents to try and win.

The lack of investment is even more inexcusable considering how easy it is to make the playoffs now in Major League Baseball. Win 84-85 games and you have a legitimate chance of getting into the wild card round. And as we've seen with the Braves, Diamondbacks, Rangers and others, just getting in gives you a shot to reach the World Series or win it. They're not even trying to do that.

It's not just the Marlins; the Pirates, Reds and other teams have promising rosters with young stars. They're receiving massive revenue-sharing payments. Yet they refuse to supplement their cores with upgrades around the margins. That's what ruining baseball looks like.

Instead of treating baseball teams like the competitive enterprises they are, extremely wealthy owners choose to prioritize maximizing profits. But if they wanted to make money, there are plenty of other, less competitive industries to choose from. Maybe Marlins owner Bruce Sherman can buy into a toaster company next.