Marlins Break From Tradition in Signing Ramirez Long-Term
May 11, 2008
As a rule, the Marlins don’t like to give out long-term contracts. They’ve been burned before by the likes of Mike Lowell and others, who took a nose-dive after signing big contracts with Florida. For a team that doesn’t have the luxury or the ability to throw money around to non-producers, they prefer to make players earn their contracts by performing for them the year before. However, every once in a great while, a player comes along that demands to be treated differently, one that you build a franchise around. The Marlins have that in Hanley Ramirez.
Imagine my surprise when I made my usual late-night trip to the Marlinsbaseball.com site to check the comments about another Florida victory, when what should I see on the front page but a blurb that mentions Hanley signing a 6-year, $70 million contract with the Marlins. I almost jumped out of my seat in joy. What a year it’s been to be a Marlins fan! First place in the East, a stadium finally approved and soon-to-be-built (pending some small issues), and now, keeping arguably the best player in franchise history locked up to play in that stadium.
The Marlins have decisions to make on other arbitration-eligible players, but they’ve already made the easiest one in paying Hanley. This is a signal to fans and media that this team is here to play and is keeping up its end of the bargain of raising payroll once a stadium was approved. If, as a Marlins fan, you’re not elated over the news of Ramirez signing on….you don’t have a pulse.
Of course, just because he is signed long-term doesn’t mean he’ll be around the entire time. The Marlins have signed numerous players to multi-year contracts, only to trade them when they decide they’re not making enough money to justify the contracts. Hanley, however, should be a different story.
Will the combination of the promise of a new stadium, a first-place team, and a long-term contract to Ramirez equal more fans at the stadium? That’s the ultimate question. If these newsbits don’t excite fans in South Florida….what will?
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