With another miserable season almost in the books, Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria has reportedly taken control of the team’s day-to-day operations.
The Marlins season record stands at 55-95. On Monday night, the Phillies beat Miami 12-2. Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee made history as a hitter , knocking in four RBIs on three hits. It’s safe to say the season hasn’t gone as planned.
If the rumors are true, things just keep getting worse. Apparently fed up with his current front office, Jeffrey Loria has seized control of the operation. He is reported to be the only person making baseball decisions in Miami .
That might not be a good thing. Let’s not forget, Loria was the owner who allowed the front office to go on a spending/trading spree in 2012 to celebrate the opening of a new stadium. After a similarly ugly season (just a hair better, actually), Loria had the front office trade away Jose Reyes, Mark Buerhle, Josh Johnson, and a laundry list of other players.
Maybe Jeffrey Loria shouldn’t be making the calls in the Miami.
Sadly, there’s nothing team President David Samson or President of Baseball Operations Larry Beinfest can do but argue. And in reality, they can’t even do that.
A league source told the Miami Herald , “He has marginalized the front office. The front office isn’t making decisions. Loria makes them all.” The source then clarified, “There’s not one move that happens that he doesn’t do. That’s just how he operates the team. The team is run in this sort of backwards way.”
The best example of Loria’s iron fisted rule is how he handled the potential call up of Chris Valaika. He refused to let it happen. It turns out Valaika is one of several players who spoke up about being verbally abused by hitting coach Tino Martinez . It won’t surprise anyone to find out Martinez was a personal hire of Loria’s.
Now that Jeffrey Loria is making all the decisions in Miami, it will be interesting to see what he does with the front office in the offseason. No one’s job is safe. Well, except his.
[image via Wikimedia Commons ]