The Miami Marlins are threatening to sue Jan and Bill Leon, according to a Miami New Times report. The couple have been season ticket holders since 1998, paying tens of thousands of dollars for front row seats. They had enjoyed the front row seats they had paid for, that is until last season.

“They’ve pooped on fans’ feelings for years,” Jan Leon says. “These seats are not what we paid for.”

The problem? According to the Miami New Times:

The Marlins installed an obtrusive billboard that blocks their view and dangerously obscures ground balls, the Leons asked to move into a different section. Their reward? A lawsuit threat.

The Marlins say that they have offered the Leon’s plenty of chances to change seats, but the couple has refused.

July 15, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins president David Samson (left) and owner Jeffrey H. Loria (right) during the ninth inning of the Washington Nationals shutout of the Marlins 4-0 at Marlins Park. photo/Robert Mayer

Now, I have no idea which side to believe to be honest. The Marlins past actions point to them being in the wrong. However, at the same time, just because someone has done something wrong in the past, does not make them the guilty party on a different matter.

For all we know, the Leon’s could be upset about the Marlins fire sale (who could blame them) and want out of their contract they signed last season, when they thought the team was going to be competitive.

On the flip side, I would not put it past the Marlins to make overtures to give the Leon’s tickets that are inferior to the value of the seats that they paid for.

Without more knowledge about the situation, this is simply a “he-said, she-said” situation. To me, people are unjustifiably piling on the Marlins, because they have been wrong in the past (not that it is undeserved).

But the team only has its self to blame for this terrible reputation. Jeffery Loria and company have made their bed, now they must sleep in it.

The longtime season-ticket holders gave the Marlins an ultimatum: “Move them to a different pair of seats along the third-base line, or they wouldn’t pay for a second season.”

Here’s how the Marlins responded:

  Leon Letter

The letter did not sit well with the Leon’s and the Marlins have likely lost more fans for the 2013 season and beyond:

“I have no intention of renewing,” Leon says. “They’re a Double A team now. It went down the toilet when they sold off all the players.”

The Marlins sent this statement about the Leons’ complaints to Riptide:

Fan comfort is of utmost importance to us. We go above and beyond to ensure our fans have a great experience at Marlins Park. We have offered Ms. Leon numerous opportunities to move to a different seat location, and each time she has refused to move. Unfortunately, we are not in a position to relocate the advertising signage that she alleges is blocking her view of certain plays near third base. We would be happy to assist Ms. Leon in relocating her tickets to seats that do not have this allegedly obstructed view. We value our fans and will continue to do our very best to offer them a wonderful baseball experience.

Enter Tony Capobianco. Tony used to be a writer for the Marlins and Rays Bleacher Reports sites from 2010-2011. He now writes for the Tuscon Citizen and AZ Sports & Lifestyle Magazine.

Tony did not quite seem to understand all of the spite headed in Loria’s direction after the full-page ad in the newspaper or the fire sale in November. Since Tony brought a different perspective as a Marlins fan, I decided it would be a great idea for me to interview him to get inside of his thinking.

While I do not agree with everything Tony says, his logic is solid and I completely respect his opinion. I hope you guys do the same as well. You’ll also learn about the special connection that Tony has indirectly to the Miami Marlins front office. Here is a look at our interview:

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As part of our ongoing coverage of the on-going mess with the Marlins front office, the authors of Marlin Maniac have also reacted to the deal, and their reactions are shown below.

Geoff Parkins:

Here is my take, both on the Jeff Passan article at Yahoo! Sports, and the quickie presser digest thrown up by Capozzi:

1) Loria either lives in a vacuum, and has zero exposure to any of the tens of thousands of comments and opinions floating around about the trade, or he is dissembling in an effort to put on a happy face.  His vague comment about “some silly phone calls” leads me to suspect that part of the reason for his silence has been due to a credible threat against his person.

Jose Reyes is confused as to why his name is still being mentioned in drama about the Miami Marlins and their owner Jeffery Loria, months after he was traded. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

2) His extensive, detailed recollection of the circumstances surrounding Jose Reyes‘ real estate issues stink like a carefully crafted story designed to put spin on an unspinnable event.  Furthermore, he sure sounds like he’s hiding behind semantics, Clinton-style:  ” ‘Has your wife been down to Miami?’…I didn’t say anything after that.”

3) Passan’s article seems to be a well-researched announcement that in fact, the Emperor is as naked as a jaybird. Point-by-point, he tears down the delicately stacked house of cards that Loria splashed across three major papers.  It’s clear that the new PR firm has its work cut out, and the full-page mea culpa followed by thinly veiled irritability in front of the friendliest press he’ll see this season isn’t a promising opening salvo from the front office.

4) The biggest problem facing the front office right now is one of perceptions.  Through his actions, Loria has created an image of a ruthless, greedy, elitist indifferent to the cares of the fans and residents of Miami.  In this era of “One Percenter” demonization, that indifference could prove to be his undoing.  The anger out there is real and nearly unanimous amongst those that comment on articles. I understand trolls, but negative comments outnumber the positives by about 25:1. That’s a little more than idle trollery at work.

5) I think that one under-covered aspect of the trade is that it cleared out an awful lot of negative attitude from the clubhouse.  Everything I’ve been reading out of camp is that there is a tremendous amount of positive energy on the team, and a pervasive “we’ll show ‘em” attitude, from Redmond on down.  Stanton is a proven beast, and Ruggiano, Brantly, Turner, Eovaldi, Solano, and Hernandez all looked pretty good towards the tag end of last season. Even Cogs is reportedly fit, hale, and hearty, and is coming off of a good winter season down south. The return of Juan Pierre, in my mind, is a great thing for the club.  He brings steadiness, enthusiasm, and one of the best work ethics in baseball. He doesn’t hit home runs, and needs two cutoff men, but he still has wheels, and hit over .300 in Philly last year. I really think that there is some potential for this team of one star, two has-beens, three journeymen, and a bunch of nobodies to do better than last year’s team of high-payroll prima donnas.

6) Bottom Line:  If the Marlins play well this year, and a statistically unlikely number of prospects prove themselves ready for big-league level ball, it will go a long way toward assuaging the legitimate hurt that Miami fans are feeling this spring. Otherwise, Loria’s most expensive object d’art may very well prove to be a white elephant.

Placido Estevez:

It is difficult to understand how a guy who is obviously smart and successful can be so oblivious when it comes to speaking to customers and the media. I guess in the art business the bigger an ass you appear to be the more they like you or something. The answers to many of the questions are easy:

• Of course I have heard the negative feedback.  We knew from the beginning that the reaction would be negative, but we also know it is just the first step in building a winner.
• Of course I understand the fans anger towards me.  I am the owner and the buck stops with me.  I am angry at myself as well for the failure of last season, but I also expect to win the fans back by making a commitment to building a winning team.
• Giancarlo Stanton is a once in a lifetime talent I hope that we can keep him here with the Marlins for many years.
  

  Marlins fans are hoping that some kind of resolution between the Marlins front office and star Giancarlo Stanton can happen, leading to a contract extension. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

Just make it sound like you are telling the truth for once and that you care what your customers think.  Even if they are actually all lies as usual.

Andy Salgado:

I’ve tried to stay positive with the Marlins front office, but reading the interview Mr. Loria gave to reports,  I am done with the front office. I will never mention them again in a tweet or any of my blogs. I am a Marlins fan. A fan of the team and that is were my loyalty is going to stay with the team.

It has not been an easy offseason for Marlins fans, the staff of Marlin Maniac included. The blockbuster trades in themselves were quite annoying, but Loria could not leave it at that. Instead of answering questions to why he made the decisions that he did over the previous calendar year, he has decided to side step the questions and give only the answers that are convenient to him.

We will have more ongoing coverage of this Marlins-Loria soap opera as the day goes on. I will post my thoughts later on in the day, as well as an interview with a fan that takes an opposing view as most Marlins fans on the owner.

Marlins owner Jeffery Loria has no sense of the Marlins’s fans anger and why they are angry. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria put out a full-page ad in the three major south Florida newspapers, featuring a “letter to our fans” that was supposed to help persuade Marlins fans that better days were ahead. Instead, Loria just seemed to tick the angered Marlins fans off even more.

When I read the letter this morning, it made me feel like puking. You can read the full transcript over at The Miami Herald website, but today I want to go over the parts that caught my ire:

 It’s no secret that last season was not our best — actually it was one of our worst. In large part, our performance on the field stunk and something needed to be done. As a result of some bold moves, many grabbed hold of our tough yet necessary decision only to unleash a vicious cycle of negativity.

So how do you counter one of the “worst” seasons in franchise history? By ripping the roster apart and trading anyone that makes money and ruining your credibility with not only the fanbase, but future free agents as well. Yes, that was really necessary, Mr. Loria.

As the owner of the ballclub, the buck stops with me and I take my share of the blame where it’s due. However, many of the things being said about us are simply not true. I’ve sat by quietly and allowed this to continue. Now it’s time for me to respond to our most important constituents, the fans who love the game of baseball.

I am sorry, but I cannot recall Loria ever taking the blame when something goes wrong. Remember former manager Joe Girardi? Yes, the one that was fired for yelling at Loria to stop yelling at an umpire during a game, because it was a distraction to the players on the field. Remember Fredi Gonzalez? He was fired after leading a overachieving Marlins roster. I was not the biggest Fredi fan, but after a few seasons of the same old stuff, I can see that not everything that went wrong under Fredi was his fault.

In fact, most of the blame for the 2013 season fell on the shoulders of Ozzie Guillen, who was fired almost a month after the conclusion of the season. Jeffery Loria also seriously considered firing President of Baseball Operations, Larry Beinfest this past offseason. Of course he decided to stay the course with the front office that has not made the playoffs in a decade, over the manager that had been here for only one season.

Losing is unacceptable to me. It’s incumbant upon us to take swift action and make bold moves when there are glaring problems. The controversial trade we made with the Toronto Blue Jays was approved by Commissioner Bud Selig and has been almost universally celebrated by baseball experts outside of Miami for its value.

Losing is unacceptable to Loria, but like I mentioned above, he counters that with what will likely be a worse on field product than in 2012. The Marlins are being pegged by many experts to lose 100+ games in 2013, that is not winning, the last time I checked.

Also love how Loria mentions how Selig approved the trade, but does not mention that the commissioner of the sports had to review this trade longer than he usually does and even mentioned that baseball would be monitoring the Marlins situation “closely.”

As for the experts part, let me defer to Michael Jong for thoughts on that:

As for the supposedly lauded move “outside of Miami,” I do not see it. ESPN’s Buster Olney called Loria’s decision making “a complete sham.” ESPN’s prospect maven Keith Law pulled no punches in lambasting Loria for this move. Dave Cameron of FanGraphs said the Marlins will not be seen as a real major league organization with their current management. Those are three names I respect in the baseball industry, three names that have no ties to Miami, and three names among hundreds of others that hated the deal with all of its implications.

Please Jeffery, can you email me the link of the “experts” that said this was a great move?

Loria goes onto mention that the Marlins improved their farm system from being the 28th worst to the 5th best in all of baseball. Well, guess what, the fans are not going to Marlins Park to watch prospects that are hundreds of miles away. They want to see production on the major league roster.

Loria got into financial and ballpark issues, but I am not going into those at this time.

The last thing I wanted to cover was the thing that probably irked me the most:

Amidst the current news coverage, it an be easy to forget how far we went together not so long ago. In 2003, I helped bring a second World Series Title to South Florida. We know how to build a winning team, and have every intention of doing so again. I know you share my passion for great Marlins baseball, my love of Miami and my desire to win again. We’re in this together and I humbly ask that we start fresh, watch us mature quickly as a ball club, and root for the home team in 2013.

Apparently, Loria knows how to build a winning roster, but has decided that the city of Miami has not been worthy of one of those in nearly a decade. Makes sense, right?

The Marlins team has not made the playoffs in 10 seasons. I will say that again for emphasis, 10 straight seasons without a postseason appearance. So if Loria knows the magical secret to building a winning franchise, why exactly has he been holding out on us?

The Marlins seem to lack a long-term plan on how to build their roster, but Loria wants to insist to fans that they should forget the past 10 seasons, and just remember the 2003 World Series?

As miserable as Chicago Cubs fans have been over the past century, at least their owners never tells them to hang their hats on winning a single championship under their “ownership.”

That 2003 roster can hardly be attributed to Loria either. Yes, his baseball people acquired key pieces like Juan Pierre, Ivan Rodriguez, and Ugueth Urbina, but most of the foundation for that team had already been laid out by former Marlins owner, and now Red Sox owner, John Hendry.

Let me know what you guys thought of the letter. Did something in the letter stick out and irk you guys that I missed? Please let me know in the comments.

Marlins owner Jeffery Loria wrote a letter to Marlins fans Sunday, that seems to have done more damage than good. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

On Sunday, Loria took out a full-page ad in all three major South Florida daily newspapers,  writing a “letter to our fans” regarding what happened during the 2012-2013 offseason for the team. Loria tried to explain the Marlins decision-making as well as making a pitch to fans for their support. Here is a look at what he had to say:

THE ROSTER

Losing is unacceptable to me. It’s incumbant upon us to take swift action and make bold moves when there are glaring problems. The controversial trade we made with the Toronto Blue Jays was approved by Commissioner Bud Selig and has been almost universally celebrated by baseball experts outside of Miami for its value. We hope, with an open mind, our community can reflect on the fact that we had one of the worst records in baseball.

THE BALLPARK

The ballpark issue has been repeatedly reported incorrectly and there are some very negative accustations being thrown around. It ain’t true, folks. Those who have attacked us are entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts.

OUR FINANCES

The simple fact is that we don’t have unlimited funds, nor does any baseball team or business. Fans didn’t turn out last season as much as we’d like, even with the high-profile players the columnists decry us having traded.

Amidst the current news coverage, it an be easy to forget how far we went together not so long ago. In 2003, I helped bring a second World Series Title to South Florida. We know how to build a winning team, and have every intention of doing so again. I know you share my passion for great Marlins baseball, my love of MIami and my desire to win again. We’re in this together and I humbly ask that we start fresh, watch us mature quickly as a ball club, and root for the home team in 2013.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Loria

First thing that pops-out to me, is that for a letter to the fans and something published in a newspaper, Loria, or whomever wrote this letter, made a couple of spelling mistakes. “Incumbent” and “accusations,” are spelt incorrectly.

Secondly, and most importantly, Loria does not sound sincere in his apology at all. Instead, Loria attacks the media for portraying him and his organization in a poor light. He tries to prove that the Marlins are the ones suffering, not the the beneficiaries of their latest fire sale.

Loria makes arguments for everything in his letter, but they are not the ones that the fans have been waiting to be answered. Rather, he side steps the major issues and rants on about the media making him out to be the villain.

We will have more coverage on this issue, as well as full coverage when Loria will talk to Marlins beat reporters at some point tomorrow.

For now, take a look at some of the best reactions on Twitter to Loria’s letter:

I like the way Jeffrey Loria turns soaking the out-of-towners via punitive taxes into some moral stance in his favor. #marlins #capitalism

— Joe Sheehan (@joe_sheehan) February 24, 2013

 

Re: Loria’s letter. Words mean nothing. Let’s see #Marlins put winning team together – and KEEP it together.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 24, 2013

 

Jeffrey Loria’s pompous full-page ad to fans may be the most worst sports PR move I’ve ever seen. Read it. Then buy no tickets.

— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) February 24, 2013

Loria runs newspaper ad, letter to #Marlins fans. Here’s the letter: cbsprt.co/13DHmge Quick translation: Fans, you are idiots

— Scott Miller (@ScottMCBS) February 24, 2013

And finally, from our very own Placido Estevez:

@jcrmarlinsbeat @luirangel Didn’t they just hire a new PR firm? This is what they came up with. Loria needs to get a refund.

— Placido (@Placidin) February 24, 2013