Apr 13, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton (27) sits in the dugout during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

It has been obvious since the November fire sale trade that Giancarlo Stanton is not happy with the direction that the Miami Marlins are headed in. He voiced his displeasure in a tweet soon after the deal was consummated:

Alright, I’m pissed off!!! Plain & Simple

— Giancarlo Stanton (@Giancarlo818) November 13, 2012

Soon after the trade, rumors ran rampant that the Marlins would listen to offers on the slugging superstar. Not much traction came of those talks, as the Marlins have no incentive to trade Stanton right now, as he is still making just the league minimum. Talks could heat up this offseason, as Stanton becomes arbitration eligible for the first time. Placido made a great point earlier this week when he addressed the Stanton to New York Mets rumor:

The rumors will persist all season long and will likely pop up on a monthly basis early in the season, but will become more frequent as the trade deadline approaches. Every team’s top prospects will be heading to Miami in exchange for Giancarlo Stanton. Some will be utterly ridiculous and others will be interesting enough to contemplate

The Texas Rangers lost outfielder Josh Hamilton to their division rivals this offseason and have been since searching for a replacement to take his place. The team showed strong interest in acquiring Justin Upton from the Arizona Diamondbacks before he was traded to the Atlanta Braves. They decided the price for Upton was too high and rather held onto their top prospects in the hope of landing either David Price or Giancarlo Stanton. This morning, in his insider post on ESPN, Buster Olney dropped this tidbit of news:

• The Rangers are poking around and doing some early reconnaissance on how they could put together some kind of a deal for Giancarlo Stanton.

The Rangers have one of the better farm systems in baseball and possess the best prospect in all of baseball in short stop Jurickson Profar. In all likelihood, he would be the centerpiece of any trade for Stanton in order to get the Marlins to the negotiating table. Profar’s future with the Rangers now has some uncertainty surrounding it, as the team recently signed incumbent short stop Elvis Andrus to a contract extension. The Rangers also have Adrian Beltre and Elvis Andrus signed longterm, leaving no spot in the infield for Profar unless another move is made. For Miami fans, the next best thing to Stanton would be Profar. Zips Projections have him projected to be a 3 win player at the ripe age of 19. He has a bright future and that very well could be in Miami.

Evan Grant of the Dallas News is also in the belief that Profar’s future won’t be in Texas, but likely in Miami:

Evan – now that the Rangers have Elvis and Kinsler locked up for quite a stretch, what do you think will happen with Profar? Do you believe the Rangers will trade him (potentially other assets) to get Stanton or Price? Or do you think they will reconfigure the infield to get him in games? Evan Grant: I think Profar will likely end up traded. If I was the Rangers I’d say to the Marlins right now: Pick four guys from the system, two position players (not named Alfaro) and two pitchers (not named Perez) and try to make a deal for Stanton.

This news will be something to keep an eye on going forward. If and when Stanton is dealt, expect the Rangers to be major players in the sweepstakes. But they won’t be alone in the pursuit of Stanton, as Peter Gammons points out on Twitter:

Team after team–from Boston to Mets to Rangers and on and on–have checked in with Miami on Stanton, with “not interested” response from Ms

— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) April 14, 2013

The Mariners not being interested is a bit disappointing, as they also have one of the better farm systems in baseball.

For more updates on Stanton, please stay tuned to Marlin Maniac.

I believe that the Marlins need to give Scott Boras, Bourn’s agent, a call today and try to work out a way to sign the star center fielder.

How can Michael Bourn help the Marlins? Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

I know what agent would be delusional enough to get involved with the Miami Marlins and their owner Jeffery Loria after last season’s free agent debacle? Loria lured Mark Buehrle and Jose Reyes to take their talents to South Beach with verbal promises that he would not trade them. As we all know, with anything else Loria promises, that was a bunch of BS.

But what I am proposing today is completely different than any regular free agent signing.

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The Marlins did listen to offers during the trade deadline and many around baseball said their asking price seemed too high. However, with Zack Greinke being the only dominant starter in free agency, one would think that the market would be larger for a guy like JJ now. There are always teams out there looking to deal for a starter and this year should be no different. The Marlins would be smart to talk to contending teams with strong farm systems, the Rangers and Orioles seem to be the first that come to my mind, that feel they maybe one starter away from really making some noise.

Josh Johnson is really popular in Miami and trading him may not be the popular move but it could be the most beneficial. This is a franchise that knows all about the fire sale and how immediate a well executed one can pay off. While I don’t think it is time for a complete fire sale, I do think that it is a good time for some pretty significant changes. The payroll won’t be what it was two years ago but it also is not going to be really close to what it was heading into this past season either. There are a lot of holes on this team and I think that JJ could help more by leaving than he could by staying and hopefully giving the Marlins another 200 innings.

I find the attendance issue ridiculous. There’s a reason why the Marlins built a stadium that will only hold 37,000. South Florida isn’t a mecca for baseball, or for that matter, any pro sport. It is an event-driven town. If the Miami Heat didn’t have Lebron James they’d have crowds similar to those of the NHL’s Florida Panthers. How do I know? I was there before the Heat became an “attraction.” If the Marlins play well they’ll draw crowds. If not, they’ll still draw bigger crowds than they did before. It’s a win-win for ownership. The announced attendance at yesterday’s day game was 23,168; very respectable when most of us were in school and at work. Take a look at the some of the supposed baseball towns in MLB and check out the numbers. The Chicago White Sox had a crowd of 11,836, the then 10-3 Washington Nationals drew 18,045, the loaded Detroit Tigers drew 30,029 for a game against the best team in the league; the Texas Rangers. The Toronto Blue Jays drew 18,976 against the Tampa Rays. The list goes on. Take a look at some of the New York Yankees home games so far this year and see the 10-12k empty seats for their games.

MLB has seen a decline in attendance specifically in those places where new stadiums have driven up the prices to the point where only the corporations can afford them. Here, however, the Marlins experience is very affordable, and now we see a game in the comfort of a retractable roof stadium with a view of downtown Miami.

The Marlins never thought they were going to sell out every game. The goal is 2.5 million coming through the gates in 2012. They’ve sold around 15,000 season tickets. MLB counts tickets sold, not actual turnstile entrants. If they average 25,000 per game that will bring in 2,025,000; a much higher number than in years past. With games against the Yanks, Red Sox, and other baseball powers, they will blow through that number and come close to their goal. Through seven home games the Marlins have drawn 206,096 with an average of almost 30,000. Of course the new park has a lot to do with it, but wasn’t that the point? Mind you, six of these games were played against the horrible Houston Astros, and a bad Chicago Cubs team.

To all of the media who still complain about the lukewarm pro sports market here in Florida, get over it! The Marlins did it right, and as long as they sell merchandise, concessions, and parking, they will be flush with money for years to come. My goal isn’t to make Loria a richer man, but it is to take my son to baseball games here in FL until the day I no longer frequent the planet.

Apr 09, 2012; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen is currently serving a 5-game suspension. (Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE)

Also, if you have not done so already, please take a look at fellow “Marlin Maniac” writer Geoff Parkins post titled, “Context and Perspective of the Ozzie Guillen Drama” it is an excellent read, shows how today’s main stream media would rather be first than right, and is a perfect example of why people in general should make sure they have ALL of the facts before they pass judgement on anything.

What I would like to talk about is some other highly publicized MLB-related controversies that should be added to the list of examples that you should follow if your ultimate goal is to alienate your fan-base.

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