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Miami Marlins: Marlins, fans, stuck in a vicious cycle

By Miller Lepree |

What everyone knows continues to be reaffirmed and ingrained in our heads year after year: The Miami Marlins are stuck in a rut. There hasn’t been a trade made in the last decade, or a free agent signed by the team that hasn’t been questioned.

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This past offseason, every move the team made came with its own set of question marks, and a whole flock of doubters. Those doubters now appear to have been realists, as the team sits 11 games back in the NL East, and begins to unload pieces of their already minuscule payroll.

Another nonsensical trade was put into motion today, as the Miami Marlins attempted to dump Mat Latos and Michael Morse off on the Dodgers in exchange for their salaries, Jeff Brigham, and two unnamed prospects.

Sounds like a pretty standard process for the Marlins, but that deal is currently hanging in the balance over some medical records.

The worst part of the whole deal was that the Marlins actually included their competitive balance pick in next year’s draft. This was surely so they could avoid spending more money on the draft, and pool it for their arbitration eligible players.

Speaking of arbitration, Marcell Ozuna is currently being allegedly held in the minor leagues so that keep him from earning his super 2 status this coming off-season.

If this deal does fall through, the Marlins will likely be able to find a home for Latos before Friday, but this news is certainly unsettling.

My initial reaction to this deal was disappointment, but soon I was asking myself how I ever fell for this in the first place?

Year after year I am reminded that this front office struggles to run a baseball team, yet I continuously hold out hope that maybe some year it will all work out.

This certainly isn’t that year, but unlike most seasons, I have little hope for the next year either.

The Marlins’ twisted vision on how to operate a franchise starts and ends with dollar signs. The first thing in consideration with every move the team makes is how much money is at stake.

Latos and Morse were about to be traded for essentially nothing but the alleviation of their salaries; Dan Haren, Dee Gordon, and Martin Prado are already being paid by other teams.

This fickle group of masterminds seems to lack the understanding that talent should always be the first priority and that the money comes second.

With the current situation, there is no major league ready talent in the farm system and little hope for further development from the current group of major leaguers. That means that every improvement is going to have to come from outside the organization, except for players returning from injury.

Oh, and we no longer know if Henderson Alvarez is going to be on that list of players for next year.

So, the cycle continues.

Mediocre upgrades for cheap in the offseason, only for the whole thing to be blown up in July. Now the fans can enjoy the current fire sale while the organization attempts to gear up for another faceplant in 2016.

Enjoy the ride folks, it’s not getting any better.

Follow Marlin Maniac on Twitter @MarlinManiac for all your Miami Marlins news, opinion and analysis!

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