Miami Marlins: New ownership can’t get off on the wrong

The Miami Marlins are on their way out of the hands of Jeffery Loria. New ownership can’t afford to get off on the wrong foot with fans.

If Giancarlo Stanton‘s recent power surge does anything, it puts pressure on the incoming ownership. Derek Jeter and his group of wealthy investors appear to be a majority vote away from owning a piece of Major League Baseball.

They’ll face a number of tough decisions immediately. What to do with the home run sculpture? Whether to find a sponsor for Marlins Park. Whether to ask David Samson to clear out his office or keep him around.

But the decision that looms largest, and will receive the most publicity, is what they’ll do with the Miami Marlins roster.

The possibility of a trade off circulated rampantly ahead of the trade deadline earlier this season. But with the sale of the team in flux, Major League Baseball was hesitant to let Jeffery Loria and David Samson trade of cornerstone pieces of the franchise.

What resulted was a trade deadline with a few roster moves, but not nearly as many as people believed there would be. The core of the team remained intact, and Miami Marlins fans rejoiced. Derek Jeter will now be forced to make a number of important decisions off the bat.

If trades do come, expect them to be sometime during the winter meetings in December. With the owners vote likely coming in October, Jeter should be ready to wheel-and-deal by the time they roll around. But a greater questions remains:

Can new ownership afford to make to repeat the mistakes that maligned previous ownership groups?

Off on what foot?

There is no concrete evidence as to what way Jeter and his ownership group are leaning. If you’re desperate to grab at straws, Jeter was obviously the preferred partner of Jeffery Loria throughout the process. Loria kept the team as is. Could that have been at the request of Jeter?

It’s impossible to know for sure at this juncture.

However, the turnaround the Miami Marlins are experiencing in the closing weeks of the season is going to make it difficult to justify a reboot. They’ve pulled within three games of even, and Giancarlo Stanton is making headlines.

The Miami Marlins have looked like a team that is closer to making the playoffs than people were giving them credit for. They’re getting a lot of national attention lately, and they have a punchers chance at making a run for the wildcard.

Next: Miami Marlins mashers: Stanton and Sheffield stand apart

How much goodwill does Derek Jeter have with baseball fans as a whole? If he decides to tear the team down and start from scratch, we’ll find out very quickly. Miami Marlins fans have been burned several times in the past, and they won’t take kindly to it happening again.