Miami Marlins: MLB needs to protect markets

The Miami Marlins have low atendance. So low in fact, that it was the lowest in MLB in 2022. Why is that so? Miami is a big market and an in-demand city. People want to live here and housing prices are going up. So why aren’t people going to games? The Fish play in Little Havana, a Cuban neighborhood, and baseball is the most popular sport in Cuba, so again why aren’t people going to games? Where’s the fan support?

MLB needs to step in to save the Miami Marlins.

MLB is a business. This is a big reason why the playoffs became expanded this season. The logical thing to do would be to make only the very best teams play there, but more games means more money. MLB is all about money, so why not make sure that every market brings as much money and therefore profit as possible? Isn’t that common sense?

Miami is a bigger city than both Boston and San Diego, yet the Boston Red Sox routinely have one of the higher payrolls and the San Diego Padres have recently joined them on that level. The Miami Marlins can afford a higher payroll, but it would still not be on their level. Why doesn’t MLB step in and fix the situation?

We all know the obvious: fans like winning teams. The Miami Marlins haven’t won a World Series since 2003 (or even been there since then). The Fish in fact only made the playoffs once since then, in the shortened 2020 season with no fans. What keeps us from winning? Bad trades, lack of a pursuit of top free agents, bad msnagenent. The first two are due to the third. Even if the third is fixed, the spending needs to rise.

One option is to make sure that owners are going to spend. Look at Steve Cohen and how the New York Mets started spending once he took over. Another is to make sure that owners have to commit to minimum payrolls. It’s not about them, bad ownership hurts markets. The Miami market could become basically dead if this continues.

If I wasn’t convincing enough yet…the Miami Heat are currently fifth in attendance in the NBA. It’s not Miami that’s the problem, it’s gross mismanagement.