April 26, 2004
Marlins rumor watch
Whatever the Florida Marlins are paying ESPN.com columnist Jayson Stark, it's not enough. With ten days to go until the team's imaginary deadline for a stadium deal, Stark devotes today's column to rumors that the team is headed to Las Vegas if no stadium funding is forthcoming from the state legislature. Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria has "always had his eyes on Washington," one unnamed source tells Stark, while another erstwhile Deep Throat insists Loria sees Vegas as "a gold mine."
For good measure, Stark turns over much of his column to Marlins president David Samson, who does everything but hold up a sign reading "Send money or we shoot Dontrelle Willis":
- "Relocation in baseball was always a fantasy -- but now, because of the Expos' situation, it's a reality. It's not something in the abstract. It's real."
- "I know that when politicians hear that, they assume you're crying wolf. Well, they can continue to assume that. But if they do, eventually somebody is going to get burned."
- "We just don't have that kind of time. ... We've got to open [the new park] by 2007."
- "I still believe we're going to be fine, and this will all work out. But politics is a rough business. ... This is it. It has to happen in the next week. And if not, we'll move on."
Presumably Samson is hoping Florida legislators missed last week's Las Vegas Review-Journal article that - citing still more unnamed sources - indicated MLB has determined Las Vegas' population base is too small to support a big-league franchise.
