The Future of the Marlins

Earlier this morning, the Marlins held a ceremony next to the former site of the Orange Bowl, and the future site of the team's new baseball-only facility. For the first time since 2005, the team's management signed one of their players to a long-term contract, this one going to five-tool shortstop Hanley Ramirez. The contract was the longest and most expensive in team history at 6 years, $70 million, but it could not have gone to a better player. Peter Gammons earlier this week said that he would easily pick Hanley Ramirez as his first player to build a team around, something that shouldn't be taken too lightly from a career baseball man, and Hall of Fame sportswriter.

More than anything, this contract appears to represent the beginning of a new, brighter chapter in the history of Marlins baseball in South Florida. For the past five years, the team's efforts to build a stadium were frequently derailed at the last minute by delays in the Florida State Legislature. Finally, the city of Miami and Miami-Dade County officials were able to reach an agreement with the team on an appropriate site, along with actual funding for a stadium. Just a couple of years ago, there was a real possibility that the team could have left South Florida forever, when owner Jeffrey Loria spent a week in San Antonio, Texas, receiving that city's pitch to be the new home of the Marlins.

Hopefully, with this new financial agreement by the ownership to the current roster, this team can move into a new era where talented young players can spend most of their careers with the Marlins, rather than use the team as a stepping stone to a more financially stable franchise. For the majority of the team's history, the franchise has not been able to retain their best young talent, a list that includes Gary Sheffield, Luis Castillo, Livan Hernandez, Josh Beckett, A.J. Burnett, Brad Penny, Derrek Lee, and many others. Marlins fans can now hope that current stars like Dan Uggla, Josh Willingham, Scott Olsen, Mike Jacobs, and Jeremy Hermida all have a good chance of spending most, if not all, of their careers in South Florida.