"When we see glowing things about (Jeffrey) Loria, a lot of us are ready to throw up." — as quoted from a private art dealer in New York
What began this year as a team which reminded many of champions of recent past is now on the verge of descending into chaos and the resultant mediocrity that comes with it. And you can thank Jeffrey Loria for that.
It wasn't bad enough that he took an organization with scads of minor-league prospects and handled it with all the care and concern of a bomb defuser with DTs. He's been given the opportunity to do the same thing to another one, this team being as far south of his first home base in the majors as geographically possible. Judging by the reputation Jeffrey Loria is now preceded by in his business affairs, one gets an image in mind of a common flim-flam man being run out of town on a rail, putting as much ground between him and his former victims (ahem!) as he can.
The story of Jeffrey Loria's most recent foray into professional baseball, that being owner of the Florida Marlins, has proven to be more of the same. Loria's modus operandi has changed little if any at all: behind-the-scenes meddling, second guessing, and generally making life as difficult as possible for his hired hands. This particular chapter in The Life of Loria began, arguably, with the firing of manager Fredi Gonzalez, bench coach Carlos Tocsa, and hitting coach Jim Presley after a mediocre 34-36 start. Loria was convinced that the Marlins "can do better and be better." To that end, Bobby Valentine had reportedly put his name up for consideration to fill the vacancy; since that time, he's also reportedly voiced his opinion of said position as being resoundingly negative. I believe the words were something akin to, "I'd rather manage in Siberia." Or so it's been said.
And this is coming from a man who had been friends with Loria for 20 years, not to mention a man who's been in and around baseball a very long time. If that's how his friends feel about him, what kind of man are we talking about here?
Maybe he's the kind of man who brings a partner into a deal and then stiffs him in the end? Bobby Murcer could answer that question for you, if he were still with us today.
Basically, the story goes as such: Loria includes Murcer in his plan to buy the Oklahoma City 89ers, and after the deal is finalized Loria gives Murcer the brush and just like that, Murcer's out.
Perhaps he's the kind of man who brings in spring training instructors without consulting with his manager? In 2000, he did just that, inviting Maury Wills and Jeff Torborg as spring training instructors, while manager Felipe Alou was left to discover this little tidbit after the fact.
Is he the kind of person who is accused of fraud and racketeering? Ask his former compatriots in sunny old Montreal, who filed a federal racketeering lawsuit against Loria for $100 million, accusing Loria of turning down potentially lucrative TV and radio contracts in order to drive the Expos deeper into debt, providing the impetus for moving the team to another city. Commissioner Bug Selig was also named in this suit, who made no secret of his wish to eliminate the team entirely (along with the Minnesota Twins), ostensibly as part of a tactic meant to pressure the Players Union during labor negotiations.
Now, Loria initially invested $12 million in the Expos, which gave him a 24% share of the team. When it was all said and done, Selig had given Loria $120 million for all his trouble, along with a $38 million interest-free loan and an agreement that cleared the way for Loria to buy the Marlins for $158 million.
Now, that $120 mil is interesting, in and of itself. You see, Loria sold the team to a group licensed as Expos Baseball, LP. This group was comprised of the other 29 major league clubs. So basically he sold a major league team to Major League Baseball. And who runs Major League Baseball? Bud Selig. He sold the team to one of his former partners, one who just happens to be running the whole show. Funny thing, that.
And now we come to 2010. In August of last year, documents brought to light in an article on Deadspin showed that Loria and Co. were pocketing a big chunk of the money they received in MLB's revenue-sharing plan, something they had been suspected of doing for some time. Loria and team president David Samson have made a practice of presenting the team's financial state as harrowing; at best, a break-even prospect. The vocal stylings of Jeff and Dave played on the heartstrings of local government representatives, so much so that the team was able to land a $2.4 billion stadium for a team that will (probably) be long gone before it's paid off. Indeed, if Loria's grandchildren plan on living locally, they'll be feeling the pinch of the stadium tax.
With all that history, it hardly seems worthwhile to bring up the firing of team staff members. And that's actually true. Problem is, it's that sort of mentality that has carried over into his handling of team personnel. However, this team now has bigger problems than who runs the show down on the field; the real problem is who's minding the store. And when that man has his fingers in the till, the conventional wisdom is that he's only stealing from himself.
But in Jeffrey Loria's case, the victims may be most everyone else. Just ask his friends.
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