The concern is all green—Miró’s green.
[Marlins owner Jeffrey] Loria’s meddling in personnel decisions is widely known, but it’s even worse than perceived. Besides suggesting or dictating free agent signings and players to trade, Loria has instructed his front office to demote several players.
The Marlins went without a third catcher in September because Loria was fed up with Brett Hayes. One player said word came down during a game that Chris Volstad would be demoted because of Loria’s unhappiness. “He had one bad start, and Loria was like, ‘He’s gone,’” another player said.
“Everyone knows he does it,” the player said of Loria demoting players. “It makes it hard to play. Every time you come into the clubhouse after a bad outing, you’re thinking, ‘Oh, [bleep]! Is Loria going to send me down because he’s [angry] tonight, just because Loria’s in an [expletive] mood?’
“So all these guys, with the exception of Giancarlo [Stanton], walk around on eggshells.”...
Marlins players notice when Loria shoots disgusted looks or throws up his hands when a player fails, or when he leaves early when the Marlins are losing. Some don’t like that he sits so close to the dugout.
“He’s always looking in the dugout,” one former Marlin said. “Mind your business! Watch the game! But he’s got the seat right there.”
Though Loria can be generous (such as buying jewelry for Hanley Ramirez), his presence in the clubhouse irritates some players, according to a former Marlin. “You never see an owner in the clubhouse unless there’s a reason to be, and you wonder what the heck he’s doing in here,” another said.
Another player criticized Loria for talking to the team as a group.
“This guy sits down with us in Boston last season and tries to give us an [expletive] speech, to inspire us,” the player said. “You listen to it and then everybody kind of looked at each other like, ‘What the [bleep] is that? Is this guy serious?’ It was unnecessary.”...
Four agents told me their players cannot trust that their injuries and rehabilitations will be handled correctly because of lack of confidence in the training staff—a problem that a former Marlin attributes to Loria’s loyalty to trainer Sean Cunningham.
