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BOB: Marlins run into yet another stadium road bump

by Brian Borawski
February 18, 2009

Marlins' stadium vote put on hold

It’s safe to say that things didn’t go well for the Florida Marlins last Friday. In what appeared to be a near slam dunk, two of the Miami commissioners came out against the Marlins' stadium plan. With one commissioner absent, the deadlock was solved by putting off the vote for another month. With that, the Marlins head to spring training without the funding for a new stadium again, and with the backdrop of the current economic environment, time is not on the team's side.

With that, the next stadium vote is scheduled for March 12. It’ll be interesting to see what concessions the Marlins make to get this pushed through. A big issue was the stadium naming rights, which typically go the team. Cost overruns on a parking garage were also center stage. Because the city didn’t vote through the plan, the county vote never took place, so from here on out, the two meetings will take place on different days. Of course the Marlins hope there’s just one more time they have to go through this.

Big deals in short supply

Buster Olney recently blogged about the lack of big long-term deals this Hot Stove season. He throws out some interesting numbers like the fact that the number of three-year deals is actually up a little bit from last year but still way down from 2006-7. Minor league deals are up, which shows teams aren’t as willing to throw money around on high risk players. He also concludes that the numbers look better than they should because of the Yankees' big splash with their three big signings.

Rangers and Dr. Pepper extend partnership

Soft drink maker Dr. Pepper has had a business relationship with the Texas Rangers since the team moved to the Lone Star State back in 1972 and that relationship was extended through the 2013 season early this week. The five-year deal extends Dr. Pepper as the presenting sponsor for the Dr. Pepper Junior Rangers. Dr. Pepper will also sponsor a series of youth clinics each year with the Rangers. Just as importantly, you’ll find Dr. Pepper sold at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington in 2009.

Target Plaza plans unveiled

The Minnesota Twins and Target unveiled their plans for the construction of Target Plaza last week. The plaza will consist of a pedestrian bridge and a public gathering place that connects Target Field to downtown Minneapolis. If the renderings are any indication, the plaza appears very state of the art, and it looks to mix modern elements with several green areas to make a nice blend of technology and nature.

Union provides direction to players regarding PEDs

The Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) handed out a memo yesterday that spells out the talking points in regard to what went down with the 2003 drug testing. This was pretty much in line with when Alex Rodriguez addressed the media to repent for his transgressions that came to light recently after his test results were leaked. At this point, there’s a lot of clamoring for the rest of the names to be revealed. The memo discusses the purpose of the 2003 testing and also talks about why the samples weren’t destroyed, amongst other things.

Brian Borawski is a member of SABR's Business of Baseball Committee and writes about the Detroit Tigers at his own website, TigerBlog. He welcomes comments, questions and suggestions via e-mail.

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