Big Trade Means Blank Canvas for Marlins and Great Expectations for the Blue Jays

The baseball off-season has been relatively quiet so far but that ended today with a big boom.

The Marlins time as big spenders lasted only one season. When they opened their new stadium, they had high hopes for their franchise to become elite signing new players and Ozzie Guillen to the team. It didn't last long with attendance far from expectations, the team under performing, and Ozzie being infatuated with Fidel Castro.

So what are the Marlins going to do? Reboot their operating system to their last known save and that was when they were cheap. In a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays, the Marlins are getting rid of Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buerhle, John Buck, and Emilio Bonifacio. All of them are going to the Blue Jays in exchange for Yunel Escobar and at least two prospects. According to a source telling ESPN "Just about any (Marlins) player making money is going to Toronto."

One season later it's new look, new stadium, same BS. Seeing that the Marlins finished last in the NL East and the Red Sox unloading all their financial burden on the Dodgers, it's easy to understand the decision the Marlins made getting rid of all these players. The Marlins look like they're not getting the fan attendance they were hoping for and because of that, it was probably best for them to go back to their small ball and farm system ways (you know, where every other team is farming their crop).

As for the Blue Jays, they seem to be taking on over $175 million worth of contracts. Not as much as the Dodgers were taking on in August but enough to turn heads. It might end up being the biggest deal done among the teams in the AL East. Because of this move, the Blue Jays will be expected to go farther this season than any other in recent memory. The pressure is now on them rather than the Marlins.

Marlins Fire Ozzie Guillen After Troubled Year

When the beginning of a managerial tenure starts with the guy praising Fidel Castro in a part of the country that would take exception to that comment the most, you are not going to last long, especially when the team is that bad.

The Miami Marlins were looking to make a huge splash this year with a new look, new players, a new manager, and a new stadium. It was going to be a new era of baseball in Miami and put the city (possible the state) to the test on whether there can be baseball in South Florida. Needless to say, it didn't go so well this year.

The team looked awful for most of the season with the Marlins finishing last in NL East with a 69-93 record. The attendance numbers were not that bad with averaging 27400 per game which is definitely an improvement from the old stadium. However, according to an online article in The Palm Beach Post, Marlins Stadium's first year is the lowest first year attendance of new ballparks that have opened since 2001 (Joe Capozzi).

The easiest thing that the team can do? Fire Ozzie Guillen that had rubbed the Cuban American Community in South Florida the wrong way since the beginning. So they did just that. Changing managers is an easy thing to do and after the season they had no one is going to complain. However, this team needs improvements across the board. Changing the manager is a nice start but if they want to attract fans or see if a consistent successful team can even attract fans in Miami, they will have to do more than that.