Florida Marlins Brief History
Despite success during the postseason, the Florida Marlins have suffered from low attendance, and poor on-field performance. Some argue that was caused by negligent ownership. Besides, the attendance problems have been blamed on the venue. The Florida Marlins ownership has pushed for a new park and threatened to move in case no agreement has been made. H. Wayne Huizenga, Dolphin Stadium owner has threatened to evict the club after the 2009-2010 season, regardless of whether the Marlins manages to secure a new stadium or not.
The Florida Marlins began the 2006 season with the struggles of closer Jorge Julio. Pitcher Kevin Gregg then emerged as the new closer. Very soon, injuries became the focus for the Florida Marlins as Opening Day center fielder, Alejandro De Aza had an ankle sprain, pitchers Sergio Mitre had a blister problem and Ricky Nolasco had a sore elbow.
The focus of this offseason was that the Florida Marlins were officially listening to offers for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis. The club that seemed to be leading was the Los Angeles Angels. They felt that they had worked out a deal for Miguel Cabrera twice. Arte Moreno, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim owner said that each time the Florida Marlins came back after he felt a deal had been completed and asked for more to sweeten it. The Giants expressed similar sentiments about the asking price the Florida Marlins wanted, saying that the team was asking for four players, with three of the four being pitchers and two of the four being MLB players, not minor leaguers.
On December 5, 2007, the Detroit Tigers announced they were interested in making a trade with the Florida Marlins. Later in the day, Florida had agreed to the terms of a trade with the Tigers, which surprisingly send Cabrera and Willis to the Tigers. In return, Florida received 6 players.