Here is what I don't get about this whole ordeal.
These Marlins "fans" weren't going to the games last season, the place was always empty. Clearly nobody cares. So why all the uproar about tearing apart a team that not only nobody cared about or bought tickets to see, but also stunk? If the people of Miami cared so much, why couldn't they be bothered to come even close to filling the place up?
Loria had a losing team and an empty stadium. So he traded away his most expensive players. What am I missing here? I understand the guy is a cock, but in this case is he really wrong? Remember too, that they didn't throw in the towel right away last season. They traded for Carlos Lee (I know, but that's not the point) and made a half ass effort to get back in the race before they traded Hanley and gave up.
Yea, that makes sense, but I'd say a lot more of the uproar is media based rather than fan based. This isn't like the Cincinnati Bengals having fans marching in a pregame protest parade, this is just a ton of articles written about the situation and how bad it is, with some fan interviews.
Yes, ticket sales were absolutely terrible last season, but they will be even worse this season, though the difference being that the payroll is so low that it won't really matter. Is that how a team should operate, or should the owner make a small investment, a loss for a season or two, hoping that the team will turn it around and sell tickets? Big names are not going to work in Miami, you need to have the wins coming. To be honest, that might not even be true. I know Tampa still has huge attendance problems, even though they had consistently been competing for the AL east title, and been playoff bound. That attitude could also be down in Miami! But just having big names that never produced a good on the field product will not work for a team that does not already have a solid fan base. They need to to to create one, not just give up on that after the season.
What you said makes complete sense, though. My biggest issue wold be with the Marlins saying the have championship caliber players. Come on guys. The Blue Jays wouldn't even give you their best prospect for Reyes, Buehlre, and Johnson, but the Mets grabbed him for Dickey and Thole. Don't sugar coat this as a championship team, even in 2-3 years. Tell me the truth, that the teams who are winning right now have young talent that is homegrown, mixed with free agents (even though they had that before...), and they need a place to start. There's a better PR plan.