Miami Marlins
Marlins owner still mourning Jose Fernandez but vows he won't 'quit on this team'
Miami Marlins

Marlins owner still mourning Jose Fernandez but vows he won't 'quit on this team'

Published Dec. 9, 2016 1:10 p.m. ET

Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria normally goes to Europe with his wife, Julie, at the end of November or early December.

This year, following the death of Marlins ace Jose Fernandez on Sept. 25, the Lorias did not wait that long.

“We were so shocked and so upset, we just left for three or four weeks,” Loria said Thursday night. “We’ve been back a couple of weeks now and we’re trying to regroup.

“Jose was practically like another member of my family. When you lose someone in your family, especially at that age, it’s tragedy with a capital ‘T.’”

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And yet, the Marlins had to go on with their business.

They signed third baseman Martin Prado to a three-year, $40 million contract just days after Fernandez’s death. This week, they added free-agent right-hander Edinson Volquez on a two-year, $22 million deal.

They still need one more starting pitcher, with free-agent righty Doug Fister among the candidates. And they want to add a closer, perhaps even free agent Kenley Jansen, as first reported by MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.

“You don’t replace a giant like Jose, but you’ve got to push forward,” Loria said. “I don’t quit. I’ve never quit. I’m certainly not going to quit on this team.”

Fernandez, 24, was the centerpiece of the Marlins’ plan, a plan in which they expected to be a force in 2017 and ’18, the final two years that he was under club control.

Loria could have justified shifting course after losing the ace of an already thin rotation, justified at least a modest retooling in an attempt to boost one of the game’s weakest farm systems.

But the Marlins, in the owner’s view, have come too far.

“You don’t have any choices in life,” Loria said. “Sometimes you just have to move forward, step back and take two steps forward. That’s what I’m doing.”

There are other motivations for Loria to keep pushing – the Marlins are hosting the 2017 All-Star Game, and also trying to secure a new local television contract before their current deal with FOX Sports expires in ’20.

But the truth is, the Marlins have been building to this moment ever since they signed right fielder Giancarlo Stanton to a 13-year, $325 million contract on Nov. 19, 2014.

Loria vowed that he would construct a strong team around Stanton; otherwise, the slugger might simply have played out his time with the Marlins and become a free agent this offseason.

The owner kept his word.

The Marlins signed left fielder Christian Yelich and second baseman Dee Gordon to extensions, awarded left-hander Wei-Yin Chen an $80 million free-agent deal, added closer Fernando Rodney and right-hander Andrew Cashner at the non-waiver deadline last season.

Loria, frequently criticized here and elsewhere for his occasionally chaotic approach, also stabilized and improved his front office, though the team recently parted with pro scouting director David Keller after only one year.

And, lest anyone forget, Loria fixed the mistake of moving Dan Jennings from the GM’s chair to the manager’s office by replacing him with Don Mattingly, one of the game’s most respected figures, a year ago.

The Marlins, in Mattingly’s first season, were 52-43 on July 21 and in possession of a wild-card spot as late as Aug. 15. But a series of injuries that preceded Fernandez’s death – most notably the loss of Stanton for three weeks starting in mid-August – led to a 79-82 finish.

“I’ve never been anything other than what you saw when we signed Stanton, and even before Stanton,” Loria said. “I always wanted to win.

“We had some constraints. But I’ve made a number of commitments to keep this team viable and competitive. That’s where we want to be.”

The Marlins’ Opening Day payrolls increased from $45.8 million to $69 million to $74.3 million the past three seasons, and the addition of Volquez increased their 2017 commitments to $72.8 million, not including their six arbitration-eligible players, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

Signing Jansen could push the Marlins toward the $100 million range, a level they last reached in 2012 after their ill-fated free-agent signings of shortstop Jose Reyes, left-hander Mark Buehrle and closer Heath Bell.

Can the Marlins pull it off?

“I can’t tell you that now, because we have to see where the payroll goes, and we haven’t set that yet,” Loria said.

But does he like Jansen, who played for Mattingly with the Dodgers?

“I like a lot of guys. But you can’t do everything,” Loria said. “Nobody is perfect at every position.”

The Marlins know their rotation will be mediocre, even if they add one more starter. But they love their core of position players, and the addition of Jansen would give them a monster bullpen, one that already includes David Phelps, Kyle Barraclough and A.J. Ramos.

Loria said he will meet with his front office over the next few days to set the team’s course for the winter meetings, which begin Monday outside of Washington, D.C. He did not rule out trading major leaguers, but the Marlins are reluctant to move players such as Ramos or center fielder Marcell Ozuna. The plan, Loria said, “is to keep what we have and add to it.”

“We have good guys here,’ Loria said. “They were poised to win with Jose being available for this year and next year. Who knows what would have happened after that? Twenty-four years old, who ever could have conceived of that?

“It’s been very hard. But we’re resilient. The players are resilient. They want to dedicate next year to themselves and to the memory of Jose. There are a lot of things that are going to have to come together. But we’re going to be all right.”

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