Samson Promises Marlins Will Win In 2014
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Fans may be excused if they have a hard time believing anything that comes from Miami Marlins management, but team president David Samson came out Thursday swinging with bold predictions for next season.
"I promise you this: We're not going to lose 100 games next years, not close," Samson told the media at a press conference for the new Miami Beach Bowl. "Look what the Red Sox did. They had the same record we did in 2012. They turned it around to be in the World Series in 2013. It's time for us to do the same."
Samson is so confident in the Marlins' ability to play well into October that the team has reportedly turned down major concert events in October to keep the field open for baseball.
According to Samson, the Marlins will be on the field for spring training in Jupiter, Florida on February 16, 2014.
"We want to get out there and get going," Samson told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "We have some very cool things for spring training, some games we're going to have. What's better is we're getting ready for another season and we're going to win more."
Winning may prove increasingly tough for the Marlins as the team will, according to CBS4 news partner the Miami Herald, budget a payroll next year of between $40 and $50 million.
Last year, the Marlins carried a payroll in the neighborhood of $35 million. So, the Marlins may spend a little extra money in the offseason, but no major spending spree is expected during free agency.
The Marlins do have some key pieces in place if the team can get them all playing at a high level at the same time.
Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, Jake Marisnick, and Marcell Ozuna have the look of a very solid outfield rotation and the Marlins are loaded with solid young starting pitchers including Jacob Turner, Henderson Alvarez, Steve Cishek, Nathan Eovaldi, and ace Jose Fernandez.
Still, this is a team that has no history of winning consistently. The Marlins have finished with a winning record only twice since 2006 and bottomed out with 100 losses in 2013.
But, on the bright side for Marlins players and fans, once the team hit bottom like it did in 2013, there's only one way to go and that's up.
