August 18, 2007

Samson, Selig: No, really, it's a wolf

It's been more than a year since anyone involved with the Florida Marlins threatened to move the team if a new stadium wasn't forthcoming, so we were probably due for this: Team president David Samson told the disinterested journalists at MLB.com after Thursday's owners meetings, "My nose is crushed because we're so up against it. Every day that passes makes it more and more difficult. The longer this goes on diminishes the possibility of making the timing work." Added MLB lord-of-all-he-surveys Bud Selig: "This team needs a new stadium. I've said many times that I like South Florida. I like it as a Major League market, but I like it as a Major League market as long as they get a new ballpark. ... There are options, but I hope we don't have to use them."

Of course, we've heard this sort of thing from Samson and Selig before, and before that, and before that, and all the way back to when nobody connected Barry Bonds with steroids. So why start rattling this particular saber now? The Marlins' lease at Dolphin Stadium is up after 2010, but leases can be extended, and stadium owner Wayne Huizenga has already said he'll consider doing so. More important, no doubt: The University of Miami could announce Tuesday whether it plans to move out of the Orange Bowl, which would free up that site for a new baseball stadium. And even if Marlins execs say they don't want a stadium there, it never hurts to keep the move threat in the back of the minds of local electeds when stadiums are on the agenda.