The Florida Marlins have agreed to increase their payroll in light of complaints from MLB and the MLBPA that they are in violation of the revenue sharing provisions with in the collective bargaining agreement. This agreement between the three parties runs through the 2012 season up until the Marlins new ballpark is scheduled to open. Executive Director of the player’s association Michael Weiner stated:
“In response to our concerns that revenue sharing proceeds have not been used as required, the Marlins have assured the union and the commissioner’s office that they plan to use such proceeds to increase player payroll annually as they move toward the opening of their new ballpark.”
The Marlins have suffered from poor attendance figures at Dolphin Stadium which has resulted in the lowest payroll in the major leagues for three out of the last four seasons. This however has not kept the Marlins from putting together a winning baseball team. Last season the Marlins finished only six games back of the Phillies while the Mets finished 17 games behind the Marlins and spent $105 million more.
All involved parties declined to comment further on the situation citing confidentiality agreements so it is not clear how the Marlins will go about spending the revenue share dollars they receive. Do you think that Marlins are being treated fairly? They have won a couple of recent World Series which is a lot more then some teams can take credit for. Will the Marlins still try to trade Dan Uggla and Josh Johnson when they are due for large pay increases? Time will tell but hopefully for Marlins fans they will get to see their favorite players make a home in south Florida for a long time.
