Credibility? Come on Down!

[Swift]

Credibility? Come on Down!

As soon as the ink dries and Hanley Ramirez becomes South Florida’s newest multi-millionaire resident, the superstar shortstop, the Florida Marlins and the fans will experience something that hasn’t existed in the community since 1997: credibility. That’s when Gary Sheffield, the first great Marlins franchise player signed what is now the second richest contract in franchise history.

No, this isn’t 2005 when the Marlins handed out multimillion-dollar extensions to players over 30 or $52 million to a free agent first baseman without locking up their own transcendent talent like Josh Beckett and Miguel Cabrera.

Nor is this 2003 when credibility seemed to be knocking on the Marlins’ door only to see the team squabble over a few million dollars and let the one-year face of their franchise walk out the free agent door.

This is 2008. 5 years after their last playoff appearance, 4 years until the doors open to a new stadium. A critical crossroads for a franchise that never seems to drive along the straight and narrow, and for once, it looks like the Marlins are playing it safe and taking the toll-road, a palpable alternative to the detours along unpaved road that was all too often sold as unavoidable necessity.

For the next 6 years, Hanley Ramirez, baseball’s newest “it” boy will be a Florida Marlin. For the next 6 years, the Marlins can give their fans a taste of what it is like to actually go shopping at Tiffany’s, not just window shopping. In one move, the team has seemingly mended the myriad broken dreams surrounding the franchise and has lifted the glass ceiling hanging above the franchise. It’s a funny feeling, isn’t it? It’s called credibility.

[St. Jimmy]

[Fritz]

Good stuff.