Marlins' Jeff Conine reflects on challenges faced by franchise due to lower revenue: "We can't afford to go out there and pay the $300M+"
Not all MLB franchises have a lot of purchasing power given their lower revenues, and the Miami Marlins are one of them. Lower revenues can lead to the team's inability to sign star players on a bigger contract like other big-market teams do.
Recently on "Foul Territory", the Marlins front office executive Jeff Conine spoke along the same lines about how the Marlins approach the offseason:
"We don't sell out every night like other Northern teams do. We don't have huge TV contracts like other teams," Conine said. "So our revenue is lower than most teams. So as you know with skyrocketing salaries, we can't afford to go out there and pay the $300M+ contract to these superstar players."
Conine also talked about how the Marlins farm system becomes all the more important to cultivate talent for the big leagues:
"We have Skip Schumacher, who I think is perfect for this organization moving forward," Conine said. "The coaching staff is amazing at being able to cultivate the young players and teach them how to play baseball the right way. We don't have the luxury to find 3-4-5 guys who can hit 30+ home runs every year and sit back and wait for the big home run late in the game.
"We gotta create offense, we have to manufacture runs, so I think that's the way we are building our organization."
Conine is well aware of the challenges faced by lower-revenue teams and how they try to adapt to their limitations, highlighting their farm system and players coming through it.
Miami Marlins 2023 payroll rank in the league
According to Spotrac, among the 30 MLB teams, the Marlins ranked 22nd with a total payroll of $105,435,809. Their 26-man payroll amounted to $67,982,517, $25,595,861 in injured reserve, $10,698,514 in retention and $1,158,917 buried.
Steve Cohen's New York Mets led the league with a total payroll of $343,605,067. The New York Yankees come in second with a payroll of $278,651,150.
The San Diego Padres, the Texas Rangers and the Philadelphia Phillies round out the top five.