You knew this was coming. The Marlins are looking to relocate as early as 2008.
"This is an announcement that baseball is no longer assured in South Florida," said Samson, who also revealed that the Marlins have received permission from Major League Baseball to explore relocation.
I have no idea what location in South Florida would be feasible other than the Miami area. Perhaps some of our native South Floridians could enlighten the rest of us.
This is probably the only move left to the franchise to avoid contraction. I hate to see it happen but it is far from a surprise.
A recent study reported that Las Vegas can't be ready until 2010 and that's if they get moving. There is not stadium large enough in the area which can house a Major League Baseball team even temporarily. It was also reported in the same study that the gaming industry would fight a team moving to the area. The casinos want to keep their customers in the hotel and wouldn't be open to them spending 3-plus hours at the park.
This would leave the team to draw on the locals for a crowd. Unfortunately the ones who work in the gaming industry, the largest shift being the night shift, wouldn't be able to attend games or even watch them on television.
This ought to be interesting.