“Klotz” As In “Blood”

Yesterday it was Arte Moreno of the “Los Angeles” Angels.

I’ve felt we had a deal with them twice,” Moreno said of the Marlins, who apparently cut bait and decided they needed more in exchange for the 24-year-old slugger.

The door remains open to a Cabrera deal materializing with the Winter Meetings opening on Monday in Nashville, Tenn., but Moreno seemed frustrated with the negotiations with Florida. “They’re doing it to everybody. I read that the Dodgers’ [general manager] Ned Colletti had a deal, and they changed [players] on him.” — mlb.com

Even casual Marlins fans know that Cabrera’s time in south Florida is down to less than one full season. He’s worth far more than this team is willing to pay him. So why not unload him now, before he can escape into the free agency status he richly deserves, and get something back? And yet…

The second baseball executive in two days questioned the Marlins, saying their trade demands for All-Star third baseman Miguel Cabrera are unrealistic.

‘’I hate to speak to somebody else’s business, but you wonder if they really want to trade the player or if they absolutely, positively have to win the deal in such a one-sided fashion,'’ San Francisco Giants general manager Brian Sabean said during a conference call Thursday with reporters. “Maybe they’re not going to get something done. I don’t know.'’ — Miami Hurled

When I call my contact in the Marlins’ front office — let’s just call him “Bats” — he’s bemused by the other owners’ reactions.

“What, they don’t know about this ownership group?” he asks rhetorically. “They don’t know these guys aren’t in it to win?”

Keep going, Bats.

“Luria and that sawed-off schmuck Samson tell you every day that they gotta make money. They don’t care about building a team from the ground up, y’know, with a strong minor league organization, marketing plans with the region, commitment to win, nunna that crap for them. So they play games with people.”

I don’t get it. What game are they playing with Cabrera?

“It ain’t about Cabrera. They already know what they’re doing with him: keeping him until about the trading deadline to get the most out of him, bring in the fans, sell tickets. Then they wave the wand and he’s gone.

“The games right now are with the other teams. See what they’re willing to give up. See whose minor league talent they can raid. Put the pieces together for the rest of the year after the trade and the following year so they can patch together a bargain basement outfit just interesting enough to advertise, not good enough to contend for a championship, but definitely eligible for revenue sharing.”

Well, that sucks.

“Yeah, but that’s business. That’s what these slimeballs did in Montreal, and cost the city their team. Way they see it, the World Series ain’t as important as the revenue sharing check. They’re rather be wealthy than winners.”

If that’s true, why on earth would anybody want to be a Marlins fan?

“Ha! Look at the empty stands on game day. You find a fan, ask him yourself!”