Miami Marlins fans don’t believe team owner intends to win big in 2023: "Says the same thing every year" 

Miami Marlins owner Bruce Sherman greeted the media on Tuesday by declaring the team's winning intentions. Making his case that the historically low-spending Marlins have the second highest payroll in the team's history, he told reporters that the team is "working hard to win."

The 75-year-old Sherman led a business group that bought the Marlins for $1.2 billion from Jeffrey Loria in August 2017. Since then, the team has made the playoffs once, losing to the Atlanta Braves in the 2020 National League Championship Series.

The Miami Marlins are projected to have a 2023 payroll of just over $89 million. Miami is one of nine teams that is projected to have a payroll that is less than the $98.6 million in luxury tax that New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is estimated to owe this season. Miami will be one of the teams to receive a share of Cohen's tax payment.

However, as Sherman noted: "I'm not going to talk about other teams." Miami fans remain skeptical of their owner's intentions.

The Miami Marlins won two World Series championships in their first 11 years of existence. After joining the National League in 1993, they defeated the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) in seven games to win the 1997 World Series. In 2003, Miami (then known as the Florida Marlins) bested the New York Yankees in six games for the team's second MLB championship.

Since then, however, the team has had just five winning seasons. Miami's best season since 2003 was 2009, when the team managed to go 87-75 but missed the playoffs. They were just 31-29 when making the 2020 playoffs at the end of a pandemic-shortened season.

The Marlins have finished dead last in MLB attendance in three of the past five seasons and were second-to-last in 2022 with an average of 11,203 fans showing up per game, the Oakland Athletics were last with 9,973 fans per game.

LoanDepot Park, the current name of the stadium where Miami plays, is often one of the quietest parks in the majors as empty seats often outnumber fans three-to-one. Marlins fans have long had an adversarial relationship with their ownership.

Of course, it's not like Sherman could come right out and said the Marlins intended to be uncompetitive.

Miami Marlins play in a brutally tough division

Miami Marlins Introduce Skip Schumaker as Manager

With Don Mattingly gone as manager, Skip Schumaker will lead the Marlins this season. They finished with a 69-93 record last season, 32 games behind the Braves and Mets atop NL East. Both New York and Atlanta come back stronger in 2023, as does the Philadelphia Phillies, who went 87-75 last year and advanced to the World Series after claiming the final NL playoff spot.