The Florida Marlins have agreed to a 4-year, $39 million contract with ace pitcher Josh Johnson, and it was about damn time. Owner Jeffrey Loria had never given one of his pitchers a long-term deal before. He had shown the door to Josh Beckett, Carl Pavano and Brad Penny among others.
Was it just a coincidence that Johnson got signed just a couple of days after Major League Baseball reprimanded the Marlins for not spending enough money? Don't know, don't care. What counts in the end is that, for the first time ever, the Marlins have a foundation to rely on for years to come with shortstop Hanley Ramirez and Johnson signed through at least 2014.
This means that they are no longer an organization that sees its players grow just to trade them away and maybe, just maybe, started thinking more about winning and less about the bottom line. The Marlins' new stadium opens in 2012, and now everyone knows who will be throwing the first pitch on Opening Day that year.
That turns the onus toward Marlins fans. Ever since the 2003 World Series came to an end, the Marlins have drawn less than 20,000 people on an almost daily basis. When the crowd was over 20K it was only because more than half of it was comprised of Mets, Yankees or Cubs fans.
One of the main complaints by Marlins' fans had been that the two fire sales in 1997 and 2006 didn't allow them to trust the team any longer. The heat in July is still going to be annoying, but now there is no excuse for fans to not show up if the team is contending in August and September.
This is just the start for the Marlins. They still need to get one more quality bat to protect Hanley,a reliable third starter, and see what they can get out of second baseman Dan Uggla and righ-fielder Jeremy Hermida in the trade market.
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