<div align="center">2012: Recap Of An Eventful Season</div>

2012 was a very difficult year for Marlins fans to swallow all the hype and hope that came along with the new stadium and a newly created roster full of star caliber players such as Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Heath Bell, Anibal Sanchez, Josh Johnson and Hanley Ramirez, the media had the Marlins poised to be the break out team of the season, they were supposed to be unstoppable, however the early stumbles of the team sent the front office and team owners scrambling for the fire sales signs.


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And in very Marlins fashion Jeffrey Loria and David Samson systematically tore the team apart and once again decided to erase and start from scratch. First came the trade of Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante to Detroit for prospects, then Hanley was traded to the Dodgers for peanuts, Heath Bell was traded to the Diamond Backs for a single A player that has a career batting average of just barely over .200, and then came the big one, the move that would permanently seal the fate of the Marlins, and the city of Miami. The Marlins traded Josh Johnson, Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Emilio Bonifacio and John Buck to the Blue Jays for prospects, this move created ripples all over the country, in Miami fans were irate, people were calling for Loria’s and Samson’s heads, while others pleaded for MLB commissioner Bud Selig to step in and force Loria to sale the team.


After much thinking Selig decided to step in and force Loria’s hand, using the baseball’s best interest clause Selig forced Loria to sell the team. Seeing the opportunity Miami millionaire and Miami Heat owner Mikey Arison made a bid for the team, Arison’s bid was accepted by the MLB.
Arison’s arrival means the beginning of a new era of Miami baseball, Mikey is a trusted owner in the city and his work with the Heat has showed the fans that he can be trusted upon to help create a strong championship caliber team.

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Mikey Arison, Marlins new owner.</div>

Arison held a press conference a couple of days after taking ownership of the team, in this conference he addressed many of the fan’s concerns about the competitiveness of the team and what the plan will be going forward into the 2013 season.


Arison’s response to the concerns has been a strong one, he started by getting rid of Loria’s ineffective front office and bringing in Brian Sabean from the San Francisco Giants, Sabean is the man responsible for the great run the Giants have had in the past 5 years.


The process of rebuilding the marlins franchise and image has begun and moves have already been made. The first move that the new front office made was to ship pitcher and Marlins “ace” Ricky Nolasco to Cleveland in return the Marlins received 2 of Cleveland’s top 10 prospects, the Marlins also traded Wade LeBlanc to the Chicago Cubs for a pitching prospect, during free agency the Marlins where conservative and only made 2 signings one was for 3rd baseman Alberto Callaspo of the Kansas City Royals the other was signing catcher (Insert Name Here), this should help cover some of the bigger holes the team has, the team also offered minor league deals with spring training invitations to pitcher Jason Due and 1st baseman Joe Langdon.


However some fans did not feel that this was enough to renew their trust, Arison invited fans to a press conference in which he addressed many of their questions including the aforementioned question to which he replied, this team has gone through a total “transformation” before I took over, the management of the team needs time to asses our current players and determine what our course of action will be.
Arison’s openness to engage the fans and openly address issues has helped the new Marlins owner win over the hostile fan base left behind by Loria, and it couldn’t be a better time for the fan base to start viewing the team in a different light as spring training loomed near.