David Samson Quotations

We're marketing no expectation, and we're trying to introduce people to players.

We're not a free-agent pitcher. We're a team looking for a right fit.

We always have hurricane awareness, we advertise that at games, talk about it, and we try to schedule more off days in September for makeup games.

Seat capacity will be similar, but in terms of design, that was designed to be next to the Orange Bowl, so the design will be different.

Portland has more work they need to do to become a Major League city, and we have more work we're doing in terms of going to other cities and exploring those cities.

Carlos is a valuable member of this team and we look at him the way we look at all of our players: Everyone gets evaluated at the end of the year,

I don't think one player gets a stadium deal done. Cities that want baseball want it for 50 years. They're looking for the name on the front of the jersey. They're not focused on a specific player.

We told (Wolff) we wouldn't waste his time. We have too much respect for the county judge and the mayor. This has never been about leverage in South Florida. This is about finding a home for the Marlins.

We told them that Florida is our first choice, but we have no deal yet.

We look forward to discussing this plan with Judge Wolff. It's the first step of a long, interesting process to see if there is a match.

Our focus is on staying in South Florida, that's our only goal. Five of the last seven new (major league) ballparks were built after teams started to relocate and didn't.

Miami, the Gateway to the Americas, could well be the first American city in 35 years to see its baseball franchise leave. People in Washington D.C. know very well how long it took to get a team back.

We do have the best grounds crew in the sport. But sometimes things happen that are out of their control.

We're definitely negotiating with everybody, and we're trying to get a deal done here because it is our first choice. But we recognize it may not happen and we don't have much time left.

We have bent over backwards with the amount of genuflecting we've done to ingratiate ourselves with the Montreal community.

We've discovered now that our best chance, and the best chance for baseball in South Florida, is to get a building built somewhere and making it work. The important thing is keeping the team here.

We promised we would explore all areas and all possible sites.

We asked them a few questions, they asked us a few questions. We're both going to answer each other's questions and then see about another meeting.

We have been contacted by many cities, and we have not really commented until if and when we visit.

There is a definite sense of urgency on everybody's part that has not existed before.

We thought it would be a good opportunity to have a chance to say hello and get to know them. The commissioners are very important people in the community. We want to spend a quality nine innings with them.

We have to be somewhere in 2011 and we could be somewhere as early as 2008. There is a temporary place to play in Norfolk, which is something we could look at strongly.

We have made progress from an initial conversation to an indication of interest from the business community, from the cooperate community, from the fans, from the political community. We're serious, because Jeffrey and the mayor would not allocate their time this way if they weren't.

We've had no comment because we were asked by Jeffrey to evaluate all options prior to making another comment, and that process is on the cusp of being completed, ... We've been reviewing all our options.

We've never had this many renewals this early,

This was going to be the year we were going to open the new stadium. So opening day I'm projecting sadness for myself, because it was going to be in a new stadium.

We cannot contemplate a scenario where we would stay at Dolphins Stadium beyond 2010.

To imagine baseball getting involved is not far-fetched. How the involvement will end up looking is not yet determined.

You have to look at the stadium issue. You have to look at all sorts of other things that go on and work that into the equation. He is losing a lot of money. He has put money into this team four straight years. Three of them have produced winning (records). We've got to see what happens.

We spent $15 million designing that stadium, and we don't know how much is reusable on a new site.

We simply must play in a baseball-only facility.

We talked about a financing plan they had in mind that would require a very small contribution by the team. We told them our preference is to stay in Florida, but we have no deal in Florida. We agreed that we will stay in touch.

We scheduled it that way. They were spring break games and we turned them into afternoon games so people who had commitments at night would be able to come to the game in the afternoon. It's keeping all the options open for everybody.

There's no more fake deadlines or real deadlines. This is about the Marlins trying to save its franchise. We need a place to play after 2010, and we don't have one.

I understand what they are doing. They are trying to do what is best for their community. At the same time, things don't often work as quickly as you like them to work in any scenario. Deadlines, once they are broken, you've got credibility issues.

Right now we are working with the officials of Hialeah, and we're working with the mayor there. He's a great man. He's got vision. He wants to see baseball there. He's doing his work; we're doing our work. We hope to meet again in the next couple of weeks. We're exploring other cities with the focus still on Florida. We'll see how the year progresses.

That's not a problem. We had to get permission from Major League Baseball, so it's not a problem.

This is important because it shows it's not just about baseball. We've always said that the community is what matters the most. In order to have fans, you have to have a community. For people who lost their homes, it's hard for them to be fans if they have no place to live. This is a far bigger priority.

There were no deal discussions. It was very much an introductory meeting. It was 'getting to know you' day. We got to meet people and talk to them and learn more about Portland than what you can read about in the paper and in typical analyses.

It's a (term) that has a connotation that is very frustrating to me. In a fire sale, you don't need a GM or an owner for that. You actually just need a booth. You stand there and say, 'Here's our players. Come get them. First come, first served, quick as you can.' That's not what this is.

It should be noted that Miami and south Florida continue to be our first choice. But the reality is we don't have a deal there because our lease expires after 2010.

That's not what this is. This is a deliberate effort by the Marlins to correct what ails them. And what ails us is the amount of money lost.

Talks are serious, but until financial plans are discussed, it's preliminary.

It's definitely serious when you are presented a financing plan and when you talk as much as we are.

No longer can baseball in South Florida be assured,

Nothing is scheduled. I suspect we'll sit with them at some point, but nothing is scheduled.

They've made more progress because they've been more involved on a day-to-day basis.

I haven't seen a spot that really sticks out anywhere in South Florida. There is no perfect site. If you are too far south, the people north are unhappy. If you're too far east, the people out west are unhappy. So, I believe now the new perfect site is anywhere, and we'll teach people how to drive to the stadium. We'll build a tradition in this building for 30-40 years, and people will be more comfortable attending baseball games.

Governments do make decisions when they attract businesses to the community. Baseball is not the only industry, by any stretch, to ask for government help when deciding where to have its corporate headquarters.

For now, we must focus on the names on the front of the jersey. Not the name on the back.

The fiscal insanity that Jeffrey was willing to be a part of for all these years is over. We've been asked time and time again, when does it end? And today is that day.

The early view we have is that it's viable right now. We need to see how revenues are going to grow and make sure it can sustain itself.