Jeter's Marlins purge continues with firing of guy inside Billy the Marlin

Under a new ownership group fronted by celebrated baseball man Derek Jeter, the Miami Marlins began slashing payroll before the offseason even began, firing four franchise icons from special assistant roles that paid a reported $100,000 apiece.

They spent the winter dealing away most of their best players, including All-Star outfielders Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich and Marcel Ozuna, netting a solid haul in prospects in return but punting on a great nucleus of prime-aged position players under team control for at least the next two seasons. In January, reports surfaced that Jeter had attempted to entice investors with a plan called "Project Wolverine" that outlined how the team could turn a profit by shedding salaries.

Now there's this:

Cynics might cite the firing of the dude that played Billy the Marlin as yet another example of the Marlins' transparent effort to cut payroll everywhere possible, but it makes sense for the rebuilding club. Being a mascot, like playing center field, is a young person's game, and there's really no sense keeping the old Billy inside when you could be grooming the person who will serve as Billy the Marlin on the next Marlins' contender, whenever that may come.

And yeah, you might point out that the Marlins fairly easily could have been a contender this very season had they just kept their outfield and added a couple capable starting pitchers in an offseason in which no one seems to want free-agent starting pitchers, and that firing the freaking guy who spent the last 14 years wearing their stupid costume looks like a callous cash grab. But once they dealt Stanton, they closed their window, and the truth of it is that if you're committing to such a thing, you need a mascot who's similarly committed to such a thing. Horrible baseball teams, like the Marlins will very likely be in 2018, lean heavily on their mascots.

Someone send an extraction team for J.T. Realmuto, who is good.

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