The Miami Marlins will live in the lap of luxury this season with extra-large seats, new couches, a massage table and card tables.

And it's not in their clubhouse, mind you. These are the perks in their new team plane. The Marlins have upgraded this year, leasing a Boeing 767-200 from a private company and retrofitting the jet to their liking.

"We want to give our players every opportunity to perform at the highest level they can," president of baseball operations Michael Hill said.

The Marlins hope their luxury plane can help protect players such as Giancarlo Stanton from the wear and tear of injuries that occur during a 162-game season. AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

The plane will look different from the outside, too, because it will bear the Marlins' logo.

Left fielder Christian Yelich is young enough to appreciate the team's roomy new plane, because he remembers all too well riding in cramped buses in Double-A two years ago.

The longest trip was 14 hours, between Jacksonville, Florida, and Jackson, Tennessee. His team would leave at 8 a.m. and arrive after dark.

"It was nothing worse than for probably every other guy in this room," Yelich said, looking around the spring training clubhouse he shares with some 60 teammates. "Sometimes the air conditioning wouldn't work, or the bus would break down and you're just sitting there. That's why I say any kind of plane is awesome."

For the Marlins to spend money on a new plane is another sign that the historically thrifty franchise has embarked on a new era. The transformation began with the record $325 million, 13-year contract the team gave slugger Giancarlo Stanton in November.

Subsequent acquisitions followed that likely will push the payroll above $70 million, by far the team's largest since 2012.

Owner Jeffrey Loria approved a bigger budget in other areas as well. Team president David Samson said the increased spending is possible because the franchise has reached financial stability entering the fourth year in its new ballpark, and revenue growth is projected in the next few years.

With that in mind, the Marlins have expanded their scouting, player development, marketing and sales departments. They've hired executive chefs to prepare meals at home games.

Samson declined to quantify the cost -- or the benefit.

"I'm hopeful the little things we do will make a difference at the end of the year," he said. "There's no way to measure it, but it feels right."

That's the case with the plane. In the past, the Marlins took charter flights, with the front office and coaching staff in first class and players in coach.

Closer Steve Cishek said he would never complain, because he realizes big leaguers are spoiled. But he acknowledged the charter flights were tough on his 6-foot-6 frame.

"I'm a guy who hates people that recline," Cishek said. "I wasn't comfortable by any means. You were kind of scrunched up.

"You've got Stanton curled up in a ball trying to sleep. He's a big dude -- he needs to be able to stretch his legs out."

The discomfort was compounded because the Marlins' trips cover more distance than most other teams'. It takes them five hours to get to the West Coast.

Samson believes the more comfortable plane can help prevent injuries.

"These guys play 162 games in 183 days," he said. "It's nonstop, and it hurts. Our job is to keep the best team we can on the field as long as possible. If you're crumpled up with your legs dangling over your armrest, that's not the prime way to be ready to play the next day."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.