Marlins fans fall hook, line and stinker

• The Marlins drew 2.2 million to the new ballpark last season
• Marlins Park cost $515 million to build with public financing picking up most of the cost
• City of Miami commissioner: "It just wasn't a good idea"

It took years of political fighting to get a new stadium built in South Florida, but less than a year to build up and tear down the Miami Marlins.

This was not lost on politicians and Marlins fans Wednesday, a day after the team reached agreement with the Toronto Blue Jays on a 12-play trade that virtually completed another epic fire sale for the National League East squad.

Last winter, the Marlins spent $190 million to lure free agents, including All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes, left-hander Mark Buehrle and closer Heath Bell. They've been traded this offseason, with Reyes and Buehrle joining right-hander Josh Johnson, catcher John Buck and utilityman Emilio Bonifacio in the deal with Toronto, which netted mostly prospects.

After opening the 2012 season with a $118 million payroll, the Marlins are in line to pay $30 million to $40 million for next year's team.

"We took four hours worth of calls, and it was four hours worth of venom and fury," said Marc Hochman, morning sports talk radio host on Miami's 790/104.3 The Ticket. "I think (the Marlins) knew that was going to be the reaction when they did this. I don't think that they're stupid.

"They drew 2.2 million to the new ballpark last season, the first season, so will the venom and fury translate to a million fewer tickets sold? Or will things be the same? That remains to be seen."

Marlins Park cost $515 million to build with public financing picking up a large percentage of the price tag. According to a report issued by Miami-Dade County, where the stadium was built, the bonds it issued to cover the cost will amount to $2.4 billion when it is paid off in 40 years.

"I didn't vote for the stadium, so I saw this coming," said Marc Sarnoff, a City of Miami commissioner representing District 2. "It just wasn't a good idea."

And worse, says Sarnoff, there is nothing politicians or fans can do.

"There is no leverage. We're married to this deal. We're all in this deal together," said Sarnoff. "When commissioners don't do their due diligence and don't understand what they're doing, this is what takes place."

Almost all of the ire is being directed at Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria and team president David Samson, who have overseen similar fire sales with the Marlins in 2004 and '09.

Loria has "done it pretty frequently," Sarnoff said. "Historically there are two ways of making money in baseball because of the socialist model that it has. One is to have an extremely low expense, and the other is to have great attendance … and usually great attendance means you're a great team unless you're Boston, New York, Milwaukee maybe."