The Carlos Delgado Sweepstakes has finally ended, some six weeks after the Jays had to bow out. ESPN reports that Carlos will now be taking aim at the rightfield seats at the newly-renamed Dolphins Stadium; the deal is with the Florida Marlins for four years at $52 million, plus a vesting option. Considering the contract he ultimately signed, it would have taken one heck of a hometown discount for the Jays to have landed their all-time leading slugger this offseason.
Carlos joins an increasingly star-studded South Florida pro sports landscape that also features Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O'Neal, Roberto Luongo, Josh Beckett and...um...Jason Taylor? More importantly, Delgado gets to continue playing home games in a cosmopolitan, progressive, and comparatively low-pressure city with excellent restaurant and music scenes...with the added bonus of warm weather, a reunion with ex-Jays teammate Al Leiter, a short period of time since his new club's last championship and an even shorter flight to Puerto Rico.
The Marlins, for their part, have both money to spend and a window of opportunity to compete; both are possible because of the youth (and relative affordability) of some of their best talent. They can now safely shift Paul LoDuca back to catcher and send out a reasonably well-balanced lineup, 1 through 8.
Good luck, Carlos; you were a valuable and likeable Blue Jay. Here's a photographic send-off from Batter's Box.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20050125052756999