multi-millionaire jeffrey loria would like your sympathy, please

Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, who has $500 million to his name, hired some well-connected suits a few years back and got himself $2.4 billion worth of brand new baseball stadium. The stolen ballyard opened last year with high hopes and a star-heavy roster only to flop badly, at which point Loria and company dumped the stars and their salaries without getting major talent in return. Naturally he's been getting slammed for it so he hired a PR firm. In other words he hired people to deceive on his behalf, to convince the little people whose money he stole that he's doing the best he can. This AP story mentions the PR firm, then allows the PR firm to give Loria's story without rebuttal or analysis or mockery. Well played, I guess. But this is the good part:   

Loria is widely viewed as the culprit.

Angry fans have complained they expected the new ballpark to mean competitive payrolls for more than just one season. Instead they endured the latest in a series of payroll purges, which made the franchise the butt of jokes around the country.

"It's a constant, sometimes personal pounding," Marlins president David Samson said after Loria had left the room. "It's hard for anyone. On top of that, you're writing checks. It's hard. But I understand every side."

Poor Jeffrey, trying so hard. He's writing checks! With stolen money! And at the same time he has to listen to haters hating. Have they tried to lead? Do they know how hard it is to run a franchise (into the ground)? No one appreciates Jeffrey, sniff, sniff.

The projected payroll for this year is less than $45 million, which would likely be the smallest in the majors. Loria said he expects it to begin rising again, but it may be a long time before the Marlins return to last year's $90 million level.
"We're never going to get to $100 million," Loria said. "We don't have the TV contract to do that."

Did I mention he's a $500 million dollar man? Seems like there were some options taken off the table there that maybe shouldn't have been.