Last offseason, the Miami Marlins made a splash by signing Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Heath Bell and manager Ozzie Guillen.

    The big name free agents and marquee manager were brought in by Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria to help get fans into the seats of the new $634 million Marlins Park that opened this last season.

    Fast forward to earlier this week and all four of those individuals brought to South Florida to make a splash are now gone along with some other key pieces for what was a team that finished the season 30 games under .500.

    Now Marlins fans feel ripped off and Toronto Blue Jays just became a whole lot more relevant in the American League East as they were the team that benefited from the Marlins fire sale, acquiring Reyes, Buehrle and starter Josh Johnson for a handful of young players and cash. This, of course, is assuming that commissioner Bud Selig approves the blockbuster deal.

    If he does the Marlins will again be the laughing stock of Major League Baseball.

    Loria learned a lesson that many other owners in recent years have learned: Going and spending large amounts of money on free agents does not always result in winning championships.

    In fact, more often than not it results in a fire sale that the Marlins are currently in the middle of.

    Loria and his front office tried to repeat what got the Marlins their two previous World Series titles in 1997 and 2003. But instead of getting a third title, everything blew up in his face and now the fans and city are upset and feeling fleeced.

    The first mistake the Marlins made was bringing in Guillen as manager.

    Sure ownership tried to build a team that was capable of winning a title and I am sure that Guillen believed he was the guy to win it, but if you watch any baseball games today’s big leaguers do not respond well to mangers that say whatever they want about whoever they want. That is exactly the type of person Guillen is.

    After leading the Marlins into last place, he was fired in the regular season’s final two weeks.

    Heath Bell signed to be the Marlins’ closer, and was taken out of that role early in the season. He was shipped off to Arizona in October. Miami will still pay $8 million of his salary.

    The biggest prizes of the offseason in Reyes and Buehrle underachieved in their only season in Miami and Johnson was signed to big money contract extension last year.

    Each very well could be residents of Toronto by the end of the week.

    The trade has not been finalized by Major League Baseball as of yet because Selig is evaluating and trying to see if Miami received equal compensation in the trade.

    All signs point to the deal being approved and Blue Jays fans will jumping for joy with their new additions.

    During the offseason when Loria and the Marlins went on their spending spree, many baseball insiders wondered where the money to sign all of the high-priced free agents came from. No answer was ever given.

    With recent events one begins to wonder if Loria and the Marlins actually had the money to pay these free agents to begin with.

    The fans in South Florida have every reason to be upset with the events of the last year and the fact that an iconic sports venue, the Orange Bowl, was demolished to build Marlins Park. Sadly the product inside the stadium appears to be no better than it was when the team played in Sun Life, Joe Robbie, Pro Player or whatever name their former home is now known as.

    As a fan of a team that just went though a ownership change I feel sorry for you Marlins fans. It is going to be a long few years.