Maybe he remembers that the 1997 Florida Marlins were able to buy a championship.
Loria and the Marlins already had made the biggest news at these winter meetings by coming out of the gate with a six-year, $106 million deal for shortstop Jose Reyes and a three-year, $27 million deal for closer Heath Bell.
With the signing of Reyes and Bell, it seemed as if the Marlins wanted to make a big splash as they prepared to move into their new ballpark. Instead, they want to be the 400-pound guy who does the cannonball that empties all the water from the free-agent pool.
Immediately after completing the Reyes megadeal, the Marlins entered into serious negotiations for Albert Pujols, the grand prize of this free-agent class and the most accomplished player to ever reach the open market. As Tuesday night neared an end, the Marlins were on the verge of giving Pujols more than 200 million reasons to leave behind his legacy in St. Louis for a chance to hang out on South Beach.
If the Marlins can pull off this deal, they will have a Big Three that sizes up quite nicely with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, and looks significantly better than the trio of Nnamdi Asomugha, Cullen Jenkins, and Vince Young.
Just the thought of a lineup with Pujols, Reyes, and Hanley Ramirez got Charlie Manuel's blood flowing, especially considering that the Marlins also have the game's best young slugger in Mike Stanton and another rising young slugger in the lefthanded hitting Logan Morrison.
"You bring in Pujols, that's a leader right there," the Phillies manager said. "He's going to bring a lot of pop in there, and those young players are going to look up to him. He's just a really great piece to have as far as leadership goes."
Yeah, and the .328 career batting average, .420 on-base percentage, and 445 career home runs would look nice, too.
