On a humid June evening in Miami, the lights were on, the lineups were set, and Major League Baseball was open for business, except hardly anyone showed up. Just 5,894 fans filtered into loanDepot Park, scattered across rows of empty seats like it was a meaningless spring training scrimmage. It wasn’t. It was a regular-season game between the Miami Marlins and the Colorado Rockies in the heart of summer. But to many, it felt more like a referendum on the state of two franchises drifting further into irrelevance.

This wasn’t an isolated night of bad attendance, it was a symptom of a deeper crisis. The Miami Marlins and Colorado Rockies have become synonymous with dysfunction: promising rebuilds that never happen. And now, the fans are speaking, through their absence.

Veteran MLB reporter Ken Rosenthal didn’t hold back when addressing the alarming scene. “Baseball gets what it deserves when you have a crowd of 5,000 for those two teams,” he said. “Those two teams don’t deserve even 5,000, and I’m not trying to disrespect the players necessarily. It’s just the way the franchise is run, the performances on the field.” His frustration was palpable, and so was the truth behind it.

In Miami, it’s another teardown. Again. They’re shipping off talent, maybe even Sandy Alcantara, and loading up on young arms with no clear timeline for competitiveness. Rosenthal pointed out that while the Marlins technically have “a direction,” it’s one they never seem willing to see through. “At some point, you’ve got to surround young players with quality veteran help,” he said. “And the Marlins don’t seem interested in doing that.”

The Rockies, meanwhile, continue to sink without even pretending to fix the leaks. They’re not rebuilding, they’re just there. No urgency, no clear plan, and now, apparently, not too many fans.

Rosenthal’s criticism hits both clubs equally because the root problem is the same: passive ownership. It’s a call of action for fans to demand better and for MLB to hold teams accountable. Because if this is baseball’s future, 5,000 people and a whole lot of apathy, it’s a future nobody should accept.

Miami Marlin’s familiar cycle: Tear down, repeat

You’ve seen this movie before – the Miami Marlins get a little momentum, flash some young talent, maybe sneak into a wild card spot, and just when fans start to believe something sustainable is finally being built, the teardown begins. Again. It’s a routine that’s become exhausting, predictable, and worst of all, self-inflicted.

This season, the Marlins appear to be pressing that same tired reset button. Sandy Alcantara, their ace and 2022 NL Cy Young winner, is reportedly available for trade, though even that might be delayed until his value rebounds.

Edward Cabrera, Jesus Sanchez, and other below-par performers could be dealt with before the deadline. What’s the endgame? More prospects. More “potential.” But when the promise never materializes into progress, fans check out, and who can blame them?

While critics might say at least Miami has a plan, Ken Rosenthal pointed out the real issue: they never finish the job. “We can’t criticize them for not having a direction. They have a direction,” he said. “It’s just a matter of when this finally turns around.”

Until ownership invests in actual growth instead of just reshuffling the roster, this cycle of rebuilding without reward may just keep spinning, and fans may just keep walking away.