A sign of the times, and a sign of the future were rolled up into one on a steamy Saturday morning on the grounds of the Orange Bowl.
In the shadows of what will eventually be the new home of the Marlins, the organization officially signed the player who now becomes the building block of the franchise for years to come.
On a portable stage, in front of media and a gathering of fans, Hanley Ramirez put his signature on the largest contract in Marlins' history, six years and $70 million. It's an extension that kicks in next year, and it runs through 2014.
Escorted to the morning news conference in the team's luxury bus, Ramirez was greeted by a couple of dozen youth baseball players, who created a path for the Florida shortstop to the stage and the gathering that awaited his arrival.
"When I first got here, I was happy seeing the little kids," said Ramirez, who has a special place for children perhaps partly because he isn't far removed from their ages. "Seeing this makes you want to work harder every day.
"I've got a long way to go. I'm going to try to keep working, and trying to get my team ready every day, and help them out. They're helping me. Since the first day, I want to thank them, because they helped me out a lot."
South Florida is often regarded as an event-driven area, and the team certainly dressed up the morning activities. The stage was lined with balloons. The conference was open to the public, with free water and chips available to everyone.
Ramirez, a Cadillac of a player, is already putting the final touches on one of his first major financial investments.
Shortly after his morning news conference, he said he had an appointment to pick up a new Bentley.
The setting on Saturday was symbolic since the Marlins are planning on moving into a 37,000-seat, retractable-roof ballpark in 2011.
Among those in attendance were team owner Jeffrey Loria, team president David Samson, president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest and general manager Michael Hill.
Ramirez's agent, Andy Mota, along with his parents and son, Hanley Jr., were at the conference, which was on a baseball field across the street from the rubble that once was the Orange Bowl.
Among the special guests were City of Miami mayor Manny Diaz, city commissioner Angel Gonzalez, city manager Pedro Hernandez, Miami-Dade County commissioner Bruno Barreiro, and city of Hialeah mayor Julio Robaina.
Ramirez, who at 24 is one of the best all-around players in the game, now becomes center piece of the organization.
"In this player, you're talking about a player who could be an MVP candidate every year, an All-Star every year," Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest said. "He is the type of player that you would want to build a team around. He's just done everything very well for two years."
Acquired from the Red Sox on Thanksgiving night in 2005, Ramirez was part of the blockbuster trade that sent Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell to Boston.
In 2006, Ramirez was the National League Rookie of the Year. He followed that up by batting .332 with 29 homers and 125 runs scored in 2007.
Once again, he is off to a terrific start: .317 batting average, nine homers, 23 RBIs, 34 runs scored and 13 stolen bases.
"From Day One in Spring Training in 2006, he's been nothing but outstanding," Loria said. "There were no rookie jitters, no sophomore slumps."
There was no debating the talents of Ramirez, a native of the Dominican Republic, who had his parents and son at the news conference Saturday morning.
What had been in question is whether the organization would revise its thinking of locking up players through their arbitration seasons and into their free agency years.
That uncertainty in seasons past led to the departures of all the players from the 2003 World Series title team.
The landscape for the franchise, however, has changed in light of the new ballpark.
Ramirez is making $439,000 this season, but his salary will jump to $5.5 million in 2009. And from 2009-2011, he will make $23.5 million.
If he didn't sign long term, Ramirez would have been eligible for free agency in 2012. The team insisted on three years of would-be free agency, and those seasons are where the shortstop will collect the bulk of his contract: $15 million in 2012, $15.5 million in 2013 and $16 million in 2014.
As part of the contract, Ramirez will make charitable contributions to the Florida Marlins Community Foundation.
With financial security, Ramirez said: "I'm going to give my family a nice surprise."
Locking up Ramirez long term was initially discussed internally dating back to the end of last season. The idea was presented to Loria before Spring Training, and an offer was made to Ramirez shortly before the March 31 season opener.
With a payroll of $22 million this season, the Marlins do have financial limitations until they move into their new park.
Loria acknowledged that getting Ramirez signed was made possible because of the commitment from local leaders to getting the stadium deal done.
The Marlins also haven't ruled out approaching others on the roster about multiyear deals.
Among the players who will be arbitration eligible next season are: Dan Uggla, Jeremy Hermida, Mike Jacobs, Josh Willingham, Scott Olsen, Kevin Gregg, Alfredo Amezaga, Justin Miller and Matt Treanor.
"If the player met the criteria, we wouldn't hesitate to bring that to Jeffrey and then take it from there," Beinfest said. "At the present time, we have not recommended any player on our roster, other than Hanley.
"You have to look at everything. You have to look at the salary allocation of that player, if we were to lock him up, and what the future team is gong to look like with him on it. Is the player healthy? Is his trend line going up? There are a lot of different things. We've got a lot of good, young players. We'll look at everything. We'll look at it on a daily basis and take it from there."
While the Marlins are hopeful that their stadium will be ready in 2011, there is some opposition to the project. Currently, a lawsuit by luxury automobile dealer Norman Braman has been filed that could potentially snag some of the funding.
The issue is scheduled to go to trial in July.
The team, however, continues to move forward in preparation of having a new home in 2011. The hope is to break ground in November.
"Frankly, it's inconceivable to me that anything would go forward without this new stadium," Loria said when asked about possible glitches to the ballpark. "Can you image what Miami would look like trying to do business and bringing new businesses into this community if they didn't go forward with this? But anyway, that's not the issue. The issue today is Hanley. And Hanley is special."
Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
