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We’ve heard for weeks that Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria plans to sell the team this season, but here comes the most concrete report yet. From the Miami Herald: 

The Marlins are actively engaged in discussions with four groups and have had additional conversations with two others. MLB is aware of the identity of the Marlins suitors, which include both local and out-of-town investors.

The Marlins, as of Friday, had not struck a deal with any of the six suitors but would like to reach an agreement with someone in the coming months, with closing and MLB approval before the end of the year.

So we’ve got a bidding war and the league aware of the new possible owners. That sounds really promising to those fans who want Loria out of the game (that’s all of us, right?). We’ve previously heard that brother-in-law of Ivanka Trump, Joshua Kushner, is part of one group vying to buy the team. Otherwise we haven’t heard the names of any other group involved in the bidding. 

Loria got into Major League Baseball as part owner of the Montreal Expos. As part of a deal with then-Marlins owner John Henry in 2002, Loria was “traded” to become owner of the Marlins while Henry took over the Red Sox. So Loria became the owner of the Marlins in 2003, when they won the World Series. He dismantled that team the next year and the club hasn’t made the playoffs since -- the second-longest playoff drought in baseball behind the Mariners (2001). 

It should be noted that in the Herald report linked above, the columnist mentions that a new owner doesn’t necessarily mean an increase in payroll and that the Marlins are toward the bottom of the league in TV revenue with a deal that doesn’t expire until 2020.