payroll. This led local and national sportswriters, as well as Marlins fans, to criticize Loria's stated intentions of building a competitive team. Much of the controversy stemmed from the demands on local government to fund much of the construction at Marlins Park. Although the Marlins faced the threat of boycotts during the 2013 season from local residents, politicians, and sportswriters, Loria defended the November 2012 trade with the Blue Jays. He claimed that despite the Marlins' hefty payroll in 2012, the fans did not sell out the facility as imagined and that the organization was not winning and needed to "take a new course" in order to do so. In April 2013, Loria reportedly had Ricky Nolasco and José Fernández switch the games of a doubleheader in which they were scheduled to pitch, violating clubhouse protocol. In July 2013, hitting coach Tino Martinez, who had been handpicked by Loria, resigned following allegations that he verbally and physically assaulted players, including Chris Valaika. When the organization considered promoting Valaika to the majors in August after Plácido Polanco was placed on the disabled list, Loria vetoed the transaction, and the team promoted Gil Velazquez instead. Loria has been called "baseball's most hated man", its "worst owner", and even one of the "worst owner(s) in sports history". He is a "widely despised" figure in South Florida; in 2012, a Miami Herald poll found him with a six percent favorability rating among Marlins fans and Major League Baseball fans in South Florida. Loria sold the team in 2017 to a group led by Bruce Sherman. Political controversy In February 2017, it was reported that Loria had been in negotiations to sell the Marlins to the family of Jared Kushner, son-in-law of Donald Trump, and that the parties came to "a handshake deal". At the same time, the Trump Administration was working to name Loria the United States ambassador to France. In response, Kushner announced that his family would not buy the club if Loria was appointed to the position. Neither the appointment or the deal ultimately occurred. Personal life In 1980, he married Sivia Samson (divorced attorney Allen Samson); they divorced in 2005. His stepson, David Samson, served as the Marlins team president until September 2017. In 2007, he married Julie Lavin Loria. Loria still runs his art dealership, and is an honorary member of the board of overseers of the Benjamin N. Cardozo