The Miami Marlins have completed their turnaround from fanless afterthought to spotlight hoggers. Though a finalized deal has not been announced, the team is being filmed for the Showtime series The Franchise.

 

The Miami Herald reported Thursday that the team's lunch with outfield prospect and Cuban defector Yoenis Cespedes was filmed by Major League Baseball. The Marlins have been rumored to be the subject of the show's second season, and MLB wants to have some offseason activity on film for the summertime series.

 

So while Cespedes was getting the full-court press from David Samson, Larry Beinfest and Michael Hill at Smith and Wollensky, cameras were rolling. 

 

Similar to Hard Knocks, the show that follows an NFL team during training camp. The first season of The Franchise covered the San Francisco Giants coming off a World Series victory.

 

As for Cespedes, his agent told ESPN that he plans to meet with other teams, though he will return to the Dominican Republic this week. After lunch, Cespedes toured the new ballpark in Little Havana, but both parties were mum on whether the Marlins made a contract offer.

 

Samson said the team was "negotiating aggressively" with Cespedes, but cautioned that the team does not view his signing as high-priority as those of Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle or Heath Bell. He said signing Cespedes would "put the cherry on top" of the offseason overhaul, but the Marlins have their limits.

 

The addition of Cespedes would certainly be welcomed by Showtime. A Cuban defector making his MLB debut in Miami makes for good television.

 

The Miami Heat were once called "Hollywood as hell" by Joakim Noah last year, but the Miami Marlins are doing their best to keep up.