Guess what? Miami City Commissioners are wondering if a Marlins ballpark deal will ever come to fruition. They’re making plans to demolish the Orange Bowl after the last scheduled event at the old stadium – a high school sporting event on Jan. 4 – regardless of whether a ballpark will ever be built there.

The commission set a deadline of its Dec. 13 meeting for an update on ballpark negotiations, but wants to hear from the Marlins sooner whether they want to build a ballpark at the OB site.

With no other sites under consideration at the moment – Major League Baseball President Bob DuPuy said Wednesday the OB site is the only one being considered at this time – the message should be that the Marlins are willing to accept the OB site.

That doesn’t mean they think it’s a good idea financially. Both the team and MLB have concerns that a ballpark at the OB won’t be as successful as one downtown that would be easier to access from roadways and public transportation and closer to more parking spots. They know fans have voiced their frustration with the site, saying it’s hard to get to, there’s limited parking or they won’t go at all. Remember, this is 81 games, on both weeknights and weekends, not six University of Miami Hurricanes games on Saturdays.

With the Hurricanes announcing in August their move to Dolphin Stadium next year, some mistakenly believed a Marlins ballpark deal would easily come together at the city-owned OB site with the $50 million in bond money and another $38 million in city money for the Orange Bowl upgrade shifted to the project. But this is a deal that has never been easy to put together.

Make no mistake, negotiations are ongoing among the city, Miami-Dade County, the Marlins and MLB and the hope is to have a deal together by December. But no one is saying publicly precisely how much a stadium at the OB will cost and what each side is now willing to contribute, particularly since the Marlins are reducing the amount they said they would pledge to a downtown stadium since the focus is now on the OB.

Miami City Manager Pete Hernandez told commissioners Thursday night that costs have grown in part because a construction schedule might need to be expedited to meet the team's goal of opening a new ballpark in 2011, since its lease at Dolphin Stadium expires after the 2010 baseball season.

“Their contribution will be somewhat less,” Hernandez said of the Marlins, without elaborating. “Because of the increase in the costs and the Marlins contributing less, the gap is somewhat larger.”

The more time passes, the more costs grow and the Marlins and MLB want to stick to the idea of a 2011 opening, meaning a deal needs to get struck by year’s end.