MIAMI -- The Marlins may be leaving Miami because of a stadium deal that just can't seem to be worked out.

Tuesday afternoon, Marlins President David Samson confirmed that Major League Baseball has given the team the go-ahead to consider offers from other cities.

The move comes after years of negotiations between the team, the city of Miami, and Miami-Dade County. The Marlins requested a retractable-roof stadium at the Orange Bowl, but as of last spring, the funding gap to build the stadium had grown to $30 million.

Because of increasing construction costs, the Marlins say that gap has now grown to nearly $100 million.

The team and the city had hoped that the state would make up the deficit with tax funds, but the inactivity of the state caused that solution to die. In May, the Senate let the legislative session end without taking a vote on a $60 million tax break bill that had already passed in the House.

Senate President Tom Lee said that the measure had virtually no support among his members. Lee said about 30 of the 40 senators were opposed to the subsidy, not to mention the millions more included for other sports projects.

Samson would not say what offers the Marlins will consider, but Las Vegas has been mentioned repeatedly over the last year as a possible new location for the franchise.

Tuesday, Samson said that the announcement doesn't necessarily mean the team is leaving, but he did say if something doesn't change, "Miami could be the first major city to see its baseball team leave."

South Florida Mayors Respond To Announcement

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez issued a statement in regards to the Marlins' announcement. He said:

"The Florida Marlins must make decisions which are in the best interest of the team. I am and will continue to be supportive of the team's efforts to build a stadium in South Florida. Miami-Dade County will continue to explore any and all options to keep the Marlins in our community.
"As I have said before, baseball is an important part of our community fabric and the Marlins are a world-series winning team of which we can be proud."

Local 10's Michael Putney spoke to Miami Mayor Manny Diaz to get his reaction, especially to Samson's indication that the city did not "negotiate in good faith."

Diaz said, "The city and the county have acted always together and have worked together putting everything that we have on the table to make this deal possible. We've acted in very good faith and they (the Marlins) have chosen this route.

When Putney asked if he thought this was the end of the possibility of keeping the Marlins in Miami, Diaz said, "I don't know if it is over or not. I haven't spoken to them. They haven't even bothered to call me."

Diaz was defensive about the city's dealings with the Marlins.

He said, "We have negotiated in good faith from the very beginning. I'd love nothing more than to get this deal done, but I am not going the tax payers of Miami at risk, and I don't think the county will either."

Watch Local 10 News for in-depth team coverage of the announcement and its impact on players and fans, and find out how politics played a role in the negotiations.