MIAMI -- The Florida Marlins might not be fish out of water yet.

The Associated Press is reporting that Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga has offered land and money to the financially strapped Major League Baseball team to build a new ballpark on the property next to Dolphins Stadium.

The offer was reportedly made sometime last month, but the Marlins have yet to respond.

Marlins officials have been eager to get a stadium of their own. The team has shared a stadium with the Dolphins since the franchise began play in 1993.

Two weeks ago, Marlins President David Samson confirmed that MLB Commissioner Bud Selig has given the team permission to consider offers from other cities.

The move comes after years of negotiations between the team, the city of Miami, and Miami-Dade County to finance a new stadium. The Marlins requested a retractable-roof stadium at the site of 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 said 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. Portland, Ore., is also said to be a leading candidate for relocation consideration.

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."

That's not entirely true.

Last season, the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington and became the Nationals -- bringing baseball back to the nation's capital for the second time. Washington has had two other major league teams but had been without baseball for 33 years prior to last season.

Because the team has not responded to Huizenga, a source familiar with the discussions said he may rescind the offer.

Huizenga was the original owner of the Marlins before selling the team in 1997. He currently owns the Dolphins.