The Miami Marlins are continuing the turmoil that has marked their 29-year history as a Major League Baseball franchise.
CEO Derek Jeter, the Hall of Fame Yankee, announced Monday that he’s leaving his post and selling his stake in the team. Jeter doesn’t have a lot to boast about during his 4 ½-year tenure with the Marlins.
In his four seasons through last year, the Marlins had the fourth worst record in baseball. They did make the playoffs in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, but more than half the teams in baseball qualified that year. The Marlins had a 218-327 record during Jeter’s presence.
He said after last year’s season that the Marlins would both stock up on young players for the future and spend more on experienced players to win in the short term. It could be that principal owner Bruce Sherman wasn’t on board for the spending part of that equation.
Miami had the 27th lowest payroll out of 30 teams last year, only $61 million.
As for Jeter’s official assessment, "the vision for the future of the franchise is different than the one I signed up to lead." he said in a statement released by PR Newswire, not the Marlins.
That difference could be the spending.
“Joel Sherman of The New York Post reported that Jeter went into the lockout believing that there would be an additional $10 to $15 million that the Marlins would be able to spend on the 2022 roster," Sports Illustrated notes.
"However, that strategy reportedly ‘evaporated’ during the lockout, leading to Jeter’s decision to leave the franchise.”
Major League Baseball locked out its players in December. Players and owners are still seeking to reach an accord to get teams back on the field.
As for the Marlins, they won the World Series in 1997 and 2003, but they have seen players, management and owners cycle through Miami quickly during the team’s short existence.
