Offishial news, 10/17/23: Bruce Sherman's lack of trust in Kim Ng

[Ely Sussman]

Monday's Games

Marlins Podcast Episodes

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0eTvvh6tylPRBRdejsNgcY?si=TZg544A4Sju3cV69Q80qUQ

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• Monday's AFL/winter ball updates: IF Nasim Nuñez went 1-for-3 with a walk and two stolen bases and IF Jacob Berry went 0-for-3 with a walk. Nuñez has gone 8-for-8 on steal attempts in his nine games played. RHP Zach McCambley pitched a scoreless inning. The Peoria Javelinas have lost four of their last five games.

• Kim Ng is not coming back to the Marlins. Bruce Sherman reportedly offered her a contract extension to continue as general manager, but under the condition that he would pursue a new top executive to serve as president of baseball operations. I have many thoughts about this messy situation as expressed in the podcast episodes embedded above. To be concise, it's disappointing to see the Marlins hemorrhaging leadership and brainpower, and I wish Ng immense success when she inevitably lands with another MLB front office. While Sherman may have been uncomfortable elevating Ng to president of baseball ops given her mixed track record as GM, wouldn't that be preferable to starting from scratch? Doesn't it send a horrible message to job candidates that their predecessor wasn't appreciated by ownership on the heels of such a successful season? Brian Chattin is serving as the club's interim GM.

https://fishonfirst.com/news/kim-ng-marlins-part-ways/

• Elsewhere around the majors, the Rangers are still undefeated in postseason competition after holding on to win their second straight ALCS road game. José Leclerc has pitched in all seven of those contests. The Phillies led wire to wire in their Game 1 victory over the Diamondbacks. Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper (who was celebrating his 31st birthday) and Nick Castellanos each homered off of Zac Gallen in their first plate appearances.

• A raucous Citizens Bank Park will be hosting NLCS Game 2 tonight.

• Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reminds us that just a few weeks ago, Sherman said Ng was doing a "fabulous" job. But Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic describes Sherman as "a huge proponent of analytics" who has "different ideas regarding personnel decisions and where some of the team’s resources should be allotted." Glenn Geffner's View from the Bleachers explains why Sherman's handling of her should not come as a surprise.

• Kevin Barral reports on Jacob Berry's fall league performance, including Berry's reflections on the 2023 regular season.

https://fishonfirst.com/farm/jacob-berry-arizona-fall-league-quotes/

• Our 2023 Marlins Season Review series keeps expanding. Check back daily for more articles from the FOF staff.

Photo by Jasen Vinlove/Miami Marlins

 

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[Guest Kommenter]

I am not so sure I believe the rumors about the team wanting to add yet another layer of expensive management to the front office. Without Jeter or Denbo and their massive salaries, the team acheived success on the field and did much better financially in terms of ticket sales. More attendance leads to more parking, concession and merch sales and some of these folks can turn into long time fans, boosing TV viewership and long-term attendance. So Sherman generated more money in 2023 while spending much less on management. In addition to a head of baseball operations is he also going to fill the CEO slot, which paid Jeets a cool $5 mil annually. I suspect it was more about lower level micromanaging by Bruce and a demand that she reduce the salary budget which he allowed her to increase at the trade deadline.

On the other hand, given the failures in free agents, the draft and hitter development, it does make sense to hire someone to take on these roles and to let a GM just run the MLB team. But the way it has been described is it would have been a demotion for Kim with someone above her making the decisions. When I have been faced with such a situation in my career, I just mailed it in, working as little as possible and letting the new boss do all the work.

In terms of her replacement, Sherman was giddy about hiring a double minority and probably wants to outdo himself to impress his liberal cocktail circuit pals. Who are the top ranked LBTQG executives in a baseball? Are there any who are also dwarfs or perhaps Native Americans because those minorities have not been tapped yet and Bruce could make three firsts hiring the first Native American, dwarf, LBGTQ General Manager in all of professional sports.

Or perhaps we could hire the first Jewish American/senior citizen head of baseball opertions. This would also show support for Israel, which is trendy now. And a guy by the name of Bruce Sherman has lots of opinions on how it should be done. Rather than hiring a figurehead to implement what you tell him, just do it yourself Bruce. And like Derek, Bruce has no experience or qualifications to run a team. Jeter's old office is still open.

[Hans Herrera]

The Marlins just cannot catch a break when it comes to ownerships. Good lord.

[Ely Sussman]

The timing complicated this process as well. If Sherman had sought a new president a year ago to fill the Jeter void and thoroughly evaluate Kim, it would've been more understandable. But it's bizarre that after he had the confidence to allow her to call the shots all year and she did so successfully, he backs out of committing long term.

[Guest Kommenter]

Do you have a spare $1.2 billion lying around Hans? You would make a great owner.