Bendix touches on newest front office hires

[Isaac Azout]

NASHVILLE—The Winter Meetings from the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center have undoubtedly gotten off to a slow start. Deep into the second day of the event, Jackson Chourio's $82M extension with Milwaukee is the lone transaction to include multiple guaranteed years.

Pertaining to the Marlins, President of Baseball Operations Peter Bendix discussed his most prominent off-the-field moves since joining the organization a month ago.

Gabe Kapler

Last week, Bendix made another addition to his pool of “AGMs” by hiring former manager Gabe Kapler. When asked what attracted him the most about Kapler, Bendix said, “He has a tremendous wealth of experience and knowledge. As a player, coach, manager, and farm director, it is very difficult to find all those things in one person. As I started to get to know Gabe, the person that he is, the ideas that he has, and the care he has for people fit perfectly with what my vision is.”

Kapler began his post-playing career by coaching for the Israeli national baseball team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic qualifier. After some television work in which he became an analyst for Fox Sports 1, he was hired as the Dodgers’ director of player development. Three years later, he was hired to be the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies (2018-2019), then went on to manage the San Francisco Giants (2020-2023) for four seasons before coming to Miami. 

Vinesh Kanthan

Another hire Bendix made last week was Vinesh Kanthan, who was named Marlins director of baseball operations. He reports to the four assistant general managers (Dan Greenlee, Brian Chattin, Oz Ocampo, and now Kapler).

“Vinesh can do a lot of different things,” Bendix told reporters. “The director of baseball operations role means a lot of different things for different teams, but for us, he’s going to work across a lot of departments. He’s going to bring things together, be a bit of a project manager, a bit of a jack of all trades.”

Kanthan worked with Bendix in the Tampa Bay Rays baseball ops department from 2017 to 2018. He then spent his next five seasons with the Texas Rangers front office.

International Operations

Following the departure of Senior Director of International Operations Adrian Lorenzo, Bendix has yet another role to fill in the front office.

"I don't want to put a timeline on it, but that's been the primary focus since I've taken this job," Bendix said. "The group that we have in place is really robust group that's done some really good work, so I feel confident that even without additional hires, we're in good shape."

The 2023 international signing period closes on December 15, with the 2024 period opening on January 15.

 

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[Guest JustMarlins]

Is this the most boring Winter Meetings ever? Or is it just me?

[Ely Sussman]

It's in contention for that! Slightly more interesting last night, but Alex Verdugo is the only everyday player to change teams. I've never thought highly of him anyway.