Exit interview with former Marlins analyst Bradley Woodrum

[Ely Sussman]

The Offishial Show—Episode 219

If you're still a Miami Marlins fan, you simply need to listen to this. Bradley Woodrum, the team's former coordinator of baseball information services, joins Ely Sussman to reflect on the perks and challenges of working in baseball.

Topics covered during our conversation:

• Getting hired to work in baseball
• Salary and compensation
• Peter Bendix's vision
• Gabe Kapler's front office future
• Overcoming payroll limitations
• The increased role of David Ott
• Young players for Marlins to build around

Find The Offishial Show on the Fish On First YouTube channel, our new-look Apple Podcasts channel and wherever else you get your pods. FOF's audio programming also includes Fish Unfiltered, Swimming Upstream, Big Fish Small Pod and more.

More than 70 baseball operations employees have been fired by the Marlins in recent weeks. That includes Woodrum, whose tenure began in January 2018.

Having had the experience of working under previous baseball operations leaders Michael Hill and Kim Ng, Woodrum describes the main difference in Peter Bendix's approach:

"With Hill and honestly with Kim, there was a mindset—especially as it pertained to my department—that analytics was one of the tools we're gonna take into battle with us. It was one of the pieces of the puzzle. I think the big paradigm shift...was there was a desire to develop analytics not as a tool, but as the glue that held everything together.

"I'm sympathetic to that mindset. I think that's why I really have high hopes for where the Marlins are still going even though they're unfortunately gonna be going without me. Peter really sees analytics as this unifying force that is ingesting scouting reports, is ingesting reports from the coaches, is ingesting data in a way that then becomes actionable."

Our interview expanded upon topics that Bradley previously discussed in this Reddit AMA.

Follow Ely (@RealEly), Bradley (@BradleyWoodrum) and Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) on Twitter. Subscribe to Bradley's YouTube channel. Join the Marlins Discord server! Complete Miami Marlins coverage here at FishOnFirst.com.

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[THOMAS JOSEPH]

That was an enjoyable interview. Frankly, I was surprised by how Mr. Woodrum portrayed his experience and the positivity regarding progress within the Marlins organization. No bitterness. Gratitude is rare nowadays, perhaps because there are so darn few thoughtful individuals. Sorry for the old curmudgeon line, but it's the damn truth. Good for Woodrum and I wish him all the best. 

To Woodrum's point, I understand being a Marlins fan has been/is challenging. I'm a newcomer, but I know the mindset. My take is that it's much more fun to be a fan of the Marlins (or my beloved Expos) than any of the so-called top teams. I also appreciate long-suffering fans of the Cubs and Pirates, for example. So many fans of the powerhouse teams expect to win, and satisfaction is short-lived. Whatever is done is never enough. Dodger fans will not be satisfied with a WS win during Ohtani's tenure. One won't cut it. Phillies fans are already anxious that Harper is nearly halfway through his monster deal without a title to show for it. Yankee fans are Yankee fans.  It's a hamster wheel.

Lastly, thanks for bringing the interview to us, and for letting Woodrum express himself so thoroughly.  He had some things to say with this opportunity. We would never have heard his perspectives anywhere else.