Marlins minority owner David Ott pushing team in more analytical direction

[Kevin Barral]

Ott, who has the second-largest ownership stake in the Marlins behind only Bruce Sherman, has been increasingly involved with baseball operations since former CEO Derek Jeter departed, a former analyst explains.

Even the most dedicated Miami Marlins fans may not recognize the name David Ott. Ott is not listed on the team's website or their most recent media guide. Even his LinkedIn profile does not mention the Marlins, only his history with Viking Global Investors, the investment firm he co-founded in 1999.

"He does like to play a bit more in the shadows," as Bradley Woodrum discussed this week on The Offishial Show.

You should be aware of Ott because not only does he have the second-most money invested in the Marlins behind only principal owner Bruce Sherman, but his role within the organization has grown.

Woodrum served as the Marlins coordinator of baseball information services until being let go last month. His tenure began soon after Sherman, Ott, Derek Jeter and others bought the franchise following the 2017 season, with Ott having a 10% ownership stake, per Forbes.

"He has been leveraging his own expertise within the analytics space since day one," said Woodrum. Ott was "directly involved" in baseball operations projects, particularly those that included economic principles.

Derek Jeter was Miami's CEO until early 2022. Woodrum acknowledges that there was a "rift" between Sherman and Jeter about the role analytics should play in making baseball decisions.

"His ability has been leveraged a bit more since Derek (Jeter) departed," said Woodrum. "He's much more in that space of wanting to have analytics feed the decision process from the ground up. That's one of the reasons I think [the] Marlins should have a lot of high hopes for the future for the club is that David's an incredibly intelligent owner."

"David's increased role with the organization, I think it's gonna gel really well with Peter (Bendix)'s approach to things too," added Woodrum. "Having tension at that highest level is never a great thing. I think what we're seeing now is a lot more smoothing of that tension."

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[THOMAS JOSEPH]

The last paragraph summed up my thinking as I read the article. Bendix has thoroughly cast the die in the analytics direction. Ott's concurrence is great, and I hope he has some constructive insights, but the team was going there whether a minority owner was on board or not. Organizational alignment, though, is always valuable. Bendix has stated that a top goal was creating a fresh organizational culture, which is the impetus for staff housecleaning.