10:31AM: In a conference call with Barry Jackson and Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald (Twitter links) and other media members, Jeter said the club had talks with Hill about a new contract but eventually decided to part ways. The club will have a GM/president of baseball operations in place, though Jeter likes his front office’s collaborative way of decision-making. Marlins director of player personnel Dan Greenlee has also been promoted to assistant GM, Jeter said.
9:12AM: The Marlins have moved on from president of baseball operations Michael Hill, the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link). The news ends an 18-year run for Hill in Miami’s front office.
The move isn’t a firing, as Hill’s contract with the club (an extension signed under previous owner Jeffrey Loria) was up at the end of the 2020 season. There hadn’t been any word about a new deal for Hill, yet today’s news still counts as a surprise, both because there hadn’t been any indication that Hill wouldn’t be staying on with the club, and because the Marlins are coming off their first playoff appearance since 2003.
Despite this recent success, however, it could be that majority owner Bruce Sherman and CEO Derek Jeter simply wish to cut ties with one of the few remaining faces from the Loria era. The Marlins organization underwent a pretty substantial makeover once Sherman bought the team in 2017, though Hill retained his job and helped oversee the Marlins’ latest roster overhaul.
Hill steadily moved up the chain of command over his long stint in Miami, moving from an assistant general manager to the GM job in 2007, and then the president of baseball operations role in 2013. It is a tenure that is difficult to properly evaluate, given the tumult that Hill often had to navigate amidst Loria’s controversial ownership of the Marlins. As noted by the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson (Twitter links), “Hill never had total authority” to run the front office under either Loria or Sherman. “Loria made all significant personnel decisions in prior regime,” while Hill was the public face of the front office under Jeter but was “part of what was essentially a committee of people who gave input to Jeter on personnel moves.”
One common thread throughout Hill’s time with the Marlins has been the team’s knack for drafting and developing young talent, though time after time, this pipeline was undercut by Loria ordering ill-advised trades and major signings. Compounding the problem was Loria’s tendency to immediately lose faith in his team after failing to experience immediate success, which led to the front office having to then figure out how to cut costs and start over with another rebuild. The fact that the Marlins were able to generate a good core group of young talent multiple times over (both under Loria and under Jeter) is perhaps a hint of what Hill could achieve if he was able to run a more normal front office environment.
Hill is only 49 years old, and given his respected reputation around baseball, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him emerge as a candidate for one of the open GM/president of baseball operations jobs this offseason. The most immediate speculation has focused on the Reds, as president of baseball ops Dick Williams resigned earlier this month and Hill is from Cincinnati. It stands to reason that the Phillies and Angels might also have interest in speaking to Hill about their front office vacancies.
Speaking of the Angels, former Halos GM Billy Eppler could potentially be a candidate to step into Hill’s old role in Miami, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi tweets, as well as Yankees VP of baseball operations Tim Naehring. Both Eppler and Naehring were in the Yankees organization during Jeter’s time in New York, and Jeter has shown a propensity for hiring people with ties to the Bronx.
It also isn’t necessarily clear whether or not a new Marlins hire would enjoy any more autonomy than Hill did, since Jeter is ultimately making the baseball decisions. A new GM or president of baseball ops might simply be trusted with handling day-to-day duties and being a member of the aforementioned “committee” reporting to Jeter. Joel Sherman of the New York Post notes that Gary Denbo, the Marlins’ director of player development and scouting, is seen around baseball as being Jeter’s top front office advisor, so a new general manager might not even rank second in Miami’s front office pyramid.
Still, there is bound to be plenty of industry interest in being part of a Marlins organization that has signs of turning the corner. After ten losing seasons, the Fish went 31-29 to reach the postseason and then defeated the Cubs in the NL wild card series before being swept by the Braves in the NLDS. This success was in spite of a widespread COVID-19 outbreak within the clubhouse that impacted 18 players and coaches and put the Marlins’ season on hold for over a week.
Odd timing. Scandal warning ahead?
?
No. His contract was up and he wanted more money. They want to wipe their hands of the Loria times. Remember Mattingly took a pay cut on his extension to stay around.
Cheaper alternatives sought Going to be scenario in a lot of places now
Nothing off about the timing. His contract is expiring this month.
Denbo is a complete dumbo! They have lost so many good people because of his inability to manage people/staff, time to upgrade more than just Hill.
Uh, anyone that follows the Marlins says that this was long overdue and we were all waiting for that contract to expire. The fact is that everyone expected that Hill was going to be fired the very second Sherman and Jeter took over. Many people, including the national media, were puzzled how Hill remained.
Good riddance to Hill.
Here comes A-Roid joining Jeter
Not sure if that stadium can contain those 2 bloated egos with the roof unopen.
A-Roid and Jeter are not close.
That would be awful and great at the same time. He wouldn’t help the marlins for the awful but great to get him off ESPN and pre and post game postseason games.
Stick with Big Papi, Curtis Granderson and Jimmy Rollins and Frank Thomas. Doesn’t matter who they use just those 4 are good.
Welcome to the Reds!
I believe he is from the area and they have an opening right? Have to imagine there is at least a conversation.
Exactly right. Yes, I believe he aligns well with the current structure. I believe we get this announcement sooner than later.
LOL. You Reds fans do not know what you’ll get from Hill. If it happens, I’m pretty confident that in a couple of seasons, you’ll all be calling for his ousting.
Reds look like a good fit
Feel timing is a bit off considering he was praised for dealing with all the roster moves this shortened season. Albeit, it’s time for a change.
Hey! You do it!
Why was it time for a change? Hill did a good job and the team is on the upswing.
He was from the Loria regime. One that made soooooo many mistakes. And he got a 10 million 5 year deal before so it was either pay him to not work for you or keep him.
Now Jeter has a true fresh start. It’s also said that Hill didn’t have much power lately anyway. He will find a job and everyone will be happy.
It was time for a change because this was long overdue. Just about everyone following the Marlins were shocked that he wasn’t fired during the ownership change, and have been puzzled since as to why.
Good riddance to Hill. Thank goodness he’s finally gone!
It’s possible he’s responsible for the outbreak on the team; didn’t enforce protocols, etc. just pure speculation in my part.
FINALLY…I defended him for a long time, thinking that it wasn’t his fault for being stuck with Loria constantly interfering and going over his head on certain things, but he has kind of continued to do things the way he did, even without Loria, and even still tends to phrase things in the media and to the fanbase the way they would with Loria, since 2002. Marlins NEVER get value in trades, either trading pieces away or trading for players. There has also been multiple questionable draft decisions, but even if you dont include that, the trade issue is way more than enough to say they need to go a different direction…look around the league, especially in this year’s playoffs and see how many countless examples there were of guys the Marlins got rid of for nothing, on these rosters
There was massive draft failure for years. While trading the OF is always a big deal I look at giving away Paddack and Luis Castillo. The two Jared Cosart deals (involving Castillo once and then trading away your recent first rounder Naylor). Then all the free agent misses. I remember for years the Marlins finding players that “lost it” having amazing years for them or finding discarded players becoming great. Like Rule 5 Dan Uggla. All the random relievers (there was always some random closer doing well) and such. Aside from hitting on Yelich and JDF they have so many years of failed drafts. No big international signings. It’s insane.
But have hit on some recent Trades even it meant giving up Catcher to Phillies.
That came with the new regime. Gary Denbo is a big shot caller now in Miami.
While Hill may not have had a lot of control it is a fact that this team failed on drafting and trading for YEARS. So many high draft picks and nothing to show for it.
Also barely any International FAs. Nothing major in that department since signing Ozuna ten years ago.
What top picks did the Marlins miss on? Kolek? Ok. He hurt his arm. Anyone else?
Look at all of our top picks over Hills tenure with the Marlins.
Sounds like from the article that he was never technically in charge and never had the free reign someone would need to actually make the moves they want to make. Just an outside observation here. I don’t follow the Marlins.
Heads roll when the Marlins make the playoffs but don’t win the World Series.
It’s almost as if Loria is still pulling the levers.
ESPN is reporting how Jeter is now racist.
So heads only roll when Miami makes the playoffs and don’t win. The Yankees should cut off some heads. Cashman first in line.
Cashman is sooooo overrated
exactly
Aren’t you following the real narrative, mlbnyyfan? Loria gave Hill this contract on the eve of selling the franchise to Sherman. Sherman/Jeter inherited Hill. He was not their hand-picked man. Now that the contract is expiring, and possibly after an unsuccessful extension negotiation, Sherman/Jeter are passing on Hill to pick their own guy. Nothing to do with the playoffs, about which I’m sure Sherman/Jeter are thrilled, given that no one expected them to go that far, and everything to do with regime change. A bit Machiavellian, to be sure, but there was reasonable justification and it isn’t unusual. This way Sherman/Jeter get to pick their own guy who is on board with Jeter’s top-heavy committee approach out of the gate. Makes perfect sense from a management standpoint.
Why do you call yourself a nyy fan? So much hate for the Yankees, Cashman, Jeter… I’d say you’re a RS fan in NYY’s clothing.
ESPN is the “Hot & Now” of sports reporting! They always report their own biased opinions on stories and have sucked for quite some time now. But as for Michael Hill, this has to straight up feel like he’s been paroled! I couldn’t imagine working for an owner like Jeffrey Loria for as long as he had to, and then moving straight into the Jeter situation. Basically only the PBO on paper, as Jeter rules the roost down in Miami. Anyone taking this job is basically running things as much as Philip Green was running the Tangiers in “Casino”. Once this guy is hired into an organization that will actually not handcuff him and let him truly run the baseball ops, they will be very happy they hired him, as he is a great evaluator of talent.
Well it’s true he wasn’t running things for years with either regime….there are years and years of just awful baseball moves. Awful drafting. No international signings. Terrible trades and evaluations of talent (He and Samson thought Luis Castillo would be a middle reliever at best). So I don’t blame him for all of it… but aside from this year there is not a lot of positive things to say about his work.
Pretty solid executive for a long time under extreme financial restraints for the most part, he should get the same type of credit that the stooges from Oakland and Tampa get.
Solid executive for years? Who? Mike Hill?
I can clearly see you don’t know the Marlins. Our fans have been waiting for this move for years.
Marlins make the playoffs and let go of Mike Hill in the same year. Things are looking great for the Marlins going forward. I’m loving this!
Supposedly Derek Peter is eyeing billy eggler former great gm of the Anaheim angles
This move doesn’t surprise me at all. Loria gave Hill this contract when he was selling the team. It was odd at the time because Loria was basically forcing the yet-announced new owner(s) to either fire and pay Hill his full contract, or accept him as part of the new org. Considering the financial issues the Marlins had a purchase, Jeter basically kept him around as part of a group of advisors, but he was never really the GM/president of baseball operations. Either someone internally will get the job, or someone with a Yankees connection will as the article noted.
Someone/anyone that Derek Jeter can boss around. This position is basically going to be a puppet for Jeter and his crew to go through. A glorified mouth piece really.
Couldn’t agree more. I’ll boldly predict that the person they ultimately hire as GM (but NOT president of baseball operations) will be heavy into analytics with no previous GM-level experience. Willing to work for less than any of his counterparts and take all his cues from #2
Wow 31-29 and it went to their heads. Probably would of wound up 20 games under 500 if they played the entire year. These fans will never catch a break with the ownership groups MLB approves. I hope they don’t let Eppler anywhere around their team. They will never improve.
Hey billy beane please go do your soccer hobby stuff sooner rather than later, there are a handful of GM/president of baseball operation type candidates that A’s could hire to step in
It’s too bad and I get the disapproval, but the Moneyball narrative was so cool while it lasted.
Would rather anyone but Eppler becoming the Fish GM. I think Naehring would be a better fit.
Jeter is an idiot. Hill was the only qualified person in the organization. Maybe he can hire his buddy Arod
How is Jeter an idiot? The team is much improved since he took over and the trades made under his watch have been good. They even made playoffs and won a playoff round.
Between you and Jeter it appears that you are more likely the fool.
Hill and qualified don’t belong in the same sentence.
Wow, so many people showing that they don’t know much about the Marlins. We’ve been calling for Hill’s head for years. Our voices have finally been heard.
Haven’t you read all the commentary on the bad trades and draft picks? Yeah Loria had a hand in it but you can’t responsibly say Hill was entirely blameless. Just more hate, hate, hate for Jeter spilling over, making your narrative ridiculous.
I’m being nice Target for the Phillies to look at for the front office take somebody away from your division rival. seems like he’s pretty good at drafting pictures and getting them developed in the minor leagues that seems to be the Phillies biggest area of need
Did Jeter give Hill a gift basket on the way out?
Probably the same caliber gift that he gave the Yankees when he gifted them Stanton. Hill will be regretting it for years.
So many comments on this article. Many of them show that people don’t know much about the Marlins.
Seriously, people are bashing Jeter and the Marlins for letting Hill go? I’m a Marlins fan. I, and nearly our entire fan base, have been hoping for this day for years. We thought we had it when ownership changed hands, but we weren’t. We then became puzzled how Hill survived into the new ownership. Now he’s finally gone! Good freakin’ riddance!
Any idiot that wants to praise Hill, all I need to say is look at our draft picks, the Miguel Cabrera trade and the Yelich trade (so far). Also, he was behind the choosing of giving an extension to Ricky Nolasco instead of Anibal Sanchez. This guy has sucked for years. He, and Larry Beinfest, rode the coattails of the 2003 championship team that was almost entirely built by Dave Dombrowski prior to him leaving for Detroit. So many failures that Hill was a part of.
Now, for my optimism. We make the playoffs and let go of Hill in the same year? The future truly looks bright for the Marlins.
Please let Hill go to the Phillies or Mets. That would be awesome!
As for a final thing about those that clearly don’t know much about the Marlins. So, now you’re all trying to bash the Marlins for letting Hill go? Is this because you all looked stupid when you bashed us for letting Dan Straily go to give our young pitchers a chance? Or is it because you all looked stupid when you said that Jeter “gifted” Stanton to his beloved Yankees? Maybe it’s because you all looked stupid for bashing this ownership, but in just a couple of years, we’re looking better, and made the playoffs and were validated by winning the Wild Card Series? Keep bringing the hate for everything Marlins. Keep listening to E!SPN who hates Miami teams. We’re loving every single time you all look stupid.
Go Marlins!
Possibility for the Angels job?
Agreed 100% this guy has been bad, not sure why the new ownership kept him, maybe because of the 5 mil extension Loria gave him before selling the team.
Right after Loria left he excused himself for the moves blaming all on Loria, that he didn’t have full control of the trades.
You forgot he was desperate for trading Luis Castillo first to the Padres and once he got it back immediately to the Reds.
A man who is used to the owner making all the decisions. He’ll fit in perfectly here.