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Derek Jeter

Quick Hits: Jeter, DeShields/Gallo, Bryant

By TC Zencka | May 11, 2019 at 12:30pm CDT

Derek Jeter recognized the social divides that developed in the clubhouses of his playing days between Spanish-speaking players and native English speakers, but since taking over the Marlins in Miami, where Spanish is omnipresent, Jeter has made it a priority to develop the language skills of everyone in the organization – including himself, per James Wagner of the New York Times. While emphasis is often placed on international players developing their English-language skills, Jeter’s programming ensures that the education highway runs in both directions. Major league players cannot be mandated to take language classes because of the collective bargaining agreement, but players in lower levels of the organization are now required to take classes, as are some coaches and Jeter himself, who attends a 90-minute weekly class with the executive team. The branding here is positive for Jeter, who has yet to make much headway in terms of fan engagement in Miami, but the internal benefits of a growing language program will have no end to its usefulness. Tangible effects may not reach the playing field for some time, but it’s encouraging nonetheless to see the Marlins taking a proactive approach to community engagement, emphasizing relationships with players from Latin America, and broadening avenues of communication within the organization. Let’s take a look at a couple of on-field situations throughout the league…

  • After another lackluster start at the plate for Delino DeShields, he finds himself back in Triple-A to work on developing a more line drive approach at the plate, per Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Deshields is one of the fastest players in the league, fifth overall with 16 Bolts this season (individual run times of 30+ ft/sec sprint speeds) and ninth in Sprint Speed, per Statcast. His speed is obviously an asset in the field as well, where Statcast has him tied for 7th with three Outs Above Average this season (three four-star catches). None of which was enough to keep him in Texas after hitting .182/.321/.284 through 108 plate appearances. How much time the 26-year-old spends in Triple-A may have as much to do with his ability to drive the ball as it does Joey Gallo’s ability to stick in center. It’s certainly uncommon for a third baseman-turned-corner-outfielder to transition into center, but the hulking 6’5″ Gallo hasn’t looked wholly out of place for the Rangers thus far, -1 DRS and -0.3 UZR through 88 innings this season, but over 188 career innings as the outfield captain, Gallo grades out at 1 DRS, 1.4 UZR. Replacing DeShields, a career 77 wRC+ hitter, with Gallo’s 115 wRC+ upgrades center field offensively for Texas, but this is a head-to-head battle worth tracking as the season moves along.
  • Chicago’s Kris Bryant finally found his power stroke for the Cubs, with credit going to his new Axe Bat, per The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma. Bryant never tapped into his power after returning from a shoulder injury last season as he finished the season with an uncharacteristically low, but still solid .188 ISO. He has hit four home runs in his last six games, raising his 2019 isolated power to .268, and while that would be a career high if he keeps it up all season, it’s closer to his career average of .232 ISO than his numbers from 2018. This season’s power surge tracks back to a broken bat on April 26th, when Bryant switched to an Axe Bat and promptly homered. An Axe Bat’s defining feature – you might guess – is a handle shaped more like the handle of an axe, though this particular handle is unique to Bryant, christened as the “Bryant Handle” as it was geared specifically towards Bryant’s rather unique grip. Whether it’s the bat, or something mental, or simply the strength in his injured shoulder finally being built back up to normal levels, a maintained resurgence of power from Bryant could make the difference for a Cubs lineup that has struggled at times since Bryant’s shoulder injury last season.
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NL Notes: Marlins, Machado, Rockies

By TC Zencka | October 20, 2018 at 12:51pm CDT

MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tweeted today that the Marlins have announced a press conference for Monday at Marlins Park. No news yet as to the specifics, but with Derek Jeter and President of Baseball Ops Michael Hill planned to be in attendance, speculation is there will be news regarding the Mesa brothers. Still, it’s only speculation as of now, and we’ll have to wait for tomorrow’s press conference to confirm the specifics. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, a couple of other notes…

  • Fancred’s Jon Heyman talks to executives around the league about Manny Machado’s upcoming free agency and whether or not his recent antics will adversely affect his earning potential. Machado’s recent character issues trouble many around the league, but his on-field talent continues to speak for itself. One executive suggests the Phillies may be the only team willing to give Machado the monster payday many have expected, but at this stage any specific prediction remains speculative. People close to Machado have suggested he wants to return to the East Coast – specifically the Yankees – but it remains to be seen how exactly the market will shape up for the talented infielder.
  • Kyle Newman of the Denver Post suggests the Rockies could push right-handers Yency Almonte and DJ Johnson into bigger roles next season. Newman presuppose the departures of  Seunghwan Oh, back to Korea, and Adam Ottavino to free agency, but they’re interesting names to dig into regardless. Baseball America listed the 6’3” Almonte as the 8th best prospect in the Rockies system last season prior to his debut in June, while Johnson is an undrafted 29-year-old rookie having spent time in four organizations. Almonte was a starter in the minors, but a 97-98 mph fastball and power slider certainly play well late in games if that’s how the Rockies choose to deploy him. Johnson’s stuff isn’t as overpowering, but he nevertheless produced a gaudy 13.66 K/9 while pitching in Triple-A this season. That nearly doubles his strikeout rate of the previous two seasons, but he kept it up across 6.1 innings as a September callup (12.79 K/9). Neither Almonte nor Johnson are locks to take on major roles in the Rockies bullpen, but especially in a bullpen with quite a few overpriced, underperforming veterans already on the books, they represent valuable low-cost options that manager Bud Black may turn to in 2019.
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Derek Jeter Discusses Opening Months As Marlins CEO

By Steve Adams and Jeff Todd | February 9, 2018 at 5:20pm CDT

Marlins CEO Derek Jeter has received quite a lot of criticism since he and Bruce Sherman spearheaded a successful bid to acquire the organization from oft-criticized predecessor Jeffrey Loria. Payroll-trimming and rebuilding-oriented player transactions such as those the Marlins have undertaken do generally have a tendency to spur some harsh reactions, though surely there were a few other actions from the incoming leadership that also generated ill will.

In a must-read piece, Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated takes an extended look at the past few months in Miami, centered upon discussions with Jeter and other key members of the organization. While the article ought to be digested in full, there are a few particularly relevant bits of information that are worthy of highlighting here.

For one thing, the story includes some differing perspective on the financial arrangement that Jeter has with the organization he runs. Some eyebrows were raised when Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported (as one part of a five-part series) that Jeter would earn a $5MM salary and could add additional bonuses for achieving profitability. “The speculation of what they say my salary is—$5 million?—that’s not true,” says Jeter, who also denies that his contract calls for him to receive bonuses based on the team’s profits. “And then I get a bonus based on what? … Not true. That’s not true.”

Additionally, some other reports had suggested Jeter’s investment level with the organization was $25MM, meaning he’d likely recoup his buy-in within five or less years, though the Herald and now Verducci suggest the real number is $37.9MM. “I keep hearing about my ‘modest’ investment,” Jeter tells Verducci. “I wish that were the case. One, it’s not small. And two, that’s not accurate, no.” Verducci says Jeter wouldn’t confirm the details, but did add that his stake is “higher than 25 [million].”

Beyond the questions surrounding his own finances, Jeter tells Verducci that the media has misrepresented ownership’s financial resources as well as its plans and attendance/revenue goals in future seasons by relying on an outdated investor prospective. The ongoing search for capital is about enhancing the local connections of the ownership group, he says. And while Jeter seemingly acknowledged that the Herald has in fact accurately represented a copy of the investors’ one-time business plan, titled Project Wolverine, he suggests things have changed quite a bit since the sale went through, with the team’s exact initiatives, milestones and objectives evolving in the past few months. (Jackson, in initially reporting the contents of Project Wolverine, did note that the copy he had obtained dated back to August.)

Jeter’s vision of a thriving, community-oriented organization both on and off the field seems uncontroversial, though many have doubted whether the plan — the apparent details of which have mostly been known through the Project Wolverine reporting — is in any way realistic. But Verducci writes that Jeter has been working hard, focusing especially on engaging the local business community, striving to find new revenue streams, and ultimately maximizing traditional revenue streams (tickets and TV) to put the organization on firmer footing.

Unquestionably, there’ll be an ongoing connection between the Marlins’ fortunes on and off the field. Jeter did not go much into specifics of the organization’s vision, beyond making clear that there will be high standards for all players at all levels and emphasizing that the organization won’t waver from its plans. He noted, too, that there’s an ongoing effort to boost the team’s analytics department.

The rookie CEO acknowledges the difficulties, but also says he won’t back down from a positive vision. “I’m not saying we don’t have lofty goals,” says Jeter. “People are so focused on the model from August. It’s changed. We’ve found out quite a bit since we got in here.” As for the idea that it’s unrealistic to expect major changes in the organization’s ability to earn, Jeter suggests he believes the fans will come if the team is run the right way. “I will never apologize for believing in the Miami market,” he adds.

There are loads of other interesting details to peruse. Verducci spends some time on how things went down with the Giancarlo Stanton trade, with president of baseball ops Michael Hill firmly defending the process as well as the package ultimately received. Relatedly, Jeter argued that the team had little choice but to blow up the roster to some extent. While he maintains that the team hoped to keep Stanton — a dubious proposition given just how expensive he was — Jeter says that even adding two high-end starters would not have made the roster into a winner. (“They still wouldn’t have won. So you just dig a bigger hole, and eventually you have to get out of it.”) The piece also goes into the variety of non-player personnel controversies that have arisen. In particular, Hill defends the controversial decision not to renew the contract of cancer-stricken scout Marty Scott and also suggests that Jeter had nothing to do with that matter.

None of the comments from Jeter and the rest of his front office cohort give much of an indication of how things will play out on the MLB roster in the near term. Catcher J.T. Realmuto, infielder Starlin Castro, starter Dan Straily, and a few other veterans still seem to be very realistic trade candidates, either before the start of the season or in the run-up to the trade deadline. With the team’s payroll pressures largely relieved — through the Stanton swap and three other highly significant trades this winter — perhaps there’s greater flexibility in weighing future moves. While on-field expectations will be exceedingly modest for 2018, the continued presence of potential trade chips means there’s still plenty of intrigue left for the Marlins front office over the coming weeks and months.

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Market Chatter: Marlins, Mets, Cobb, JDM, Astros, Hamilton, Royals

By Jeff Todd | January 5, 2018 at 10:23pm CDT

While the Marlins have reportedly been holding talks regarding catcher J.T. Realmuto and outfielder Christian Yelich, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic says that four rival general managers expressed doubt” that a trade will actually take place involving these young assets. Whether that opinion is based on the reportedly astronomical asking prices or other factors isn’t immediately clear. There’s some suggestion from some of Rosenthal’s sources, though, that the Fish are concerned with perception and won’t make a deal unless it seems the offer was overwhelming. That seems largely unlikely, but the already less-than-rosy returns on the initial months of the new ownership have been marred further by reports from the Miami Herald about the incoming plans. Most recently, Barry Jackson reported that CEO Derek Jeter stands to receive a $5MM salary with multi-million-dollar bonuses if he can deliver profitability to the ownership group (of which he is a part). PR considerations aside, there’s certainly a compelling case to deal Realmuto and Yelich rather than take the risk of holding them. Rosenthal argues the organization ought to simply follow through on the rebuilding steps it has taken already, using this offseason as the time to cash in both of those quality young players.

Here are some more market notes:

  • The Mets are said to be checking in on the market for third basemen, per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. The report suggests that the New York organization is positioning itself as a landing spot for Mike Moustakas or Todd Frazier if they reduce their current asking prices. Similarly, the club has checked in on backstop Jonathan Lucroy as well as left-handed-hitting first basemen Adam Lind and Logan Morrison. (Those two potential first base options, of course, occupy quite different market segments given the former’s age and the latter’s breakout 2017 season.) All told, it still seems the Mets are broadly canvassing the market for possible upgrades, but looking to do so with relatively limited financial resources still available.
  • Jon Heyman of Fan Rag has a variety of interesting notes in a look at the top remaining free agents and other notes from around the game. Free agent righty Alex Cobb is “willing” to take a four-year deal at a $70MM guarantee, says Heyman. Of course, that’s also a significant amount more than MLBTR, at least, projected he’d earn on the open market. It would appear there’s still some market development left to go between Cobb and his suitors. Of course, there are also a few higher-regarded starters left whose own situations may need to be resolved first. Meanwhile, fellow free agent righty Andrew Cashner is reportedly angling for a three-year pact. While the 31-year-old did manage a 3.40 ERA in 166 2/3 innings in 2017, teams will be wary given that he carried only a meager 4.6 K/9 on the year.
  • Years are also at issue for J.D. Martinez, Heyman explains. Red Sox president of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski is not interested in offering more than five years, but Heyman suggests that agent Scott Boras could yet try to make his case at the ownership level. The “word is there are other five-year offers,” Heyman adds, though it remains hard to imagine which other reportedly interested club would be able to compete financially with the Sox for Martinez.
  • Heyman also checks in on the closer market. The Astros, he notes, remain interested in adding a high-end, late-inning arm. It’s not entirely clear if they are a realistic suitor for Greg Holland, but in theory he’d be an option. Holland is said to have set out in search of five years in free agency. That never really seemed likely, as he’s 32 years of age and had at least a few late-season stumbles in his first campaign back from Tommy John surgery. Of course, Holland is still expected to secure a significant contract, though a three-year arrangement may be likeliest at this point.
  • Though the Reds continue to engage in discussions regarding center fielder Billy Hamilton, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick notes on Twitter that there’s one major potential roadblock. Club owner Bob Castellini is quite hesitant to part with Hamilton, it seems. While there’s no indication that the switch-hitting speed demon is completely off limits, the stance may make it harder to get a deal done.
  • As the Royals weigh their options at short, it seems the team is targeting some veterans that figure to be available on lower-cost deals. Incumbent Alcides Escobar remains an option, says Heyman, while Kansas City is also said to be favorably disposed toward Ryan Goins.
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Adam Lind Alcides Escobar Alex Cobb Andrew Cashner Billy Hamilton Boston Red Sox Christian Yelich Cincinnati Reds Derek Jeter Greg Holland Houston Astros J.D. Martinez J.T. Realmuto Jonathan Lucroy Kansas City Royals Logan Morrison Miami Marlins Mike Moustakas New York Mets Ryan Goins Scott Boras Todd Frazier

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AL Notes: Gordon, Segura, Twins, Roberto Perez

By Kyle Downing | December 23, 2017 at 10:15am CDT

New Mariners center fielder Dee Gordon doesn’t like what’s happening in Miami, Tim Healey of the Sun Sentinel reports. While his words don’t stir up controversy quite to the level of Giancarlo Stanton’s upon the slugger’s own exit from Miami, Gordon was very candid with his feelings about the direction of the Marlins’ franchise. “It’s terrible,” Gordon said, via Healey. “It’s almost — I’m not even going to say almost. It’s embarrassing. It’s embarrassing. I don’t want to bash anyone, but what’s happened is not good.” The former Marlins second baseman expressed a distaste for the franchise’s trades of Stanton, Marcell Ozuna and himself, accusing the team of getting rid of them because of payroll obligations the Marlins’ new ownership “can’t take care of.” When asked what he thinks the club should do with Christian Yelich, Gordon said, “I think you have to let the dude go win.” Under new ownership, or course, the Marlins have expressed a desire to change the way the team operates financially in order to create sustainable success for the long-term. While the strategy has been met with skepticism by many (including colorful agent Scott Boras), others side with Derek Jeter and co., believing that the new owners aren’t morally obligated to remain bound to the financial decisions of the old regime.

More from around baseball’s American League during the holiday season…

  • In other Mariners news, shortstop Jean Segura says he was assaulted and robbed at gunpoint by corrupt police in the Dominican Republic. Mark Townsend of Yahoo Sports delves into the details of incident, which Segura made public via a post on his Instagram account. The photo of the post appears to show a number of DICAN officers, one of whom is “visibly armed,” in Townsend’s words. The Dominican Republic National Police have since announced the appointment of a commission to investigate the incident. Segura followed up a breakout 5-WAR 2016 campaign with the Diamondbacks by hitting .300/.349/.427 across 566 plate appearances in 2017.
  • The Twins “hope to get a meeting soon with Darvish,” Darren Wolfson of KSTP reports in a tweet. While the prospect of a meeting certainly doesn’t imply a serious pursuit of the former Rangers ace (indeed, Wolfson adds that there’s no indication the club has made a formal offer), a potential pursuit of Darvish by Minnesota is intriguing. Any contract large enough to lure him in would need to nearly triple the club’s highest-ever guarantee given to a pitcher ($55MM to Ervin Santana). However, it’s no secret that the Twins are in dire need of pitching if they plan to compete this offseason, and as MLBTR’s Steve Adams notes, the club is definitely in a position to spend this offseason.
  • Roberto Perez, backup catcher for the Indians, is focused on getting his mother a new home. A story by Jordan Bastian of MLB.com details Perez’ desire to sit down with his mom Lilliam Martinez this holiday season and discuss plans to build a new house to replace the one that was severely damaged by Hurricane Maria. Bastian’s piece provides some insight into the emotions of Perez since the storm hit; the piece is well worth a read for fans looking to learn more about how Puerto Rico has been affected since landfall by the Class 5 storm. The 29-year-old Perez made his MLB debut with the Indians back in 2014. He signed a four-year, $9MM extension last spring following three excellent defensive seasons with the Tribe.
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East Notes: Jays, Orioles, Jeter, Rizzo

By Jeff Todd | November 21, 2017 at 8:33am CDT

It’s possible the Blue Jays could weigh a run at star free agent outfielder J.D. Martinez, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag writes. At the moment, that seems like a fairly tenuous connection; Heyman explains that the team has “at least considered” Martinez but may also be hesitant to participate in a bidding war to get him. But that’s more than we’ve heard of at least some other conceivable landing spots for the best hitter on this year’s open market; the Cardinals, for instance, are said not to have much inclination to pursue him.

Here’s more from the eastern divisions:

  • The Orioles nearly swung a trade last night with the Rockies, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. The organizations were discussing a deal in which Baltimore would pick up righty Konner Wade in exchange for international pool funds. Though nothing ended up getting done, Kubatko suggests it could still be a possibility. He also goes on to discuss the O’s decisions on protecting players from the Rule 5 draft, including a few names that could be targeted by other organizations.
  • Tim Healey of the Sun Sentinel takes an interesting look at Marlins CEO Derek Jeter’s crash course in running a baseball front office. Jeter has called the move “overwhelming” in the same way it was to finally reach the majors as a player, acknowledging he’ll have to “learn on the job” to a large extent. President of baseball ops Michael Hill suggests the two have established a good working relationship out of the gates. As ever, the proof will be in the doing; the Marlins made a small swap yesterday, but have much bigger fish to fry this winter.
  • While the Nationals front office has long been helmed by Mike Rizzo, his future with the organization is not assured at present. Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post writes that Rizzo and ownership have yet to discuss a new deal. And the veteran executive says he isn’t going to be the one to kick off talks, saying he’ll “allow [ownership] to talk to me if they choose to” and noting that he’s comfortable entering the offseason without a long-term contract. Janes tackles some of the many facets to the situation in the post, which is worth a full read.
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Giancarlo Stanton Rumors: Wednesday

By Jeff Todd | November 15, 2017 at 5:17pm CDT

The Giancarlo Stanton rumor mill was churning yesterday as teams jockey for position with the Marlins — and, perhaps, with Stanton himself, who can veto any trade. At the end of the day, though, it seemed there was no greater clarity as to where he might be dealt and when a trade might go down.

We’ll use this post to track any new developments today …

  • MLB.com’s Jon Morosi reports that teams that have spoken to the Marlins have informed them that they feel the 10 years and $295MM on Stanton’s deal is a rough approximation of his market value (all Twitter links). In other words, other clubs don’t perceive there to be much, if any, surplus value on Stanton’s deal. As such, the Marlins will have to pay down a notable portion of the deal to also extract premium prospects from a potential trade partner. One exec suggested that Miami would need to pay as much as $5MM annually in order to receive good prospect value. Morosi notes that the Cardinals and Marlins once again discussed trade concepts today.
  • The Marlins initiated a brief conversation with the Yankees regarding Stanton, writes FanRag’s Jon Heyman. The Yankees aren’t considered a serious suitor, though, and the Yankees simply said they’d be open to hearing what the Marlins had in mind, perhaps as a matter of sheer due diligence. Both Yankees GM Brian Cashman and owner Hal Steinbrenner have publicly stated a desire to dip under the $197MM luxury tax barrier, and Stanton’s $25MM annual salary would obviously get in the way of that goal.

Earlier Updates

  • Marlins CEO Derek Jeter says he has not yet spoken with Stanton, as Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald was among those to report on Twitter. “If there’s a reason to call him, I’ll call him,” said Jeter. The new Marlins boss did not commit to dealing Stanton and noted that such a move would be complicated, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. But Jeter also suggested that the team cannot continue operating in the same manner financially as it did under prior ownership.
  • Of course, president of baseball operations Michael Hill sat down with Stanton and says he has a sense of what the slugger is interested in. He’s also running point on Stanton talks with other teams. Hill tells Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic that he is putting the onus on suitors to come forward with some information on what they are willing to do to land Stanton. “Until I know where you’re at on the contract, the money, all that stuff, I can’t engage,” Hill said of his rival executives.
  • Rosenthal said that eight teams had engaged on Stanton to this point. Six of those are fairly serious pursuers, according to a report from Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald.
  • There’s “little momentum” regarding Stanton between the Dodgers and Marlins, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times reports on Twitter. Of course, the most notable point at this stage seems to be that the Dodgers are involved at all. Los Angeles seems like a solid fit for Stanton, though it’s also not difficult to imagine the organization preferring not to tie up such a significant portion of its payroll in one contract.
  • John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle ran down the latest on Stanton from the Giants’ perspective. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch did the same with regard to the Cardinals. And WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford explained why he still thinks the Red Sox could be in Stanton (or another superstar hitter) despite some indications to the contrary.
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Marlins Notes: Jeter, Sherman, Special Assistants

By Mark Polishuk | October 3, 2017 at 10:18pm CDT

New Marlins owners Bruce Sherman and Derek Jeter held their introductory meeting with media today, discussing their vision for the team.  Here are some highlights from their comments, as per a transcript by Tim Healey of the South Florida Sun Sentinel…

  • Meetings have yet to take place with president of baseball operations Michael Hill about the offseason’s direction, though “we do have to rebuild the organization,” Jeter said.  “It starts with player development, scouting.  We have to be strong in those areas, because if you’re going to have a sustainable organization over time, you need that pipeline of young players that can come in.  So we’re going to focus on everything.  We’re going to build it from the top down, bottom up, however you want to say it.”
  • This would seem to imply that the Marlins and their fans could be in for more trades of veterans and payroll-cutting, though Jeter stopped short of confirming such moves were coming, as per his upcoming discussions with the baseball operations department.  “And look, the best way I can put it is, I don’t like the word ‘teardown.’  Moving forward, there’s going to be at times unpopular decisions that we make on behalf of the organization,” Jeter said.  “Just understand that every decision we make is for the betterment of this organization. We have that in mind.  The word teardown and rebuild — yeah, we are rebuilding a franchise.  But I think a lot of times people associate those words with losing.  You never go into a situation and the message is that ‘We’re going to lose.’ “
  • In other Marlins news, Jeter personally contacted recently fired long-time team special assistants Jeff Conine, Andre Dawson, Jack McKeon and Tony Perez to say he’d be interested in keeping them on for unspecified roles with the organization, FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reports.  No reason was reportedly given for Jeter’s change of heart, or why each of the men was initially told they were dismissed almost two weeks ago.  Outgoing Marlins president David Samson was asked by Jeter to inform the four of their dismissal, though Heyman confirms that Jeter’s initial instruction was clear about the firings, so it wasn’t simply a case of miscommunication between Jeter and Samson.  It isn’t yet known how many, if any, of the four are willing to return.
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Sale Of Marlins To Sherman/Jeter Group Complete

By Mark Polishuk | October 2, 2017 at 11:13am CDT

OCT. 2: The sale of the Marlins to the Sherman/Jeter group closed this morning, reports Jackson (on Twitter). Their group now officially owns the Marlins, and a press conference with new ownership will be held later this week.

SEPT. 27: The 29 other Major League owners have approved the sale of the Marlins to the ownership group led by Derek Jeter and Bruce Sherman, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports (Twitter link).  As per an announcement from Major League Baseball, the 29 owners voted unanimously in favor of the Jeter/Sherman group in a conference call held this afternoon.  The approval will only be fully official once the sale closes between the new owners and outgoing Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, though that deal is expected to be finalized next week.  FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reported yesterday that a vote would be coming soon, though the quick turn-around is still something of a surprise, as Heyman’s report indicated it would be a matter of days or weeks.

The news brings a somewhat abrupt end to a rather drawn-out sale process, as several prominent names from the business, entertainment, political and baseball worlds had been mentioned as candidates to buy the Marlins from Jeffrey Loria.  Jeter had long been connected to former Florida governor Jeb Bush as part of a bid, though after Bush dropped out of the partnership in May, Jeter changed course with new investors, most prominently Sherman, co-founder of the Private Capital Management wealth-management firm.  The group ended up winning the bidding at the reported price of $1.2 billion.

As per Heyman’s report yesterday, that $1.2 billion price tag breaks down as $800MM in actual cash on hand and $400MM of debt.  Sherman will own 46 percent of the team and will be the Marlins’ control person in the eyes of Major League Baseball.  Jeter will reportedly own four percent of the franchise and become the Marlins’ CEO, as well as overseeing the baseball operations department.

“I congratulate Mr. Sherman on receiving approval from the Major League clubs as the new control person of the Marlins and look forward to Mr. Jeter’s ownership and CEO role following his extraordinary career as a player,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in the league’s official news release.

With the sale all but complete, attention will now fully shift to what the change in ownership will mean for the Marlins both on and off the field as the franchise moves on from the controversial Loria era.  There have already been early reports of yet another rebuild in Miami as the new owners are looking to cut payroll, potentially more than halving the Marlins’ $115MM Opening Day payroll from this season if Giancarlo Stanton is traded.

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Latest On Marlins’ Front Office Changes

By Mark Polishuk | September 30, 2017 at 12:35pm CDT

SATURDAY: The reason the Marlins fired their executives before Jeter’s group assumed ownership of the team is that their contracts will now have to be paid by outgoing owner Jeffrey Loria, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets. Jeter’s group will save $5MM.

FRIDAY: The Marlins are continuing their front office housecleaning as the new ownership group prepares to take over, with Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reporting that assistant GM Mike Berger, VP of player development Marc DelPiano, VP of pitching development Jim Benedict and VP of player personnel Jeff McAvoy have all been let go.  As with the firings of four Marlins special assistants last week, incoming co-owner and CEO Derek Jeter didn’t make these new dismissals himself.  Instead, outgoing Marlins president David Samson was again asked to deliver the news to the now-former members of Miami’s baseball ops department.

It’s normal, of course, to see new owners make wholesale changes to a team’s pre-existing front office personnel.  (The only unusual aspect seems to be the fact that Jeter is outsourcing this task to Samson rather than handle the firings personally.)  It does raise some question about Michael Hill’s future role with the team; the president of baseball operations is reportedly being kept on by Jeter and Bruce Sherman, though likely in a different capacity since so many of his chief lieutenants have now been fired.

Several reports have tabbed two current Yankees executives as candidates to join the Marlins’ front office — VP of player development Gary Denbo and special assistant Jim Hendry.  According to FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman, the Marlins have yet to contact the Yankees about Denbo or Hendry, though many within the Yankees organization believe Denbo is a sure thing to leave, possibly to become the Marlins’ new general manager.

Hendry, of course, is a former GM himself, running the Cubs’ front office from 2002-11.  Heyman reports that Hendry has a good relationship with Jeter’s agent Casey Close, who himself has been mentioned in rumors about possibly taking on a front office role in Miami.  Close has told people, however, that there are no plans for him to leave Excel, Heyman writes.

Two more names under consideration for front office jobs include Braves special assistant Gordon Blakeley and former Marlins VP of player development Jim Fleming, according to MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro.

As for the on-field managerial role, Don Mattingly has yet to hear about his fate for 2018, Jackson reports, though he is widely expected to be staying.  Jeter and Mattingly obviously are well-acquainted with each other from their days in New York.  Mattingly only has a 154-166 record as he finishes his second year as Miami’s skipper, though it’s hard to attribute that lack of success to Mattingly given the off-the-field tumult of the team’s sale and the tragic death of Jose Fernandez.

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