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According to former Miami Marlins president David Samson, one can’t always believe what one reads in team and executives’ official statements.
Miami bid adieu to general manager Kim Ng after she declined to exercise the mutual option in her contract.
“Last week Bruce and I discussed his plan to reshape the Baseball Operations department,” Ng said in a statement, referring to Marlins managing owner Bruce Sherman. “In our discussions, it became apparent that we were not completely aligned on what that should look like, and I felt it best to step away.”
The language echoed a parting statement by Derek Jeter, who came in as a minority investor and team CEO along with Sherman’s ownership group in 2017. The Yankee legend made Ng his most high-profile hire in November 2020. Jeter left last year, saying the team’s direction “was not what I had signed up for.”
Samson, fired by Jeter, came on the Front Office Sports Today podcast to offer his take.
“It’s literally ridiculous that he said that,” Samson said of Jeter’s parting statement. “He was fired, period, because he said he would deliver certain revenue goals and certain things from a financial standpoint that he never delivered.”
Per Samson, Jeter cut Sherman out of the team’s baseball operations so entirely that he was likely making high-level decisions without even informing Sherman.
“If you asked him and he were forced to tell you the truth, he would probably tell you he wasn’t even aware that [general manager] Mike Hill was not being brought back by Jeter,” said Samson. “But he’d really have to be under the truth serum because it’s hard to admit that you had given the reins over to someone who wouldn’t even communicate with you.”
Ng reportedly left the organization after learning that Sherman intended to install a president of baseball operations above her.
The Marlins earned a Wild Card berth this season, just its fourth in franchise history. The team regularly ranks among the bottom of MLB in payroll, and 2023 was no exception as its $105.4 million tab was 22nd in the league, entering the season. The Marlins have never won a division title and are the only current team without playoff berths in consecutive years.
Hill, meanwhile, worked for MLB after leaving the Marlins and is reportedly under consideration for the Boston Red Sox’ vacant president of baseball operations role.
