10 Burning Questions (4th in a series)
#4: With Kim Ng's departure, who's next?
With the Marlins’ 2023 season in the books, VIEW FROM THE BLEACHERS continues its look ahead to 2024 in this multi-part series in which we’re discussing some of the primary burning questions the organization will need to answer this offseason that could go a long way toward defining its short- and long-term future.
If you missed our previous installments in the series, you can read them here…
#4: WHO’S NEXT?
With some time to reflect on general manager Kim Ng’s departure from the Marlins, I keep coming back to one over-riding theme:
The Marlins can’t seem to take a step forward without taking 2 steps back.
2023 was a season to celebrate, as the Marlins exceeded all external expectations and reached the postseason for only the 4th time in franchise history, for the first time in a full season since 2003.
But a fan base that came out of the season looking optimistically toward the future was blindsided Monday by the news that Ng would be leaving the organization, reportedly dissatisfied with owner Bruce Sherman’s desire to strip her of her powers by hiring a president of baseball operations at a time when Ng should have been due a contract extension at a fair-market rate.
There are many things broken within the organization—both on and off the field. But instead of focusing on strengthening weaknesses, the Marlins have made life more complicated for themselves by moving to fix something that wasn’t broken.
From the ashes of the financially motivated decision to cut ties with former president of baseball operations Michael Hill after the 2020 season, the Marlins bounced back with Derek Jeter’s inspired hiring of Ng, which likely goes down as Jeter’s most positive contribution to the organization even with how the Ng era ended this week.
With all the hirings and firings Jeter got wrong during his time as Marlins CEO, this was one move he got right.
What I wrote Monday, theorizing that instead of merely having an option year picked up, Ng wanted a multi-year extension at a fair-market rate, was confirmed in reporting by The Athletic.
Even more egregious, was ESPN’s reporting of Sherman’s plan to demote Ng, to have her work under a soon-to-be-hired president of baseball operations.
Serving as a general manager under a president of baseball operations is like being vice president of the United States, which John Adams (one who would know) called “the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived.”
Considering what Ng achieved during 2 seasons (and only one offseason) with full autonomy after Jeter’s departure, and with one of the smallest payrolls in the sport, she had graduated beyond this diminished role, beyond accompanying the club on the road trips the president didn’t want to take and beyond being the person sent out to face the media when the boss isn’t in the mood.
As I’ve written extensively, there was plenty of good fortune involved in the 2023 Marlins reaching the playoffs. Their staggering good fortune in one-run games is not sustainable, and they benefitted not merely from the expansion of the playoffs but by the incomprehensible collapse of 3 teams that seemed like playoff locks in the spring—the Mets, Padres and Cardinals.
With the number of question marks on their roster moving forward, and uncertainty surrounding Sherman’s desire to increase payroll, their 84-win campaign was far from a guarantee of further improvement in 2024 and beyond.
All of that said, it is still undeniable that Ng had this organization headed in the right direction and that the organization Ng leaves is better than the organization she inherited.
But, like John Adams, that’s history. For better or worse, it’s time to move forward.
Where do the Marlins go from here?
Who’s next?
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Glenn Geffner's View from the Bleachers to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.