Derek Jeter with the Miami Marlins: So far, so good

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Tuesday, Derek Jeter learns if he makes the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Well, we already know he is. The only question is whether it’s unanimous.

What’s not unanimous?

Views on his tenure with the Miami Marlins.

So, today seems the right day to evaluate that.

When Jeter officially took over the Marlins as part-owner and CEO in September of 2017, the team was in shambles. The team hasn’t seen the playoffs in over a decade, their last winning record was in 2009, it’s been a year since the passing of Jose Fernandez, and have had multiple fire sales. The franchise needed drastic changes to return to competitive form.

The previous core that included Giancarlo Stanton, Dee Gordon, Marcel Ozuna, Christian Yelich, and J.T. Realmuto, clearly wasn’t getting it done so change needed to happen. Jeter traded all of the players listed for prospect packages that now make up the team as we know it today.

Of course, Jeter and the Marlins were under much scrutiny from the national media and the team’s fans but he made the right decisions to get the team back on track after many years of mediocrity.

December 2017

The first major trade of Jeter’s ownership involving players of the old core included Dee Gordon. Gordon was traded to the Seattle Mariners for RHP Nick Neidert, RHP Robert Dugger, and Chris Torres. Great trade for the Marlins, adding much-needed pitching depth and trading away Dee Gordon’s contract was a big win for Jeter.

In the same month, Miami traded reigning 2017 NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton to the New York Yankees for 2B Starlin Castro, RHP Jorge Guzman, and SS Jose Devers. This was probably the most criticized trade made by Jeter simply because Stanton was so beloved in Miami.

Trading Stanton gave the Marlins so much more financial room now that they don’t have his $325 million dollar contract while also getting back a proven hitter, a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher, and a prospect who was having a career year before going down with an injury in the middle of the season. A tough decision to trade the MVP but it needed to be done. So far, the Marlins haven’t missed Stanton, he had an underperforming season in 2018 and in 2019, he barely even saw the field because of injuries.

Marcel Ozuna was the next player of the old core to be traded to a new team. Ozuna had a breakout year during the 2017 season but it’s better to trade him now when his value is at its highest. Ozuna was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for LHP Daniel Castano, RF Magneuris Sierra, RHP Sandy Alcantara, and RHP Zac Gallen. This trade has probably been the most successful in terms of players to already reach the MLB level.

January 2018

The most talked-about trade, in probably Marlins’ history, is the Christian Yelich trade. Yelich expressed his unhappiness in Miami now that all of his friends that he rose to the big leagues are now on different teams. He requested a trade and threatened to not participate in any fan interaction activities in Miami. Yelich was granted his request and was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers. Yelich was traded for, CF Lewis Brinson, 2B Isan Diaz, CF Monte Harrison, and RHP Jordan Yamamoto.

The Yelich trade only seems terrible to the casual fan because Yelich ended up winning MVP the next season, and was runner up the season after. In all fairness, Yelich would’ve never won MVP in Miami because of how big Marlins Park was. The return for Yelich was a good return for the club. The media calls it a failed trade because the headliner of the trade, Lewis Brinson, hasn’t produced to his ability quite yet. Brinson wasn’t the only player in that trade and the other players have been producing in the minor leagues and in the big leagues.

February 2019

The last valuable player of the old core traded by Jeter was J.T. Realmuto. Realmuto also displayed his disapproval with Jeter dismantling the team and building from the ground up. The only way Realmuto would’ve stayed in Miami was if the Marlins gave him a huge contract. Don’t get me wrong, Realmuto is one of the best catchers baseball has seen in a long time, but he wasn’t worth the money he was asking for. When it was clear the Marlins and Realmuto weren’t going to come to terms on a contract, he requested a trade.

Jeter traded Realmuto to the Philadelphia Phillies for C Jorge Alfaro, RHP Sixto Sanchez, LHP Will Stewart, and Future Considerations. This trade was phenomenal for the Marlins. They picked up their ace of the future, a power-hitting catcher with multiple years of control, and a left-handed pitching prospect with some upside to him.

Free Agent Signings

Jeter has also done a great job in the free-agent market. He hasn’t overspent and has signed players who would become great mentors to the young group of players that Miami is developing and who would become trade candidates in July that could net a good return from contenders.

Just recently for the 2020 season, the team signed free agent relief pitcher Yimi Garcia and outfielder Corey Dickerson to multi-year deals. As the team moves closer to contention, the more money Jeter is going to spend on acquiring talent.

Baseball moves aren’t the only moves Jeter has overseen. He’s had a say in ballpark enhancements (which looks beautiful by the way), in bringing the fences in, and in fan experiences such as pricing and activities.

Evaluation

Jeter has done a fantastic job of running the organization the right way. Unlike the previous ownership group, this new regime cares about the fans and their experiences. In the days before Jeter came to town, the Marlins were viewed as the easiest team to trade with because the last executives wouldn’t think the trade through and would just say yes as quickly as they could. The previous executives weren’t very baseball smart or disciplined.

The Marlins of the past were seen as the easiest team to swindle during trades for not being disciplined. They never thought about the future of the franchise, only thought about the present. The trades they made were either for salary dumps or because they believed a washed-up veteran would be enough to make the playoffs.

Jeter has been the most disciplined CEO the franchise has seen and is the smartest baseball mind to run the organization. He knows what it takes to build a winning organization and how to do it the right way.

He’s always around the fans when there are fan activities, always available for pictures, and is always willing to sign autographs when he’s around. He is one of, if not THE most proactive owner/CEO in baseball.

He’s gotten a lot of criticism over the last couple years but he doesn’t mind because he knows what it takes to build a winning organization and in just a matter of two years and a half he brought the organization’s farm system from almost dead last in the league to fourth according to MLB Pipeline.

All in all, I’d give Jeter a solid 10/10 evaluation rating because he’s done everything the right way and has shown the utmost respect for the fans and their experiences. He has shown that he is capable of running a team even when there was doubt when he first became CEO.

The future of the Miami Marlins is bright and we have Hall of Famer Derek Jeter to thank.

The Miami Marlins are moving in the fence 12 feet in center and right-center field.

Pressure Point: Marlins’ fences a good move; faux turf, we’ll see

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Welcome to Pressure Point by Craig Davis, commentary and analysis from a longtime observer and reporter of the South Florida sports scene and its teams.

The Marlins followed this week’s acquisition of two power hitters by announcing alterations to Marlins Park (via the Marlins media blog) that will be conducive to what they do best.

Certainly, newcomers Jesus Aguilar and Jonathan Villar will be pleased to learn the Marlins are moving in the fences 12 feet in center field and right-center. So will returning hitters who have been stymied by vast outfield dimensions that make the Grand Canyon seem cozy.

It remains to be seen how much those same players embrace the other major change to the ballpark that was revealed Wednesday – that the team is installing a synthetic grass surface for next season.

This new Shaw Sports Turf is the same artificial turf as the Arizona Diamondbacks put in Chase Field before last season.

The Marlins are making the switch for the same reason. Like the D’Backs, they have struggled mightily to maintain a natural grass field in the retractable-roof ballpark in Little Havana.

Mixed reviews in ‘Zona

Arizona management is thrilled with the new faux field in Phoenix. Aesthetically, it’s a huge hit.

While D’Backs president/CEO Derrick Hall claims it to be safer and cuts back on injuries, the reviews from players – particularly outfielders – have been mixed. Some have blamed it for back and hamstring problems and report an overall physical toll on their bodies from playing on it regularly.

That raises concern for the Marlins, as the Arizona experience is the only gauge on this particular turf as the first test case. The Texas Rangers’ new ballpark opening in March will also have it.

“Turf is turf; it’s never going to be like real grass and everybody knows that,” Diamondbacks left fielder David Peralta said in an Arizona Republic story about the turf. “We just have to be smart. It can get you pretty good with your hamstring or back and everything.”

Fellow outfielders Adam Jones and Ketel Marte expressed similar views about the effects of playing on it regularly.

No question that the Shaw Sports Turf surface, known as B1K: Batting A Thousand, is much more sophisticated than artificial fields that have been used in the past. Much effort has been put into making it as close to the real thing as possible with current technology.

Arizona players have said they haven’t had a problem with bad bounces, but that the turf does play slower. The latter was supported by data showing a notable decrease in batting average on ground balls hit with an exit velocity of 90 mph or harder, according to Baseball Savant.

“Obviously, I think everybody would rather play on regular grass,” Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed told the Arizona Republic, while acknowledging the problems the team has had in maintaining live grass.

Some relief for hitters

The Marlins’ experience has mirrored that of Arizona. They’ve used grow lights at night. They have tried at least three different types of turfgrass – two strains of bermudagrass as well as a specialized Paspalum sod. They even tried using one type of grass in the infield and another in the outfield.

Unfortunately, none of it worked satisfactorily.

In the announcement of the switch, Michael Hill, Marlins president of baseball operations said, “While playing the Diamondbacks in Arizona, we were able to get a close look and examine the new surface at Chase Field. We agreed as an organization that this change was for the best after our players and staff had encouraging remarks regarding the playability of the playing surface.”

It will unquestionably be more pleasing to the eye. The field at Marlins Park always lost its luster as the season progressed, especially in the outer reaches of the outfield.

There will be less real estate out there with the fence moving in, and that is a welcome development.

Previous ownership miscalculated in their quest to tailor the ballpark toward pitching when it was built. Instead they created dimensions greatly out of proportion with most of Major League Baseball.

That has been a sore spot with hitters since the park opened, including Giancarlo Stanton, who hated the distant fences and even more so being asked about them.

The size of the outfield got into Christian Yelich’s head. No coincidence that he suddenly became a home run hitter playing in Milwaukee’s more comfy Miller Park.

Fairer dimensions welcome

“As we enhance the playing surface at Marlins Park, we felt it was also appropriate to take the opportunity to evaluate our outfield dimensions,” Marlins CEO Derek Jeter said in the statement. “We made the decision to adjust the distance of the outfield fence, which will now be more in line with the field dimensions you see across many of today’s ballparks.”

This will be the second time the fences have been moved (2016). The change will begin at the end of the digital scoreboard in front of AutoNation Alley in center field and extend to right-center at the start of the visitors’ bullpen.

The distance in straightaway center field will now be 400 feet with the gap in right-center at 387 feet.

It will still be a spacious outfield. And if the artificial turf does play slower it will still skew toward a pitcher’s park.

For a team intent on improving offensive output, bringing in the fences is a good move.

As for giving up on real grass, there is reason to be skeptical about that.

Pressure Point: Marlins finally giving fans reason for hope

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Welcome to Pressure Point by Craig Davis, commentary and analysis from a longtime observer and reporter of the South Florida sports scene and its teams.

Jack McKeon had a saying he repeated often during his second tour as manager of the Marlins in 2011: “The worm will turn.”

Ol’ Trade Jack was betting that the team’s fortunes would eventually change for the better.

They never did in that 72-90 season. Nor have they in the eight seasons that followed with the move to Marlins Park the following year.

The Miami Marlins haven’t had a winning record during their time in Little Havana. The recently completed 105-loss season was the second-worst in team history.

But the long-downtrodden franchise may finally be ready to fulfill McKeon’s prophesy. Entering the third year of the Derek Jeter/Bruce Sherman regime, there are signs the worm is beginning to turn.

Moves add pop to lineup

The moves Monday that netted proven power hitters Jesus Aguilar and Jonathan Villar – both were All-Stars within the past two years – without sacrificing any of the valuable young talent in their system were the latest indications that times are changing.

Notably, they were willing to pay Villar a salary expected to be in the neighborhood of $10.4 million next year when his previous team, the Orioles, were not.

Villar isn’t a past-prime package. He’s 28, a switch-hitter coming off a season in which he batted .274 with 24 home runs and 73 RBI while playing all 162 games for Baltimore. He’s a legitimate leadoff candidate who had 40 stolen bases and scored 111 runs.

His WAR rating of 4.0 last season was the same as Freddie Freeman and Anthony Rizzo, and better than Michael Conforto, Gleyber Torres and Jose Altuve, according to Fangraphs.

Villar can also play throughout the infield and in the outfield.

Miami gave up minor-league lefty Easton Lucas to get him. Lucas wasn’t among their top 30 prospects.

Aguilar, 29, comes as a bargain, the slugging first baseman claimed off waivers from Tampa Bay. He is projected to get about $2.5 million via arbitration and is one season removed from hitting 35 homers for the Brewers.

Granted that was playing in Miller Park – see Christian Yelich’s power numbers in Milwaukee compared to Marlins Park. But Aguiliar offers the sort of pop Miami’s punchless offense lacked the past two seasons.

Roster trending upward

It is always a bit surreal when the Marlins open their checkbook. Before Monday they had the projected lowest payroll in the minors.

But Jeter and Co. already made the surprising move of eating $22 million to dump useless lefty Wei-Yin Chen to open a roster spot for a young player who can be a future asset.

Acquiring Villar and Aguilar were smart yet thrifty baseball moves for genuine major-leaguers who can upgrade the most anemic lineup in the game. Villar essentially inherits the salary the Marlins were paying Starlin Castro, and there are more dimensions to his game.

This is not to suggest the Marlins are ready to challenge the World Series champion Nationals and NL East-winning Braves in the division.

Nonetheless, these upgrades fit into a trend of encouraging signs that Jeter’s rebuilding plan is headed in the right direction.

Notably, 24 of the players on the current 40-man roster have been obtained since the ownership change just over two years ago.

Presumably, an effort will be made to address needs in the bullpen and for another bat in the outfield at the Winter Meetings next week in San Diego.

For the first time in too long there is reason to watch instead of averting your eyes.

Patience showing promise

Suddenly, Marlins followers finding reason to feel frisky on Twitter for a change. Good to see their faces unobscured by paper bags.

Everyone else responds with mild shock spiced by well-worn digs. What, the blind squirrel got an acorn and didn’t choke on it?

The Marlins, with their long track record of being chintzy and out of step with the rest of baseball, will be regarded as suspects until they prove otherwise. As well they should.

They don’t have to be forever Sisyphus in knickers, though.

Jeter’s rebuilding plan is starting to take on an encouraging form. Ultimately, the fate of this rebuilding effort will depend on the young prospects panning out.

The best indication is that the farm system, which was as empty as the bleachers on a weeknight when Jeter started, is now ranked fourth by mlb.com.

There are intriguing arms at all levels of the system, and now some promising hitters are rising toward the top of the pipeline.

That is not to say they are all budding All-Stars. And the process of blossoming young talent is always painstaking and often painful, as evidenced by the struggles of Lewis Brinson and Isan Diaz to find their way in the majors.

Nonetheless, on the brink of a new decade, there is reason to believe the Marlins outlook is beginning a turn for the better and to actually look forward to spring training.