At some point soon, ownership of the Marlins will officially be transferred from Jeffrey Loria to the group led by Bruce Sherman and Derek Jeter. MLB's owners unanimously approved the sale earlier this week. Now they're just waiting for the financial transaction to close.
Jeter, meanwhile, has wasted no time gutting the team's front office. Last week he reported fired special assistants Andre Dawson, Tony Perez, Jack McKeon, and Jeff Conine, four of the most recognizable names in franchise history. Even more staffers were let go Friday. From Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald:
And Jeter, once again, asked outgoing Marlins president David Samson to fire the employees for him, according to a source.
Jeter asked Samson to dismiss vice president of player development Marc DelPiano, assistant general manager Mike Berger, vice president/player personnel Jeff McAvoy and vice president/pitching development Jim Benedict. All were informed by Samson in recent days.
The Marlins lured both DelPiano and Benedict away from the Pirates in 2015 and both are highly regarded within the industry. The team thought so highly of Benedict that they traded a player to acquire him. Right-hander Trevor Williams was sent to Pittsburgh as compensation for Benedict.
Williams, 25, has a 4.07 ERA in 150 1/3 innings spread across 25 starts and six relief appearances for the Pirates this season. Given their patchwork rotation, Williams would've been no worse than Miami's third-best starter this season behind Dan Straily and Jose Urena. Now the Marlins fired the executive they acquired for Williams.
Benedict was credited for reviving the careers of several pitchers while with the Pirates, including Francisco Liriano and current Marlins hurler Edinson Volquez. That said, the Marlins do have new ownership, and it is not at all uncommon for new ownership to bring in their own people. Jeter is wasting no time making changes to the front office hierarchy.
