Derek Jeter was always supposed to be a Yankee. Pinstriped and with the title of captain, he retired from the Bronx team with pride. Naturally, when his allegiances changed to the Miami Marlins in 2017, the Yankees Nation was angry. But they could not begrudge his new role as CEO when his playing days were clearly over; he was supposed to take his expertise in leading and make the Marlins great. For four years, he tried. The results weren’t the best, and after one too many disagreements with the rest of the stakeholders, he stepped down in 2022. But the criticism against him has yet to go away.

Cut to 2024, and the team has not been doing too well. The former president of the Marlins, David Samson, pointed a finger in one particular direction as the Marlins hold the third-worst record of 27-10 in the entire league. On a recent rant on Foul Territory, Samson tore Jeter a new one on his leadership skills: “The irony is, he realized, ‘Oh no, I’m a shortstop. I don’t know how to run a team.’ And Bruce Sherman did not realize that for four years, and then fired him.”

When Derek Jeter came into the picture, what he’d promised was a bigger TV deal, sold-out games, payroll, and sponsorship increases, apart from making the Marlins a winning team again. However, that didn’t happen, and David Samson elaborated on what the former CEO had planned for the team, most of which seemed necessary at the time per Jeter, but also emptied the coffers. “He spent millions of dollars moving the home run sculpture, he did a ton of work around the stadium to get rid of things we had done to really eliminate any thought of what we had done.” 

The original LoanDepot Park’s colorful home run sculpture was a point of pride for many in Miami, which featured fountains and aquatic figurines that came to life every time a home run was hit. Even former owner Jeffrey Loria didn’t spare the retired shortstop: “Jeter came in and destroyed the ballpark.” Given these comments and Samson’s rant, it became clear that the former CEO didn’t live up to his expectations. And unsurprisingly, this wasn’t the first time Samson publicly spoke against Jeter.

In 2023, as well, the former Marlins president widely criticized Derek Jeter for discarding his efforts in Miami, “He was able to bring in all his own people and he thought that everything that I did was bad,” Samson said. “So he erased anything I had done. Anything I did, he did the opposite and assumed it would work.”

In his defense of the sculpture, Jeter told Barstool Sports, “It’s still outside of the park. So, you can go see it. Actually, moved it because we needed the space.” As for making the Miami side a winning team again, while the team did improve scoring-wise under his lead, going 218-327 during his 4 seasons, finishing with a record of 31-29 during the 2020 shortened season, the overall Derek Jeter effect in Miami was not popular.

Given the state of affairs of the Marlins today, Samson went on to criticize majority owner Bruce Sherman as well, who didn’t show much resistance, potentially leading to the team’s downfall. Not to mention, there are folks like Michael Jordan, who is also an investor and owns 0.5% of Miami Marlins. And as a matter of fact, Jordan’s involvement in this ownership holds a lot of gravity. 

Michael Jordan is losing money as an investor in the Miami Marlins

David Samson further grilled the current majority owner, “Sherman has a bunch of other owners, one of whom is Michael Jordan, who say, ‘Hey, listen, we’re not losing money anymore. Stop with this.’ So there’s a clear reason not to increase payroll.” Clearly, none of the investors, including the former basketball player, want to be a part of a sinking ship. And if the tides don’t turn in the Marlins’ favor soon, who knows what the future may look like for them?

The team’s value has been steadily depreciating since 2017, and Michael Jordan is one of the 16 team investors. In 2023, the Marlins were the least valuable team in the MLB. While losses are being made, the question remains: How did it all happen? Was Derek Jeter the reason? Well, perhaps this role wasn’t something that was meant for the 14-time All-Star to take up in the first place. While the team struggled under his reign, Jeter’s stepping down was imminent. 

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