MIAMI (WSVN) - Miami Marlins CEO Derek Jeter will be hosting a fan forum at Marlins Park, Tuesday night, where he will be questioned and criticized about a number of recent moves.
Jeter was smooth on the baseball diamond when he played for the New York Yankees, but he has been struggling as a baseball executive.
Jeter will have some explaining to do at Tuesday night’s special town hall meeting with 200 Marlins season ticket holders.
Jeter has become a villain in South Florida by trading the team’s biggest stars, including second baseman Dee Gordon, outfielder Marcel Ozuna and the one that stings most for Marlins fans — reigning MVP Giancarlo Stanton.
“Sometimes things just spiral out of place and, you know, you have to find a new home,” said Stanton about being traded to the Yankees.
Without a winning season since 2009, and after sending their stars packing, the Marlins certainly won’t be contenders in 2018.
The team explained their decisions on the recent moves.
“It’s a win-win for both sides — opportunity for him to start fresh, an opportunity for us to gain needed flexibility,” said Marlins President of Baseball Operations Michael Hill. “We added good players to our system, and that starts us on our way of building a competitive organization.”
At the meeting, Jeter will try to explain the team shakeup, but no matter what he says, most fans are going to feel like the team’s former slugger.
“I let that be known — I didn’t want to be a part of another rebuild, another losing season,” said Stanton, “and that’s almost a guaranteed losing season — taking away what I thought was a great lineup, so yes, I didn’t want to be a part of the rebuild.”
With Stanton, Ozuna and Gordon all gone in recent weeks, catcher JT Realmuto has reportedly requested a trade, and outfielder Christian Yelich wants to meet with the front office to discuss his future with the team.
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