Which MLB GM is on the chopping block?
By Bill Felber
Who’s the Next MLB GM to go?
Mike Hill, Miami Marlins
Hill was Marlins GM from 2008 to 2013, when he was named president of baseball operations.
Like many GM-level personnel, specifics of his arrangement are not public record. But he is believed to be under contract through the 2020 season at approximately $2 million per season.
Hill’s biggest problem, obviously, is that he is not Derek Jeter’s guy. Jeter and principal owner Bruce Sherman, who purchased the Marlins following the 2017 season, inherited Hill’s multi-year deal. While it’s always possible that Jeter and Hill have since bonded, the greater likelihood is that Jeter wants to install his own man in the MLB GM chair.
The only question, then, is whether the Marlins are willing to eat the remaining $2 million owed to Hill.
The Marlins haven’t had a winning season since 2010, and are a solid bet to have their worst season since the cannibalism of 1998 in 2019. Since Hill resumed direct control of front office management in 2016, the Marlins have averaged 92 losses per season.
It would be an easy matter to blame under-capitalization for the Marlins’ ongoing failure to compete. But in an era when other relatively under-capitalized teams – the Athletics and Rays to name two — have competed well, it’s an open question whether Jeter and Sherman will have much patience with that rationalization.