DAVID SAMSON'S RANT AGAINST JETER OMITS THE PART WHERE THE MARLINS ARE ACTUALLY BETTER NOW

David Samson is a whiny bitch.  That's how I see it.

Look, I don't want to make this a Marlins thing, but let's face the facts.  When Derek Jeter got the Miami Marlins reigns, even I was critical of him and the decisions he was making.  He was removing some of the stables of the ballpark, getting rid of the "DJ" vibe that was there. 

Getting rid of that horrendous piece of artwork out in center field, and when a Marlin hit a homer, the marlin would move around that piece of art, and everyone would be excited.

He even showed Jeff Conine, Mr. Marlin the door.  Jeter was making changes for that team to bring a more corporate feel to it. He wanted people to take the Marlins seriously. He was trying to erase the joke of the Marlins that was the Loria / Samson era. He wanted to prove to everyone that he was a serious owner.  And there's one more thing he did... he started to bring in young talent, talent that few heard of, but the idea was the build a solid pitching staff... and a young, energic and talented roster that could one day make a run.   

In February 2022, he left the organization, and we all started to see a Derek Jeter that was the Yankees Derek Jeter again. But this time he was more open... he was friendly, smiling, joking and showing off his beautiful family.  Derek Jeter looked like he was finally at peace with his decision to leave the Marlins and embrace the Yankee fans that loved him forever.

I was one of the harshest critics of Derek Jeter with the Marlins, until I saw his documentary and actually started to understand what made this man operate.  How his mind worked. How he wouldn't let people in because he was a private person.  I finally understood it, and I embraced it too.  I got it.

If you don't know who David Samson is, all you need to know is the Marlins were never good when Samson and Jeffrey Loria were running the team.  For Samson and Loria, the team was a money grab. They were terrible owners, always had been. It was right around 2013 when I started hammering these guys about not being serious owners. Read LITTLE WOMEN for more.

These days David Samson is a broken-down podcaster. He was fired from the Marlins when Jeter moved in. He's jealous of Jeter, he clearly doesn't understand business. He clearly didn't understand what Jeter's plan was to turn the team around. He didn't get any of it. And so because of that, he hammered Jeter in a podcast and was NEVER CHALLENGED about it.

The New York Post writes:

"...he was very critical of Jeter’s tenure as minority owner and CEO of the Marlins.

“[Jeter] 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. And figured he could do [George] Costanza, which is opposite day. Anything I did, he did the opposite and assumed it would work.

“He assumed that he could get a bigger TV deal. He assumed he could get a big naming rights deal, that he’d get tons of season-ticket holders, that he would make the team a winning team. And after four years, I think he realized that being a shortstop and being an executive are two totally different things. … And I think he realized quickly that being a pitchman for Subway was probably going to be more up his alley than running the team every day and being accountable for that.”

So let's break it down.  Samson didn't know what he was doing as one of the guys running the Marlins before Jeter, and so it makes sense that Jeter would want to change things.  

I guess Samson is butt hurt by that, but the reality is the Loria/Samson era never worked for that team.  Jeter made strict changes and being opposite of Samson would make perfect sense to me to be honest. In other words, it didn't work their way, how about do it another way.

Samson goes on: “After the team was sold to Derek Jeter, I would have stayed on, I had a contract to stay on,” Samson said. “I got a text alert from ESPN.com that I’d been fired. I called Derek and said, ‘Hey, I just got an alert. Am I actually fired?’ He said, ‘Oh yeah, I didn’t get to you. I’m sorry.’”

Now let's unpack this... 

Samson was annoyed and hurt he didn't get fired with a face to face with Derek Jeter. Samson is a millionaire, hardly in a situation where he needs any one-on-one time. If Samson didn't see the writing on the wall the day Jeter took over, he's delusional.  What respect does Samson need for a face to face.  Does he realize that in big business, when you are a top dog and get fired, it's usually an attorney that calls you? You don't get a face to face. What world does Samson live in?  

Samson's a big boy... that move by Jeter and the new Marlins staff was strategic... that's business, deal with it.

But wait, Samson cries more:

"Derek Jeter was the perfect person to buy a team because he didn’t use his money,” Samson said. “And he had someone in the name of Bruce Sherman who let him do anything he wanted with absolutely no accountability. And if you can get that kind of job, you might as well go get it.”

The most idiotic quote of the interview.  Jeter's a genius.  If you can get major investors to buy a team and allow you to control the team, YOU JUMP ON IT. It might be the 1st part of Jeter's genius when it came to taking over as CEO of the Marlins.

What Samson, or Dan Le Batard and John Skipper (where he was interviewed) failed to point out is that the Marlins, thanks to Derek Jeter's leadership in Miami has changed the game.  I mean, have you seen the Marlins lately?

The Marlins are in second place in their division, just 7 games out behind the Braves.

Luis Arraez is hovering around .400.  Jorge Soler already has 22 homers.  Their pitching staff is young and solid, led by Sandy Alcantara.  They have better player, but they have better YOUNG players. My point is the moves Jeter made that Samson never understood are paying back for the Marlins team right now.  

The Marlins are not bad, or worse because of Derek Jeter.  They are actually better since Jeter made the changes and MUCH better than when Samson ever ran the team.

The fact that Le Batard and Skipper never bothered to challenge Samson may be the worst part of this whole thing.  Samson was allowed to rant and not be checked. Pathetic.

Look, as Yankee fans, we were disappointed when Jeter wanted to be an owner for the Marlins. But looking back, he knew exactly what he was doing, he was building the Marlins Future, something tool Samson never did.  For Samson, for Loria, the Marlins was their piggy bank.  He wasn't hoping for a championship, he was hoping no one would notice he was literally lining his pockets with a mediocre team.

But you can't say that about Jeter.  In fact, for me, I would suggest that Jeter did more for the Marlins from 2017- 2022 than Samson EVER did.  And that's the bottom line.

Sour grapes, Samson? Yup. I think so.

JETER JUST MATURED AS AN OWNER

I hated when Derek Jeter took over the Miami Marlins. I thought the decisions he made to fire guys like Jeff Conine, Jack McKeon... Andre Dawson and Tony Perez were stupid considering they were part of what made the Marlins fun and a have a sense of history.

I think getting rid of that hideous statute in center field was just him swinging his weiner around acting like he was in charge. The thing is ugly, but again, important to the building and make-up of the Marlins. No other place had it. Look, I don't know the Marlins financials. I don't know how much money they were wasting and what they needed to do to sustain a solid baseball life in Miami.

What I did know is that symbolism is important to fans, and when they see a guy like Jeff Conine, Mr. Marlin, shown the door, you have to question it.

I do think that no one will go to that ballpark for a while now that Giancarlo Stanton, Justin Bour, Ozuna and Yelich have left.  But look, that's old news. This next move Jeter move is the right one... and so, he's forgiven by me, for now at least.

NBC New York writes:

"Miami Marlins CEO Derek Jeter told team employees during a conference call Monday he is forgoing his salary during the coronavirus pandemic, a person familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press. 

The person confirmed Jeter's comments to the AP on condition of anonymity because the Marlins have not commented publicly on the call. 

The person said other members of the Marlins' executive team agreed to take pay cuts, while baseball operations personnel will continue to receive their full salaries through at least May 31."

Let's see what happens next.

NOW BILLY THE MARLIN'S OUT OF A JOB!

Thanks Derek.

Derek Jeter has fried another fish. Oops, I mean he has FIRED another fish. Why stop at just trading away all of your big names? Let's not forget firing a longtime scout with cancer, special assistant and former player Jeff Conine (known as Mr. Marlin). Now most recently he has fired the REAL big fish himself....the mascot Billy the Marlin.

So no one's job is safe is the Marlin's organization. Not even the guy playing the darn mascot! Seriously, why take it out on the nice guy playing the mascot? He must've been at the top of his mascot game for Jeter to fire him and save a few bucks because the Billy himself isn't out of a job, just the guy inside the suit.

What an odd move to make right before FanFest! In the off chance that Jeter didn't completely ostracize the entire fan base and someone even wanted to show up that was a bad move to make. He already ripped the face of the Marlins away from their fans by sending Giancarlo Stanton to us but then he fires the same guy that has been meeting and greeting fans at the ballpark for over 14 years according to SiriusXM’s Craig Mish.

Photo: Associated Press

Seriously....a 14 year veteran. The guy who has been the most accessible part of your organization and has run into the same fans multiple times in his career just dismissed with no explanation from the Marlins organization.

Photo: Sun-Sentinel

Oh, but don't worry according to the Miami Herald HERE, a new replacement attended FanFest on Saturday as Billy. This person was an experienced backup according to a Marlins spokesperson stating "multiple people play the part of the team’s mascot in the past and said one of those backups was in costume for the FanFest event." What a relief.

But seriously, Jeter has sunk to an even lower low by firing the nice mascot? The nice guy behin the long nosed smiley face doesn't even get an explanation. We've already seen how Jeter valued the players that brought fans into the ballpark....now he has rudely dismissed the man that brought smiles to every kid that came to the ballpark. Some people may say "so what" or "big deal" but it IS a big deal.

The guy underneath the fish suit is named John DeCicco and was let go without regret or reasoning for why Jeter decided to replace him after 14 years of dedication. This has come full circle now. Jeter has now fired people in every part that goes into a thriving franchise. He fired the man the spots the talent to help grow your franchise. He got rid of the people that made fans WANT to come to the ballpark. Now finally, he has fired the man that greeted fans in the ballpark and made memories with everyone and helped create the fan experience. So what's next?

We will never discredit Jeter the player. That man was a baseball legend. This man has lost all of those qualities as an owner. So who will Jeter fire next? This is far from over.

--Jeana Bellezza
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj

THE BOY THAT BROKE HIS TOY

I don't get any of it. I don't get what Derek is doing.  So yeah... I had to map this latest article out for you.

Photo: Joe Skipper/AP

Look, the truth is I like Derek Jeter, but I cannot for the life of me understand what he is attempting to do in Miami. Sure, wants to cut payroll, I get that. Sure, he wants youth in the Miami farm system, I get that too.  But doing it all at once is a sure way to tick off a fan base.  In a moment you will see that first hand. For now, I just have to get this off my chest...

Derek and Sherman are surrounded by other "top" guys in this Miami organization. It's not just DJ, I know this. Plus, investors are involved in this team.  People will read this again and say "You're not being fair JUST ripping Jeter for his 'alleged mistakes' with his team." 

Photo: AP

Well, the truth is, he's the only one putting his neck out to take the heat.  And when I say heat, realize that I'm NOT the only publication going after this guy for poor ownership skills. There are plenty of other publications going after DJ.  NY Post. Miami Herald is owning it right now. Incredible reporting.  But look, I've been stating since day 1 here on Bleeding Yankee Blue that I respect Jeter the player all day long.  No one better.  But this businessman / owner thing is not flattering on his personality.

AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File

He cuts all the iconic Marlins loose. That for one is a red flag. Guys like Jack McKeon and Jeff Conine.  Then under the pressure from target media, he backtracks and tries to offer them new positions back with the club, less money of course. Conine says "go scratch," and why wouldn't he?

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Then Jeter trades away Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna.  Of course he's slashing payroll here... maybe even gets some young players for the farm, but now he's managed to piss off an entire fan base who already had next to nothing. Now he gets rid of Miami's home run hitters?  Not too many people are wearing a Dan Straily jersey, you know what I mean?

Then, in case you missed it, the world famous rumored "Miami Town Hall meeting that took place recently.  That's right, an emergency Town Hall meeting that was a true testament to how the Miami fans really feel. They are heartbroken, folks. That's what Derek Jeter doesn't understand.  The fans don't care about business. They want to go see their heroes, they want to bring their kids, pay a low price for tickets and go see the games. 

I mean, what's next, will Jeter fire DJ Vertigo next?  Anyway... here's some of that recap of the town hall brought to you by the New York Post.  Classic right here:

"Derek Jeter’s coming-out party with his Marlins fanbase Tuesday night was more like an intervention. The new co-owner met with a group of mainly disgruntled fans for a town hall-style gathering at Marlins Park and, for nearly 90 minutes, answered questions about the current state of the franchise.

Photo: SI

Jeter’s flurry of activity out of the gate, including trading away three star players and prompting two others to say they want out too, has apparently not sat well with a fanbase that already is used to losing and poor management.

'This makes me miss [Jeffery] Loria,' the famous Marlins Man said at the town hall of the team’s former owner, who was far from fans’ good graces by the time he sold the Marlins to Jeter and Bruce Sherman in August. 'Who would have thought that?'”

And now, the Miami Herald, who's literally been all over Jeter and his missteps obtained something called "Project Wolverine" from the Jeter camp... a project designed to cut payroll to about $90 million.  Right now it's at $104 million. 

And as I've written several times here... Christian Yelich... Justin Bour... J.T. Realmuto will probably be next because if they are, that will get the Marlins to where Jeter wants it. And empty shell of itself. Low payroll, sure, but the fans will no longer come and you can forget Marlins Park. 

Athens Olympic Facilities/2004 Summer Olympics

It will be a white elephant in no time. You know, one of those stadiums that get built when the Olympics come to some famous city in the world, only to just sit there long after the Olympics is gone, never to be used again.

But now the New York Post has Jeter's plan mapped out, again, echoed by BYB extensively, and distributed by the Miami Herald who's been all over this guy.  Check this out:

Photo: Sun Sentinel

"First: Make your team unwatchable.
Second: See an immediate boost in ticket sales with this eye-sore squad.
Third: Convince your TV network it should pay more for a team no one wants to watch.
Fourth: Coax more millions from corporations, thinking they will be further inspired to support a franchise that is now much worse on the field.

...how do Jeter and Sherman visualize the boon coming to Miami?

The Marlins made about $30 million in ticket revenue last year with a team that finished 77-85. Now that the best player in franchise history, Giancarlo Stanton, and his friends have been dealt away, Jeter and Sherman project to make $37.5 million in sales this year.

The Marlins have the worst TV deal in all of baseball, which will pay them $17 million, $18 million and $20 million from Fox Sports Florida over the next three seasons. The new regime plans to renegotiate that deal and projects $51.6 million in 2021 and $53.6 million in 2022. Such an enormous jump likely would require a second TV bidder for the Marlins, which could be difficult to find.

The final aim, on its face, seems the easiest goal to hit. Wolverine predicts the team’s sponsorship revenue will go from $19.1 million in 2017 to $24 million in 2018, then $32 million, $37.8 million and $41.6 million.

The dramatic increase is a reach, but selling the naming rights to Marlins Park will help revenues.

This is how Jeter imagines dismantling a team and enraging its fan base will result in more Marlins dollars. Good luck. "

This maps it out wonderfully... kind of like I've written many times before. Lose the stars, increase ticket sales.  Yup, that makes sense. 

So before you bash me for ripping Jeet... here's just another publication of someone just as confused as I am, and believe me, there are plenty more... Google it.

As I have said here... we are following the Marlins debacle closely, even though it has nothing to do with the New York Yankees. This story is big. We will stay on it.

THE GRINCH OF MIAMI

There's low... there's lower and then there's douche.  You decide after this post about Miami owner Derek Jeter.

Here's the New York Post with that story...

"The Marlins fired a longtime scout who needs a kidney transplant, Yahoo Sports reported. They did so while he was lying in a hospital bed recovering from colon cancer surgery. Marty Scott was let go Oct. 16, just before his contract was set to expire at the end of the month.

He was at the Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Fla. A few days before the bad news, Scott had a cancerous tumor and polyps removed from his colon. Doctors found the cancer while he was undergoing tests for a kidney transplant because he has diabetes.

Photo: Getty Images

'Derek Jeter doesn’t owe me anything,' Scott told Yahoo Sports. 'Probably in their hearts they did what they thought was right. I know based on certain aspects of the game, I probably was making too much money. But we all love the game. We’re all in it together. I just think 40 years was worth more than a spank on the butt and see you later...

I’m very hurt. Forty years in baseball, I let a lot of people go. I never, ever fired somebody 10 days, 15 days before their contract was up. If I knew I was going to fire somebody, I did it at the beginning of September.'”

It's all you need to know. Heartless. Disrespectful, and sure, you can call it business all you want.

Photo: New York Post

But Jeter's a Grinch. It's an outrageous story.  And before you come after BYB for being "disrespectful" to your Captain and Savior, think about and Google this story and recognize there are literally hundreds of publications tonight expressing disappointment in this man and his decisions as new owner of the Marlins.

For me though... this is lowest of the low.

Excellent reporting by Jeff Passan at Yahoo Sports who did he original reporting on this. 

You know who's loving this story right now? Jeff Conine.

WHEN YOU PISS OFF MR. MARLIN, YOU GOTTA PROBLEM

Not sure how you walk into Marlins Park, cut the head off the snake and think that that's OK... you know what I mean?

That's what happened with Derek Jeter now being owner of the Marlins, and basically how he handled the top tier of Marlins office folks... one of them being Mr. Marlin himself, Jeff Conine... a lifelong Marlin, who now gave Jeter the finger and is leaving the organization on his own terms.  I call that patriotism, loyalty and taking a stand.  I tip my cap to Conine. He did it right.

If you life under a rock, the latest drama in Jeter's world is that he wanted some top Marlin icons removed in his "restructuring" of the Marlins.  4 guys, Andre Dawson, Tony Perez, Jack McKeon and Conine were fired. Then, when Jeter felt the heat, he allegedly called them all and tried to give them different jobs.  Well, Conine told Jeter to go scratch.  Here's the latest on that. ESPN has it:

"Jeff Conine, known as "Mr. Marlin" for his years as a player and staff member in South Florida, is leaving the organization after he said he was offered a lesser role and lower pay from the new ownership group led by Derek Jeter.

'To say I'm disappointed that I won't have a role in this organization, yeah, I'm disappointed,' Conine told the Miami Herald on Thursday.

But Jeter and Conine couldn't agree on a role.

'I spent 7½ years as a player and the last nine years as someone working with the organization,' Conine said, according to the Herald. 'I've always considered myself a Marlin. I'm a member of this community. I want to see them win again. I want to see them get back to the World Series and the playoffs.'"

Look, Jeter can couch this as "business" all he wants, because yes it is. But in Marlins world, where they don't have much as it is, there are 3 things you don't do...

Joel Auerbach/Getty Images

You don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't piss in the wind... and you certainly don't remove an icon and then diminish what he means to the organization when the heat gets too much.

Jeter F'd up big time.  Welcome to the growing pains of ownership...

moron.

JEET FEELS THE HEAT

Photo: AL DIAZ MIAMI HERALD 

We said it here on BYB first and all of you hated me for it.  We didn't like the way Derek Jeter came into Marlins Park and fired 4 Marlin icons. And the worst part was, it wasn't even him, it was him directing, David Samson, the outgoing President to do it. We found it spineless and crass. 

We wrote DEREK JERK-ER, and we got heat for it because we verbally attacked you beloved Jeter.  Well... We're right, and even Jeter knows that now...

CBS Sports writes:

"...According to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Jeter has reached out to the four franchise icons in an attempt to make amends. Conine, Dawson, and Perez have reportedly been offered jobs as well. From Heyman:

Photo: 30-Year Old Cardboard    

Jeter reached out to the four men Friday or over the weekend, explaining to them that he didn't believe he could call them until the sale closed (it did so on Friday), and was now giving them a message that was much more positive, and in fact the opposite of what they heard previously. 

The four men, who now could all be back with the team (depending on the role offered, of course), either declined comment or could not be reached. Jeter told them that he'd discuss their new roles at a later date. 

Jackson describes Jeter as "doing damage control or rethinking the situation" after receiving bad publicity for the firings, not only because of the four men involved, but also because he didn't fire them himself. Jeter had longtime team president David Samson, who himself is on the way out, do the firings."

Photo: New York Daily News

It was a foolish move on Jeter's part and Barry Jackson of the Herald is right, this is about Jeter's image and legacy only.  If no one said anything, Jeter would have continued to do whatever he wanted, but here's the problem with that; the Marlins fans have nothing down there but a nice ballpark. Keeping those Marlins and Hall of Famers around is good for business... and they should be kept and built around. 

Trust me, as an owner of the Marlins, there are hundreds of other things he could do to bring in revenue besides firing Marlins players and tying to remove the damn dolphin art display out in center field.

Give me a break...

Just wanted to keep you updated.  Happy Monday.