The Miami Marlins and GM Kim Ng parted ways on Monday when Ng declined to pick up her mutual contract option for the 2024 season. The news came as a surprise following the Marlins' 84-win season, which resulted in the team's first playoff appearance since 2020.
Ng spent three years as the Marlins' lead decision-maker after a decade as assistant GM for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The reason for Ng's departure is rather simple: she felt underappreciated, as the Marlins were looking to hire a president of basketball operations to work above her.
Ng was the highest-ranking female front office employee in major American sports. She was the first woman to hold the GM role in the MLB, NBA, NFL, or NHL. She smashed the glass ceiling and accomplished a lot, earning the praise of peers for her shepherding of a flawed Marlins roster despite a paltry $91.7 million payroll.
Kim Ng leaves Miami Marlins GM role after team tries to demote her
While there are valid criticisms of Miami's roster and Ng's managerial choices, she did a lot with very little. The Marlins' ownership group has long been hesitant to spend big on a contender, but Ng worked out key deadline trades for Jake Burger and Josh Bell. Before the season, she hired Skip Schumaker for his first season as a manager. The results speak for themselves, with Miami consistently executing under pressure and winning close games.
It's hard to understand the Marlins' thinking here. Why hire someone over Ng after she masterminds the team's best season in years? Why not offer the president of baseball operations role to Ng, then hire another general manager beneath her? These are questions we may never get a good answer to.
Seldom do GMs leave their roles willingly, but this is a case of Ng knowing her worth and taking a principled stand. It is incredibly difficult for women to be in Ng's position, and even more difficult for them to garner the respect they deserve. Ng performed well in her role and was universally acclaimed, and still, the Marlins attempted to demote her.
"In our discussions, it became apparent that we were not completely aligned on what that should look like and I felt it best to step away," Ng told The Athletic.
The future for Ng is momentarily unclear. She is sure to get front office looks elsewhere in the MLB, but the two GM roles currently up for grabs "come with caveats," writes Athletic scribe Brittany Ghiroli. The New York Mets recently hired David Stearns as team president, so Ng would serve as the No. 2 there. The Boston Red Sox, meanwhile, tend to cycle through executives and manager Alex Cora is known to have significant decision-making power.
One potential landing spot, per Ghiroli, is Chicago, where the White Sox could tab Ng to serve as president of baseball operations over the newly promoted Chris Getz.
It's unfortunate for the first female GM in MLB history to end her first tenure this way, on a bittersweet note of success mixed with a blatant attempt to undermine her authority within the organization.
For the Marlins, it's hard to believe in the direction of a franchise not willing to spend money on stars and equally unwilling to invest in the success of its GM.
