Derek Jeter continues to draw suspicion over his early dealings as Marlins owner.
First was Jeter’s decision last month to let go of four front office members, including Miami baseball icon Jeff Conine, who expressed frustration over Jeter’s handling of the situation. Now comes Fox Sports Florida’s announcement that three respected members of the Marlins broadcast booth are being dropped, which some believe has Jeter’s name written all over it.
Fox Sports took responsibility for the sudden decision to part ways with 13-year play-by-play man Rich Waltz and two analysts, Conine and Preston Wilson, in a statement released Wednesday, though sources told the Miami Herald that Waltz was in good standing with Fox until Jeter arrived three months ago.
Fox justified the firings as the “right time to make a change” after reviewing footage of past Marlins broadcasts.
Waltz, who also calls college football and basketball games for CBS Sports Network, declined to lay blame on Jeter and co-owner Bruce Sherman when asked about the timing of the decision lining up with the start of a new Marlins era.
“I am disappointed but wish the Marlins and their fans and Fox Sports Florida the best,” Waltz said in a statement Wednesday. “I enjoyed every one of my 13 seasons every inning of every game. I was blessed to work with great production people and terrific analysts. I am very proud of the charity event I started and helped run and hope it continues.”With his removal from the booth, Conine appears to have had all business ties severed with the Marlins, the team he won two World Series with as a player in 1997 and 2003, earning him the nickname “Mr. Marlin.” Conine, 51, said in October he refused Jeter’s offer to remain with the Marlins in a lesser role and for half the pay after he spent nine years as a special assistant to former Marlins president David Samson.
Jeter, who also has raised eyebrows for the way he’s addressed Giancarlo Stanton’s future with the team, also is working quickly with Sherman to recruit more investors to the Marlins’ cause. The two sent out an email pitch this month, according to FanRag Sports, with the hope of persuading other businessmen to contribute $250 million to their $1.2 billion purchase of the team.
One of the owners’ strategies in the presentation was to highlight the “mistakes” of previous Marlins leaders, including former manager Ozzie Guillen’s praise for late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, which earned him a five-game suspension in 2012.
While there’s little reason to believe the tight-lipped Jeter will spark controversy with his words, he has a long way to go before he separates himself from Marlins ownership teams of old.