Is Jeffrey Loria Relinquishing Control?

Aug 17, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria (left) talks with Marlins executive vice president operations

For year’s Marlins’ fans have been dreaming of a world in which owner Jeffrey Loria isn’t meddling in their beloved franchise’s day-to-day business. Nothing personal against Loria, but generally we wish that Loria would stick to art and let the baseball people do their thing. Well, word is surfacing in Miami that Loria may be doing just that.

According to Barry Jackson, sports writer for the Miami Herald, Loria is content with the management that he has in place, and has been letting them make all of the decisions this offseason.

"“He’s far happier with the baseball department now,” a friend of Loria said. “They presented him with a plan and he has agreed to everything.”"

This change in Loria doesn’t mean that he has zero input into the running of the franchise, as Jackson was quick to note.

"Loria still sits in the meetings and gives opinions but has apparently concluded, at least so far, that he needs to let his baseball people do their jobs."

I bet Larry Beinfest is reading this article somewhere and smashing coffee cups or trying to kick small dogs. For years Beinfest would make moves that were directly at the behest of Loria, made clear during press conferences in which Beinfest would take no credit for the move. No GM wants to take a job to not make important decisions (see currently, Dolphins, Miami, GM search), and it must be maddening to see Loria now giving that privilege to Mike Hill and Dan Jennings, the new President and GM in Miami.

While this may be frustrating for Beinfest, this is really good news for Marlins’ fans. Loria’s job needs to be limited to providing a budget to the player personnel decision makers and getting out-of-the-way. Just because Loria has a lot of money, doesn’t make him qualified to judge baseball ability. That is what he has hired his staff for. With Loria taking a step back, hopefully the Fish can take a step forward, and compete for a playoff spot soon.