Miami Marlins owner Derek Jeter spotted at Miami Dolphins game

Derek Jeter’s absence from this years Winter Meetings was curious to begin with. Turns out he attended the Miami Dolphins football game on Monday night.

When Derek Jeter took over the Miami Marlins, he mentioned “unpopular decisions” in his introductory press conference. Moving Giancarlo Stanton was expected, and despite the outrage, was necessary.

The trade was finalized on Monday. It was a franchise-shaking blockbuster. Many felt that Derek Jeter should have been on hand to explain his roster moves. He wasn’t, instead choosing to teleconference. Still, most were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

There are an endless number of reasons to justify his absence. Watching a football game isn’t one of them.

Jeter was a prominent guest at the Miami Dolphins-New England Patriots football game on Monday night. His absence at the Winter Meetings was on display in front of a national audience; prime-time television. While other GM’s were busy mining for value, Jeter was watching Jay Cutler.

He should have been at the Winter Meetings. He wasn’t. If only for appearances sake, he should have stayed out of range of broadcast cameras. Remember that scene where Ferris Bueller goes to Wrigley Field? Yeah.

Jeter says his first few months as owner have been “a learning process”. You can chalk this up to the learning curve if you like, but this should seem fairly obvious. The final result of the New York Yankees trade is a good one for the Miami Marlins, but the process was a workshop in bungling.

Those kind of learning curves Miami fans should be ready to forgive. This kind, not so much.

Jeter’s absence from the Winter Meetings, and subsequent appearance in a Hard Rock Stadium luxury box sets a confounding precedent. His bid to purchase the team stalled for months because of how “hands on” he wanted to be.

On Monday, the only thing fans saw his hands on was a mojito.

Make like a dated reference and ‘Let It Go’

Ultimately, it’s not a big enough deal to lose sleep over. With how little time Jeter has spent as an MLB executive, he probably doesn’t have much to contribute to GM Michael Hill’s decision making anyway. His absence is a loss in appearances only.

It’s a bad look. The Miami Marlins are getting as much press now as they have in months, albeit because they’re trading away the reigning MVP. (No such thing as bad press, eh?)

You would expect Derek Jeter, for all intents and purposes the “face of the franchise” at this point, to be a prominent figure. Even if he serves no functional purpose at the meetings, he should be there to keep up appearances. He would do well to take a page from Queen Elizabeth’s book.

Next: Stanton's bitter farewell

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The Winter Meetings press on throughout the day on Tuesday. Be sure you keep your eyes on the Marlin Maniac twitter, my personal twitter handle, and the Marlin Maniac Facebook page for the latest and breaking Miami Marlins news.