Former Marlins Slugger Mike Jacobs to Manage Jupiter Hammerheads

The Miami Marlins have reportedly chosen Mike Jacobs to manage the Jupiter Hammerheads.

To those uninitiated, Jupiter is in the third tier of the Marlins minor league system, in the High-A Florida State League. They’re just below the Double-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in the Southern League and just above the Clinton LumberKings in the Single-A Midwest League.

Mike Jacobs will be entering his fourth season managing at the minor league level in Miami’s system. He joined the organization as the Batavia Muckdogs manager in 2017, coaching them to a 30-45 record in the short-season-A New York-Penn League. After guiding them to a 36-40 record the following season, he managed the LumberKings last season to the MWL Finals with a 78-61 record. Clinton has since welcomed new manager Tom Lawless into the fold for the 2020 campaign from Batavia.

According to a press release by Ryer Gardenswartz on the Jupiter Hammerheads homepage:

"Jupiter was in the top half of the Florida State League in team ERA and WHIP and will look to build on that with Jacobs at the helm. The rest of the Hammerheads coaching staff will be announced at a future date."

Jacobs was a 48th round draft choice for the Tampa Bay Rays back in 1998 out of Hilltop HS in Chula Vista, CA. Declining to sign, he was selected again the following year in the 38th round by the New York Mets out of Grossmont College.

After six full seasons in the Mets minor-league system, The six-foot-two left-handed slugger Jacobs made his major league debut for them in 2005, going 31-for-100 with 11 home runs for a stellar .310/.375/.710 slash line. After that season, the Mets sent him with Yusmeiro Petit and Grant Psomas to the Marlins for Carlos Delgado and cash.

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In three seasons anchoring the Marlins at first base, Jacobs hit .258/.314/.483 with 69 home runs and 224 RBI. In 2008, he ranked sixth in the National League with an isolated power mark of .266. Following that year, Miami traded him to the Kansas City Royals for Leo Nunez, later known as Juan Carlos Oviedo.

After 19 homers, 61 RBI, and a .228/.297/.401 slash in 128 games for Kansas City, Jacobs later spent time in the majors with the Mets and the Arizona Diamondbacks, last in 2012. The four seasons following would see him play at the Triple-A level with Arizona and in the Mexican League, between the Oaxaca Guerreros and the Tijuana Toros.

Jacobs didn’t appear again as a player after 2016, instead matriculating directly to the Marlins coaching ranks. He inherits a team that went 54-78 last season to miss the playoffs under former manager Todd Pratt, also a former major leaguer. No news yet on Pratt’s destination.