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Miami Marlins make historic hire bringing in Rachel Balkovec as Director of Player Development, is she a good fit?

Marlins now have a history of making history with female hires

ByBrian Dunleavy|
Rachel Balkovec smiles in a game versus the Lakeland Tigers. She is the first woman manager in the
Rachel Balkovec smiles in a game versus the Lakeland Tigers. She is the first woman manager in the | Robert Magobet / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Miami Marlins made history once again with an historic hire of a female to lead as Director of Player Development. Rachel Balkovec is now the Marlins Director of Player Development and will have a tough task at hand with one of the worst minor league systems in the MLB. The Marlins have one prospect ranked in the top 100 and need help. 

Can Rachel Balkovec help the Marlins farm system?

Rachel Balkovec has been through several teams minor league systems starting out as a strength and conditioning coach for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2012. In 2016 Balkovec joined the Houston Astros and was first their Latin American strength and conditioning coach and then was moved into the same role for AA Corpus Christi Hooks. In 2019 she moved on to the New York Yankees organization and this time was a hitting coach. She was then promoted to the Yankees A ball Tampa Tarpons manager role and has been manager for the past two seasons. 

This Peter Bendix hire has Bruce Sherman’s fingerprints all over it. Kim Ng didn't work out very well as she left the Marlins depleted in their minor leagues and with several overpaid players on the big league roster. Rachel Balkovec could end up a great hire and do well but her resume begs the question as to why she was hired for the position. Balkovec was a minor league manager for two years and now will oversee all the Marlins minor league staff. She was a sub .500 manager, not that record has too much bearing in single A. Most of her career is as a strength and conditioning coach, and Bendix probably liked her resume  due to her focus and study of analytics.

I’m sure the Marlins had several different options to choose from for this position and they chose a female hire. Balkovec could do we and as Marlins fans we want to see her and the Marlins do well but it doesn’t look hopeful. The Marlins hopefully will make some more big moves soon to improve the major league roster. 

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