Miami Marlins possible GM options that know the small market team

Kim Ng is out, who could be in?

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The Miami Marlins and former GM Kim Ng mutually parted ways this week and now the search for a new GM is underway. There will be lots of speculation and potential options presented in the coming weeks and days but who might be some good top choices? 

We will look at a few different potentials that have a good track record to date. The factors considered are of course important and so we will look at teams that are doing well and have a small market and therefore small salary. We also consider and look at teams with highly ranked farm systems for home grown talent which is equally important for a small market team. Lastly, the fit is always a question, what kind of philosophy does the person have, we look at and weight those options.  

The biggest question that might determine who the final candidate could be is will the Marlins go through with hiring a president of baseball operations position? If they indeed do that person will have a huge influence on who is the new GM and their philosophy. I for one believe they will still hire that position as it is trending for all teams, and has steadily increased as a position across the league. The Marlins have already had that position in the past so it is not a stretch of the imagination that they would have it once again, especially when so many teams are finding value in the position.

Diamondbacks Assistant General Manager - Amiel Sawdaye

The Marlins could easily look to a smaller market team to find who they can leverage for a General Manager position and the Arizona Diamondbacks could be the team. The Diamondbacks Assistant General Manger is Amiel Sawdaye, and they are a team that has enjoyed some recent success and huge growth. Those are both things the Marlins need to continue and Sawdaye helped do it in a smaller market team. That could win over Bruce Sherman in the search and the Diamondbacks are a very similiar story to the Marlins this year as well.

The Diamondbacks were 74-88 last season and they have turned it around this year at 84-78 and were tied in wins with the Marlins this season. The Diamondbacks however have a brighter future than the Marlins do according to analysts, as their farm system is ranked 12th in the MLB. The systems suffered a little loss in their ranking this season due to their promotion of Corbin Carroll and Brandon Pfaadt.

The Diamondbacks salary is a little higher than the Marlins this season but those could be helped and managed by the president of baseball operations. Those two young Diamondback's stars however will give them a solid team for years to come and the Marlins need that consistency. Sawdaye's biggest asset is that he has been a part of building championship teams with the Red Sox and knows how to work the small market teams. I really like his analytical approach.

Reds Assistant General Manager- Sam Grossman

The Miami Marlins could use a baseball analyist like Sam Grossman for their small market teams. Similar to Sawdaye's big assets, Grossman knows how to build a competitive team in a small market and he also has a smaller team salary than the Marlins that he is working with this season. The Reds unveiled a lot of home grown talent this season and Grossman is part of that change. The Reds are in a great position to continue to compete in the future and its in many ways thanks to Grossman.

The Reds currently have the 5th ranked minor league system and they have the best ranked 2023 draft class. The Marlins have struggled to draft players who have a future with the club and rise through the ranks quickly. Grossman had his part in that but his biggest contribution has come with his shifting the Reds to sabermetrics. The Reds shift has come now to fruition and they are competitive.

Will Bruce Sherman be intrigued by another analytics driven executive and look to someone like Grossman, it is likely, as many see that as a better use of dollars as well. I really think he could be a good candidate, especially given his experience in changing the team dynamic to a new style of thought when drafting or signing players.

Could the Miami Marlins Hire a second female GM?

Would it be out of the question to hire another female GM to follow up behind Kim Ng? I don't think so. The Marlins could follow up the Kim Ng era that brought in the first female GM in baseball with another female GM in Eve Rosenbaum. Rosenbaum has been with winning franchises in back to back stints, as she was with the Astros until moving to her hometown Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles promoted her in 2022 to Assistant General Manager.

While it might be hard to pry Rosenbaum away from her childhood team, a promotion would certainly help influence her. The Orioles currently have the top ranked farm system according to MLB pipeline and they have several top 100 players. Rosenbaum could be an interesting pick as she started with the Orioles as a big international scout and did salary analysis to stretch their cash as best they could.

Rosenbaum might not have the full experience and could be a stretch, but I wouldn't put it past Bruce Sherman to hire her because the cost would be low and the publicity would be high. Then the president of baseball operations could really be in charge and she could be the face of the GM side. The Orioles success this year has got to be appealing for Sherman as well since they had the second to last lowest payroll in baseball. If she was a key part of that success, Sherman would want to investigate that and see if she would fit his philosophy.

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