Derek Jeter has shown his true colors shortly after becoming part owner of the Florida Marlins. He wanted to let go of people who served as special assistants for the team, and these names included Jeff Conine, Jack McKeon, Tony Perez, and Andre Dawson. That move alone is fine if you want to clean house and bring in your own people. It is not what everyone would do, but that happens a lot in sports. Assistants are rarely retained on football and basketball teams, and scouts or special assistants along with assistant coaches are usually let go when a regime changes.
It is not the fact that Jeter wants to fire these people. The problem is how he wanted to do it.
Jeter fired and executive
Jeter apparently told an executive named David Samson, according to ESPN, that he would not be kept with the club after the sale goes through. That, again, is normal in the business and sports world. Jeter also asked Samson to let these four men listed above know that they would not be coming back. Jeter wanted Samson to do it because he did not want to. We all need to think on that very carefully. Someone who has actually been called a leader and was lauded for his leadership did not have the guts to Fire People from a team that he now owns. If he does not have the guts to fire these guys, then he needs to sell his stake in the team and move on.
This is weak, and it is, frankly, pathetic.
His legacy is called into question
Excellence is nothing without good behavior. If writers can keep Terrell Owens out of the Hall of Fame because they do not like him, then Derek Jeter needs to be raked over the coals by everyone in the baseball world for his lack of leadership. We also need to look at all the Yankees success and figure out who should actually be given credit for what Derek has made millions off of.
Someone who cannot fire people from a team he owns is not a leader. He is a coward, and it would be nice to know if the Yankees were actually powered by someone else. Perhaps Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera were the real catalysts on those Yankees teams because it is hard to imagine someone this weak could lead the Yankees.
Sadly, we will never know.
Good luck
The Marlins will be a disaster after this sale goes through because they have been put in the hands of someone who is at best lazy and at worst cold and cowardly. If he wants to fire someone, he needs to do it himself. This is not difficult to do, but it appears Derek is not cut out for the chief executive's job.
