The Miami Marlins have poached Peter Bendix away from the Tampa Bay Rays and put him in charge of baseball operations. The hopes are that they can replicate the success that the Rays have had over the past couple of seasons.
Bendix will replace Kim Ng, who left after ownership suggested they were planning to hire a president of baseball operations over her.
“Peter has a great reputation within baseball and is committed to achieving sustained excellence in all areas of Baseball Operations,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said in remarks distributed by the club. “I am looking forward to working alongside Peter to bring the Marlins back to the playoffs.”
Bendix joined the Rays as an intern in 2009 and rose to being their General Manager. The responsibilities that he had grew when he became in charge of baseball operations and research and development. Miami Owner Bruce Sherman made it clear after Ng left that she wanted the team to be run like the Rays who have found success in drafting, player development and player acquisition.
“Peter is an established industry leader with an extensive skillset and deep experience that will continue the momentum we have made on the Major League level, while also strategically building the foundation for sustained success through player acquisition, development, and scouting at all levels,” Sherman said.
Miami, although not in a bad spot, is far below other teams in the NL East. The Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies both finished ahead of them. While, every team in the division has a higher payroll than the Marlins $92 million. Even with that lack of spending the Marlins made a surprising run to the postseason this year, going 84-78 with a run differential of -57, the lowest ever for a playoff team. They finished ahead of the New York Mets and Washington Nationals.
Peter Bendix will inherit a roster that is rich in pitching, but a little lighter in the hitting category. The Marlins do have NL Batting champion Luis Arraez and slugger Josh Bell, but they need to add more.
Its currently unclear whether the Marlins plan to run with Bendix as the GM or if the Marlins plan to hire someone under him.
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