MIAMI (AP) — Peter Bendix hadn’t prepared on leaving the Tampa Bay Rays, even when he very first uncovered the Miami Marlins were being interested in owning him guide their organization.
Bendix had put in his total 15-yr Significant League Baseball job in the Rays’ front office, in the beginning as an intern in 2009. He worked his way up to turning out to be the team’s senior vice president of baseball development, then standard manager, a posture he held considering that December 2021.
Tampa Bay experienced develop into his household. The crew was his household. And he could not see anything at all prying him away.
“I’m fantastic where by I am, really,” Bendix recalled wondering when he learned of the Marlins’ fascination. “I experienced a phenomenal situation with the Rays, been there for 15 a long time, experienced a lot of accomplishment, worked with phenomenal individuals. … The notion of not operating there anymore, it needed to be the specific ideal condition with the right individuals in put, frankly, with the suitable owner.”
But in a offer that came jointly in just a couple of months, the Marlins convinced Bendix to depart Tampa Bay to develop into their new president of baseball operations. The Marlins announced the hiring last week, and Bendix was formally launched by the group at its ballpark on Monday as the third president in club record.
What altered?
“I talked to Bruce,” Bendix stated Monday, referring to Miami’s chairman and principal proprietor Bruce Sherman.
For the duration of a choosing process that Bendix described as “thorough,” his convenience with the idea of a career transform grew as he realized that both equally he and Sherman’s rules were being almost beautifully aligned.
“And that was adequate to get me to say, ‘You know what, if I’m heading to go away an excellent situation. It has to be the best match,’” Bendix claimed. “And this is a perfect in shape.”
Sherman mentioned that Bendix was “one of lots of, many” names that the Marlins sifted as a result of for the duration of their look for for a new leader.
Bendix will choose in excess of the department formerly overseen by Kim Ng, who experienced been Miami’s basic manager for a few seasons. Ng remaining last thirty day period immediately after she and Sherman could not concur on the structure of the section likely forward the Marlins experienced exercised a deal possibility to retain Ng in 2024, but Ng declined.
“I was hoping Kim would remain,” Sherman stated. “I want Kim absolutely nothing but the best. Marvelous lady. Not dropped on me, we’re in the playoffs, and I feel she’ll be just fine. We had several hours and hrs and hours of discussions, Kim and I. She produced the election not to go on. I respect that decision she produced.”
Ng had a hand in setting up a roster that put Miami in the playoffs for the initially time due to the fact the pandemic-shortened 2020 time and the first time in a full season considering the fact that the Marlins received the 2003 Environment Series. Miami shed to Philadelphia in the Wild Card Series final thirty day period.
The 38-calendar year-outdated Bendix, a graduate of Tufts, outside Boston, has been part of a Tampa Bay crew that has furnished a blueprint for constant good results for almost a ten years. The Rays have manufactured the playoffs in every single of the past five seasons and have baseball’s fourth-best normal-year history in excess of that span, driving the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston and Atlanta. Tampa Bay misplaced in the wild card round this calendar year to eventual champion Texas.
The Rays’ accomplishment has occur with a payroll that constantly ranks between the bottom third of the 30 groups, with quite a few golf equipment spending at the very least $100 million much more than Tampa Bay each yr. The Marlins are one more team that isn’t among the league’s huge-spenders but are hoping to replicate some of Tampa Bay’s achievements.
“I’m not blind to Tampa’s achievements,” Sherman mentioned. “We’re not heading to be the 29th payroll. I imagine they’ve averaged the 29th maximum payroll for about a decade or additional, and they have the (fourth)-most wins. And which is like off the charts on any statistical evaluation. What ever secret sauce he has … hopefully he provides that to this group over various several years.”
Sherman added he will give Bendix plenty of home to shape the group. Sherman will weigh in as essential, but he expects that to be occasionally.
Bendix is inheriting a crew with robust pitching but struggled right before this season to draw in large-profile hitters. Miami does have the National League batting champion Luis Arraez, who has expressed interest in a possible longterm deal.
However, the Marlins recorded the sixth-fewest hits and fifth-fewest operates final year.
Bendix claimed he’s only wanting for “really excellent players” when asked his philosophy on roster building.
“The detail that the Rays often told them selves that I will provide below is that it’s constant evaluation and it’s frequently hunting to strengthen,” Bendix explained. “And you have to constantly be on the lookout to innovate, to try new points, to not be fearful to are unsuccessful, for the reason that we require to increase every element of the business that we possibly can. We need to have to develop each and every edge that we can. And it does not issue how thriving any staff has been to this level, you normally have to have to be constantly improving.”
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