Gary Denbo

Marlins, VP Gary Denbo Part Ways

By Anthony Franco | June 29, 2022 at 4:01pm CDT

The Marlins and vice president of player development and scouting Gary Denbo are parting ways, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid (Twitter link). The 61-year-old had served as a high-ranking member of the Miami front office for the past five seasons.

Denbo came over the Yankees in October 2017, part of a broader organizational overhaul. He was hired just months after Jeffrey Loria sold the franchise to Bruce Sherman’s and Derek Jeter’s ownership group. Jeter was plenty familiar with Denbo from their overlapping stints in New York, and the latter served as a key piece of the franchise’s rebuild over the past few seasons.

Jeter, of course, left the Miami organization in February. Sherman remains on hand as the principal owner, while general manager Kim Ng was tabbed to head baseball operations during the 2020-21 offseason. Considering Jeter’s role in bringing Denbo aboard in the first place, it’s not especially surprising they departed within a few months of one another. Nevertheless, Denbo stepping down will leave a notable hole to fill in the scouting and player development realms.

Front Office/Coaching Notes: Red Sox, Venable, Marlins, Denbo, Cubs, Epstein, Hoyer

By TC Zencka | October 22, 2020 at 10:50am CDT

The Red Sox are beginning the process of bringing in candidates for their managerial opening. Cubs coach Will Venable has already come in to interview, while George Lombard of the Dodgers and Don Kelly of the Pirates are likely on the list of incoming interviewees, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). Venable has been a popular managerial candidate recently. He interviewed for openings with the Astros and Giants last season, ultimately returning to the Cubs to serve as their third base coach in 2020. The former player moved back into the dugout for the 2018 season after being hired by the Cubs as a special assistant. For the Red Sox opening, however, Alex Cora continues to be seen as the favorite, though he will not be able to interview for the role until his suspension lifts after the conclusion of the World Series.

The Marlins are looking to hire a Team President that can complete their upper leadership group in the player ops department. That means augmenting and supplementing the work of Gary Denbo, their Director of Player Development and Scouting. Derek Jeter and Denbo are close, making it easy to presume that he could be a candidate to fill Michael Hill’s Team President role, but that’s not the case, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Jackson provides a quote from Jeter that shines some light on his thinking for the position, as Jeter said, “Gary has done a great job where he is right now. You look at how you build an organization; you have to have a great scouting department and a great player development department. Gary deserves a lot of credit for what we’ve been able to do to this point. Where he is right now is where he is most important.”
The Cubs and Theo Epstein remain aligned on the current plan for Epstein to play out the last year of his contract before likely departing after 2021. Executive VP and General Manager Jed Hoyer does not share Theo’s exit strategy, however, and it seems right now as if he’ll stay on to fully take control of the Cubs’ baseball ops department after Theo departs, writes The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney. Hoyer has served as Theo’s partner in the front office for many years, but Theo still steers the ship, as was the case specifically with the Cubs’ rigorous approach to COVID-19 testing this year when they were the only team in the majors without a positive test. Hoyer will preserve a healthy dose of continuity when Theo leaves, but there will be change when the buck officially stops with him.

NL East Notes: Freeman, Braves, Phillies, Marlins

By TC Zencka | September 14, 2019 at 11:04am CDT

Nick Markakis returned to the Braves lineup Friday night after a seven-week layoff. The Braves were able to “ease” Markakis back into action with a cupcake matchup against Max Scherzer, against whom he’s rolled to a .323/.375/.423 line in 65 career at-bats. Not bad production against one of the best pitchers of his generation. Three innings into his return, the Braves faced a fresh injury scare. Freddie Freeman left yesterday’s game with elbow soreness, per The Athletic’s David O’Brien. Freddie Franchise aggravated a bone spur while making a defensive play, but his removal was precautionary, and the Braves don’t expect him to miss any time. Freeman himself classified the injury as day-to-day, per MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. He’ll be back in the lineup by Sunday at the latest. Let’s see what else is happening in the NL East…

Phillies manager Gabe Kapler’s decision-making has been under the microscope of late, and it could result in his dismissal, per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (subscription required). Kapler’s competency in managing the bullpen was called into question as recently as last week, per The Athletic’s Meghan Montemurro, and as far back as game number three of his managerial tenure in Philly. With one year remaining on his contract, expect Kapler’s employment status to remain top-of-mind in Philadelphia for the foreseeable future. GM Matt Klenak’s job is safe, but even with a contract that runs through 2022, he may feel the pressure to find and install the right guy to lead this team, if indeed ownership has doubts about Kapler.
Meanwhile in Miami, Don Mattingly may have priced himself out of a job. Rosenthal suggests finances could be a primary motivator in deciding whether to return Mattingly to his role as Miami’s field manager beyond 2019. Regardless of performance, keeping Mattingly at his current price sounds like a no-go for the cost-conscious ownership group. Perhaps of even more consequence, there are rumblings that Michael Hill will be removed from his position as President of Baseball Ops, a title he’s held since a being promoted from GM in 2013. Hill has been with the organization since 2002. Scuttlebutt has long-time Giants front office frontman Brian Sabean as a potential replacement, while current Marlins VP of Player Development and Scouting Gary Denbo has be increasingly relied upon of late. Notably, both Sabean and Denbo have ties to Derek Jeter’s early days with the Yankees.

Front Office/Managerial Notes: Marlins, Brewers, Tigers

By Connor Byrne | October 9, 2017 at 10:55am CDT

The latest front office and managerial updates from around the majors:

Yankees vice president of player development Gary Denbo is leaving the Bombers to become the Marlins’ director of player development and amateur scouting, George A. King III of the New York Post reports (on Twitter). Denbo will work under Michael Hill, who will stay on as the Marlins’ president of baseball operations, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tweets. Since a group including former Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter agreed to purchase the Marlins in August, there had been plenty of speculation about Denbo heading to Miami. Denbo served in various capacities during multiple stretches with the Yankees dating back to the 1990s and even managed Jeter in the Gulf Coast League in 1992. The two still have a close relationship, paving the way for Denbo to reunite with Jeter in Miami. The Marlins haven’t requested permission to speak with anyone else from the Yankees’ front office, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter links).
The Brewers’ David Stearns-led front office has promoted Karl Mueller to vice president of player personnel, Matt Kleine to director of baseball operations and Scott Campbell to special assignment scout, according to a team announcement. Mueller, a 14-year veteran of Milwaukee’s baseball department, spent the past two seasons in Kleine’s new position. Kleine, who’s entering his 12th year with the Brewers, most recently served as their manager of baseball operations. Campbell, yet another longtime member of the organization (he’s entering his 13th year), was the Brewers’ assistant director of video scouting from 2015-17.
Royals catching instructor Pedro Grifol is an early candidate to become the Tigers’ next manager, Jon Morosi of MLB Network tweets. Grifol has served in that position since 2014. He also has experience as a major league hitting coach (Royals, 2013-14) and a minor league manager (with low-level Mariners affiliates from 2003-05 and in 2012)

NL East Notes: Nola, Mackanin, Braves, Moore, Marlins

By Steve Adams | October 5, 2017 at 9:49pm CDT

Though Phillies righty Aaron Nola tells Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer that he hasn’t thought much about the potential of signing a long-term deal with the Phils, Gelb opines that Nola is a prime extension candidate for the team this winter. The 24-year-old’s recent arm troubles present some risk in approaching him about a long-term pact, but there’s inherent risk when extending any pitcher, and Nola has established himself as an above-average starter over his two-plus seasons of work, Gelb argues. With Nola still a year away from arbitration eligibility, the Phils could look to strike now in hopes of securing control over one or more free-agent years, as they did with center fielder Odubel Herrera in the 2016-17 offseason. Gelb’s piece includes a number of potential comparables as well as quotes from Nola and teammate Clay Buchholz, who signed a long-term deal himself at a similar point in his career.

More out of the NL East…

FanRag’s Jon Heyman writes that one reason the Phillies might’ve made the surprising decision to remove Pete Mackanin as manager just months after giving him an extension was that the arrival of players like Rhys Hoskins, Nick Williams and other young talents may have somewhat accelerated the team’s timeline. Heyman writes that the Phils viewed Mackanin as “more of a caretaker” than a long-term solution, and they may now look for a skipper who’ll hold down the fort for years to come. Heyman notes that having a more concrete manager in place could be a selling point next winter when the team could pursue multiple top names in free agency.
Heyman also reports that Braves chairman John Schuerholz and president of baseball ops John Hart are “said to be at odds” with one another, though Hart firmly denied the notion. “John and I are lifelong friends, and there is mutual baseball respect as well,” Hart tells Heyman. “Nobody totally agrees on every player, staff member, etc. That’s just baseball.” Heyman adds that Schuerholz “would love” to bring Royals GM Dayton Moore on board to run the team’s baseball ops department and groom Schuerholz’s son, Jonathan. The younger Schuerholz is currently the team’s assistant director of player development. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweeted yesterday that Moore is “more open” to leaving the Royals for the Braves than in the past, though the decision will likely boil down to whether he’s given full authority over the team’s baseball operations department. That’d suggest that Hart sticking around and holding onto the “president” title he’s held for the past few seasons would be a deterrent to hiring Moore.
Derek Jeter’s former teammates Jorge Posada, Tino Martinez and Andy Pettitte are all candidates for jobs with the Marlins, reports Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. It’s not yet clear what role any would have with the organization, if hired, though Martinez’s first stint with the Marlins didn’t exactly end well, as he resigned from his post as hitting coach after allegations about being abusive with his players. In other Marlins news, Heyman writes that Jeter is “serious” about bringing Yankees exec Gary Denbo over to the Miami front office — likely as the head of player development and scouting. Michael Hill is expected to maintain his duties as the team’s president of baseball operations. Denbo’s contract with the Yankees is up soon, Heyman notes.

Latest On Marlins’ Front Office Changes

By Mark Polishuk | September 30, 2017 at 12:35pm CDT

SATURDAY: The reason the Marlins fired their executives before Jeter’s group assumed ownership of the team is that their contracts will now have to be paid by outgoing owner Jeffrey Loria, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets. Jeter’s group will save $5MM.

FRIDAY: The Marlins are continuing their front office housecleaning as the new ownership group prepares to take over, with Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reporting that assistant GM Mike Berger, VP of player development Marc DelPiano, VP of pitching development Jim Benedict and VP of player personnel Jeff McAvoy have all been let go. As with the firings of four Marlins special assistants last week, incoming co-owner and CEO Derek Jeter didn’t make these new dismissals himself. Instead, outgoing Marlins president David Samson was again asked to deliver the news to the now-former members of Miami’s baseball ops department.

It’s normal, of course, to see new owners make wholesale changes to a team’s pre-existing front office personnel. (The only unusual aspect seems to be the fact that Jeter is outsourcing this task to Samson rather than handle the firings personally.) It does raise some question about Michael Hill’s future role with the team; the president of baseball operations is reportedly being kept on by Jeter and Bruce Sherman, though likely in a different capacity since so many of his chief lieutenants have now been fired.

Several reports have tabbed two current Yankees executives as candidates to join the Marlins’ front office — VP of player development Gary Denbo and special assistant Jim Hendry. According to FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman, the Marlins have yet to contact the Yankees about Denbo or Hendry, though many within the Yankees organization believe Denbo is a sure thing to leave, possibly to become the Marlins’ new general manager.

Hendry, of course, is a former GM himself, running the Cubs’ front office from 2002-11. Heyman reports that Hendry has a good relationship with Jeter’s agent Casey Close, who himself has been mentioned in rumors about possibly taking on a front office role in Miami. Close has told people, however, that there are no plans for him to leave Excel, Heyman writes.

Two more names under consideration for front office jobs include Braves special assistant Gordon Blakeley and former Marlins VP of player development Jim Fleming, according to MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro.

As for the on-field managerial role, Don Mattingly has yet to hear about his fate for 2018, Jackson reports, though he is widely expected to be staying. Jeter and Mattingly obviously are well-acquainted with each other from their days in New York. Mattingly only has a 154-166 record as he finishes his second year as Miami’s skipper, though it’s hard to attribute that lack of success to Mattingly given the off-the-field tumult of the team’s sale and the tragic death of Jose Fernandez.

East News & Rumors: Sabathia, Stanton, Marlins, Nats

By Connor Byrne | August 20, 2017 at 8:30am CDT

Yankees left-hander C.C. Sabathia’s right knee was in so much pain during an unsuccessful Aug. 8 start against the Blue Jays that the 37-year-old feared he wouldn’t take the ball again, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post reports. “I know that he was pretty emotional that night, because I think he thought he was probably headed for surgery,” manager Joe Girardi said. A clean MRI and a painkilling injection enabled Sabathia to avoid surgery, though, and he returned from the 10-day disabled list Saturday to throw six innings of two-earned run ball in an upset win over Chris Sale and the Red Sox. Sabathia is due to become a free agent in the offseason, when he’ll have to decide whether to pursue another deal or call it a career. His performance this year would certainly warrant a contract – the former ace has ridden a 50 percent ground-ball rate to a 3.99 ERA over 108 1/3 innings.

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