When You Piss Off Mr. Marlin, You Gotta Problem

Not sure how you walk into Marlins Park, cut the head off the snake and think that that’s OK… you know what I mean?

That’s what happened with Derek Jeter now being owner of the Marlins, and basically how he handled the top tier of Marlins office folks… one of them being Mr. Marlin himself, Jeff Conine… a lifelong Marlin, who now gave Jeter the finger and is leaving the organization on his own terms.  I call that patriotism, loyalty and taking a stand.  I tip my cap to Conine. He did it right.

If you life under a rock, the latest drama in Jeter’s world is that he wanted some top Marlin icons removed in his “restructuring” of the Marlins.  4 guys, Andre Dawson, Tony Perez, Jack McKeon and Conine were fired. Then, when Jeter felt the heat, he allegedly called them all and tried to give them different jobs.  Well, Conine told Jeter to go scratch.  Here’s the latest on that. ESPN has it:

“Jeff Conine, known as “Mr. Marlin” for his years as a player and staff member in South Florida, is leaving the organization after he said he was offered a lesser role and lower pay from the new ownership group led by Derek Jeter.

‘To say I’m disappointed that I won’t have a role in this organization, yeah, I’m disappointed,’ Conine told the Miami Herald on Thursday.

But Jeter and Conine couldn’t agree on a role.

‘I spent 7½ years as a player and the last nine years as someone working with the organization,’ Conine said, according to the Herald. ‘I’ve always considered myself a Marlin. I’m a member of this community. I want to see them win again. I want to see them get back to the World Series and the playoffs.’”

Look, Jeter can couch this as “business” all he wants, because yes it is. But in Marlins world, where they don’t have much as it is, there are 3 things you don’t do…

You don’t tug on Superman’s cape, you don’t piss in the wind… and you certainly don’t remove an icon and then diminish what he means to the organization when the heat gets too much.

Jeter F’d up big time.  Welcome to the growing pains of ownership…

moron.