The Miami Marlins and Kim Ng parted ways on Monday and with that, the Boston Red Sox gained a potential golden opportunity to fill their general manager vacancy.
Kim Ng and the Marlins have parted ways, per @CraigMish.
— Tyler Milliken ⚾️ (@tylermilliken_) October 16, 2023
Major news as the Red Sox look for someone to lead their front office. pic.twitter.com/TwqP1ZBVQY
Kim Ng and the Marlins have parted ways, according to @CraigMish.
— Jamie Gatlin (@JamieGatlin17) October 16, 2023
For teams like the Red Sox looking for a new leader in the front office, Ng would be a great addition. pic.twitter.com/eZIr1J2yvL
The Marlins exercised their portion of Ng’s mutual option for next season, but Ng declined, per @ByRobertMurray.
— Boston Sports Gordo (@BOSSportsGordo) October 16, 2023
So MIA was willing to keep her, at least as a lame duck GM.
Of course, it’s entirely possible she turned it down with the intention of interviewing with the Boston. https://t.co/4B4mBkWNBO
According to a statement from Marlins owner Bruce Sherman, Miami exercised the club option in Ng's 2024 deal, but the 54-year-old declined her side of the contract.
Statement from #Marlins' Bruce Sherman says team exercised club option in Kim Ng's 2024 deal but Kim declined her side of the option.
— Jordan McPherson (@J_McPherson1126) October 16, 2023
"We thank Kim for her contributions during her time with our organizationa nd wish her and her family well." pic.twitter.com/bfuyC5Rm8N
The Red Sox fired chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and removed Brian O'Halloran from his role as GM in September. O'Halloran is now the team's executive vice president of baseball operations.
Ng was hired as the Marlins GM in November 2020, becoming the first woman to hold that post for a men's team in any of the four major North American sports. She also became the first Asian-American GM in MLB history.
There are multiple reasons why Boston and Ng could be a good fit.
If she is looking to move to a bigger market, there aren't much bigger than Beantown, where greatness is expected on an annual basis. While Miami is one of the smaller MLB markets, it's not like Ng hasn't been under significantly bigger spotlights before.
She served as the assistant director of baseball operations with the Chicago White Sox from 1990-96 and the assistant GM of the New York Yankees from 1998-2001 and Los Angeles Dodgers from 2002-2011.
Whether in the assistant GM or full GM role, Ng has found success.
She earned three consecutive World Series titles with New York from 1998-2000. More recently with the Marlins, she helped turn around a franchise that still hasn't won a playoff series since their second World Series championship in 2003.
Miami won only 63 games in 2018 and 57 in 2019, before sneaking into the postseason during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. Under Ng, the Marlins went 67-95 in 2021 and 69-93 in 2022, before making the playoffs with an 84-78 mark in 2023.
Miami was swept by the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL wild-card round.
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