Kim Ng Deserved Better than the Marlins

After leading longshot Miami to the playoffs, Ng quit yesterday as GM when she was effectively demoted.

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Kim Ng smiles before the Marlins' playoff game against the Phillies on Oct. 3. (Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Hi friends-

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Our chat for the D-Backs vs. Phillies game tonight is already live, five hours early, to give everyone ample time to tailgate:

See you in there tonight!

I received a bunch of reader emails asking for my take on Kim Ng leaving the Marlins yesterday, but I wanted to breathe and reflect on the situation for 24 hours before sitting down to write about it, so I could be as clear-eyed and even-keeled as possible. I’m not a robot, but I also know that shouting enraged obscenities into the void helps no one.

I doubt that any of you missed the news in November 2020 when the Marlins hired Ng, as the move made her the first female general manager in one of America’s four major men’s professional sports leagues. It was a very, very big deal, not just for women and girls, but for anyone who believes in meritocracies.

Ng— a baseball lifer who played softball at the University of Chicago — had spent 30 years working her way up front office ladders with the White Sox, Yankees and Dodgers before taking a job in the commissioner’s office as senior vice president of operations for MLB. She is well-liked, both for her baseball acumen and for her steady and calm presence in a chaotic and pressure-packed industry. Had she been a man, she would have been given the opportunity to run a Major League Baseball team 20 years ago.

This is not up for debate.