Ng's fingerprints all over Marlins' surprise rise

There's an excitement in the air surrounding the Marlins these days.

They come out of the All-Star break with the second-best record in the National League and the fourth-most wins in the Majors. Which means that for the first time since 2016, they expect to be buyers at the Trade Deadline.

"That's what every team strives for at the start of every year is to be in contention at the Deadline, to try to see if there's ways they can improve the team down the stretch," said assistant general manager Brian Chattin, who has been with the organization since 1998. "We've been on the other side of that in the past, and so as we're heading into July, it's exciting and really meaningful to be playing these games now knowing that we're in it, and to have a chance to maybe do something special down the way."

How did it get to this point? Look no further than the organization's architect.

Following her landmark hiring in November 2020, general manager Kim Ng received a crash course on the organization, then she began to nurture a team-first culture. Less than three months after taking the job, Ng executed her first deal: acquiring right-handed reliever Dylan Floro of the Dodgers for left-handed reliever Alex Vesia and right-handed pitching prospect Kyle Hurt. Floro, 32, has gone on to post a 3.24 ERA across 163 appearances with 26 holds and 32 saves.

Floro had been on the club's radar the previous Trade Deadline, and when the organization pored over names during the offseason, Floro's kept coming up. The analytics team had identified him as an undervalued arm who could handle high-leverage situations but hadn't gotten chances to do so in L.A. Still, there was not a consensus that this was the right move to make. Ng listened to all the feedback before making a decision.

Chattin calls her willingness to collaborate one of her greatest strengths. Ng takes time to learn everyone's background in order to inform her choices. Her goal is to put people in positions to maximize their acumen for the betterment of the organization, and she encourages them to step forward in those spaces.

"I think that was really important for me to learn, because you can't make these decisions by yourself," Ng said. "I'm not out scouring the Minor Leagues every week of the big league season. I don't have enough time in the calendar year to do that. So you really have to rely on a lot of people when you make these decisions. Even the small ones -- who to put on waivers, who to include as the second or third part of the deal. You have to rely on a lot of different people over time. They all have track records. But I don't necessarily know exactly what their track records are. So I had to sort of build my own understanding of, again, what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are, what their backgrounds are, so that I could weigh that in their opinions."

Since Ng is at the helm of a smaller-market team, every move is magnified. Though the Marlins were sellers in 2021, it turned out to be a fruitful Deadline. They flipped a pair of expiring contracts (Starling Marte and Yimi García) to the A's and Astros, respectively, for controllable pieces in left-handed starter Jesús Luzardo (131 ERA+ in 2023) and middle-of-the-order bat Bryan De La Cruz (106 OPS+).

Ng has also shown a willingness to pivot and get creative. While waiting for the position-player market to settle over the offseason, she jumped on the chance to improve the bullpen. She acquired ground-ball machine JT Chargois (134 ERA+) from Tampa Bay, then dealt former first-rounder JJ Bleday to Oakland for closer A.J. Puk (15 saves in 2023).

Miami, which lost 40 one-run games in 2022, has a 21-6 record in those games this year.

"We've drafted pitching extremely well, and Kim has been able to utilize those resources, monetize those resources for Major League players," senior director of amateur scouting DJ Svihlik said. "That's really all that it's been. People have come to us for pitching, and we've been able to trade a ton of it."

That’s exactly what they did again in January, in perhaps the most impactful move Ng has made thus far.

After failing to acquire any of their top free-agent targets, the Marlins sought other ways to upgrade the offense. They found a match with the Twins, who were somewhat surprisingly willing to talk about Luis Arraez, the reigning American League batting champion.

It took sending right-hander Pablo López and prospects Jose Salas and Byron Chourio to Minnesota, but Miami landed Arraez, who in his first season with the club is flirting with .400 and was the NL's starting second baseman at the All-Star Game.

"It was looking at the strengths of the organization, looking at sort of where the opportunities to improve might lie, and then being flexible depending on what opportunities presented themselves during the offseason," said assistant general manager Oz Ocampo, who also worked alongside Ng in the Commissioner's Office. "But also being very proactive and actively pursuing those opportunities.

“We were as aggressive as any club in trying to talk with each club out there and take advantage of the pitching depth that we had and trying to pursue a bat -- whether it was a Major League bat or close-to-ready prospect. It was looking at all avenues for improvement, and then just the flexibility to consider looking at the opportunities and being open to something like [moving] Jazz [Chisholm Jr. to] center field, looking at his skill set and recognizing that potentially that could be an opportunity.”

In order to go from rebuild to contention, Ng also had to transform the culture. It can be hard to get those from the outside to buy in when there hasn’t been much recent on-field success. But she found some key pieces who were willing to give Miami a chance.

Coming off 2021 World Series MVP honors, Jorge Soler signed a deal worth $12 million in '22. He’s making $15 million this season after declining his offseason opt-out -- a bargain for a first-time All-Star with 23 first-half homers. Two-time World Series champion Yuli Gurriel signed a Minor League deal during Spring Training, then he made the roster out of camp. His clubhouse impact has been undeniable.

The change continued with the hiring of first-time manager Skip Schumaker, whose staff exudes positivity but also holds everyone accountable. They arrived with a great breadth of knowledge and experience from successful organizations.

"It doesn't happen very quickly, but I think us being -- I'm not sure anybody mentions the Marlins' name right now without using the word surprise -- having this type of season, it definitely helps put us on the map as a place that is serious about winning," Ng said. "And that is something that is a high priority for us."

Whatever the Marlins decide to do by the Deadline, Ng will weigh both the present and future. Though there is excitement about how the ballclub did in the first half, there's also an understanding of how much time remains. She will continue to remain thoughtful and relentless in the pursuit of sustained success.

"She would say, 'It's not over,'" Ocampo said. "There's a lot of season left. There's still a lot of work to do. We still have to be looking for opportunities on the horizon and actively pursuing them. We're certainly not over. It never is."