Marlins start process of restructuring baseball operations

MILWAUKEE -- While fielding questions last Sunday about manager Don Mattingly not returning in 2023, Marlins general manager Kim Ng acknowledged there would be evaluations up and down the baseball operations side after a disappointing '22.

Miami on Friday began that process by letting go of Hadi Raad (director of pro scouting), Geoff DeGroot (director of player development) and five scouts, sources told MLB.com. The club did not confirm the news.

"We're just doing some restructuring," said Ng, who wouldn't reveal names. "Obviously there were some folks that aren't going to be with us next year."

The timing is two-fold: All of the Minor League seasons are done, and Ng wanted to give those not coming back enough time to try and secure jobs elsewhere.

"These decisions are always difficult, whether people have been here for a year, whether they've been here for 20 years," Ng said. "They're always difficult. Obviously, you're talking about people's lives. But we also have things that we need to accomplish and make sure that we have the people in place to move in the right direction."

This season marked DeGroot's fifth with the organization, all in the player development and scouting department, and his first in the position of director of player development. He oversaw and directed the development of all the Marlins' Minor Leaguers throughout the system and applied programming for individual baseball objectives and personal development initiatives on and off the field.

DeGroot also directed Minor League coordinators and coaches. Raad had been with Miami since November 2019 after spending seven seasons with the Yankees in several roles, including director of Minor League operations.

The Marlins entered Friday with 91 losses at the Major League level. In the Minors, only Double-A Pensacola reached the playoffs, capturing its first Southern League championship on Wednesday. Much has been said about the discrepancy of success between position-player and pitching prospects in the system.

"I think looking at our processes and philosophies is really going to be something that we're going to pore over this offseason to make sure that everybody's on the same page going forward," Ng said. "Again, no one person is taking blame for any of this."

Ng said the first wave of moves -- and others that might be on the way -- are being decided on an individual basis. Ng will rely heavily on the "good people in place" to help her through the various offseason moves that need to be made, including hiring the next manager.

"We have more changes that we've talked about, but this is going to be an ongoing process just to make sure that we get everybody going in the right direction," Ng said.