Avisail Garcia Designated – How Former CEO Derek Jeter’s Unnecessary Risk Proved Disastrous for the Miami Marlins

Sometimes impacts of your decisions stay longer than even you do. That’s what happened with Derek Jeter during his tenure at the Miami Marlins. While during his time, the former CEO was hailed as a good administrator, things started to become overly shaky once he left. Was it because of his absence, or was it because of his wrong decisions? That was the debate among the Marlins fans. However, all of them agreed on one thing – signing Avisail Garcia was one of Jeter’s biggest disasters. 

Recently reports emerged that the Marlins had finally designated Garcia for assignment. The star had perhaps been one of the worst signings not just in recent years but in the history of the Marlins. Ever since his signing in 2021, the franchise has been waiting for Garcia to show some form of consistency. However, instead of that, the star has been floundering with injuries and bad form. Now, according to Miami Herald’s Craig Mish, part of the blame lies with Derek Jeter.

In his excitement of getting a big signing, Jeter might have overcommitted to Avisail Garcia. According to Mish, the Marlins didn’t have much competition for Garcia in 2021. In fact, most experts believed that due to a general lack of interest, Avisail Garcia wouldn’t get a long-term deal. However, Jeter thought differently. 

Garcia’s agent Gene Mato pushed Jeter for a four-year deal (it’s possible that no other team was willing to give Garcia that long of a deal). The Hall-of-Famer said “he wanted to look García in the eye when he met with Mato and García. That one meeting led to the deal.” What was the deal? A huge $53 million for 4 years. While that might seem small by recent standards, for a team like the Marlins that is a big number.

So in a way, Derek Jeter may have given Garcia an expensive deal when there was no need for him to do so. The slugger immediately began failing in his new team and within no time Jeter was out of the Marlins. 

How Avisail Garcia proved to be a big mistake by Derek Jeter

In his three years with the Miami Marlins Garcia has hit just 13 home runs. As of now, his WAR stands at -1.3. The star played only 98 games in 2022 and just 37 games in 2023. Injuries and terrible offensive form completely derailed whatever little momentum he may have had. The Miami Faithfuls’ frustrations were so high that they began booing Garcia every time he showed up on the field.

This season he had been batting .240 with .640 OPS before a hamstring injury put him on the shelf. That injury sealed the deal for him and the Marlins decided to cut their losses by designating Garcia. As for Jeter, this has become another incident where his decision-making for found a bit lacking in quality. The baseball legend entered the Marlins as a hero but now that he’s gone, fans have begun to notice cracks in his persona.