The Miami Marlins make history with hiring of Kim Ng as general manager
The Miami Marlins have a new general manager, and it is making history.
The Marlins on Friday announced they hired Kim Ng to oversee baseball operations.
Ng, 51, is now the highest-ranking woman in baseball operations among MLB’s 30 teams and is believed to be the first woman hired to a general manager position by any professional men’s sports team in North America’s major leagues.
“This challenge is one I don’t take lightly,” Ng said in a release. “When I got into this business, it seemed unlikely a woman would lead a Major League team, but I am dogged in the pursuit of my goals. My goal is now to bring Championship baseball to Miami. I am both humbled and eager to continue building the winning culture our fans expect and deserve.”
The Marlins feel they are on the trajectory to make those championship goals a reality. Three years into their rebuild started under the Bruce Sherman/Derek Jeter ownership group, the Marlins ended the 2020 season in the National League Division Series. It was their first playoff berth since 2003 and it came on the heels of back-to-back losing seasons with a combined record of 120-203. Miami has a top five minor-league system and is starting to see the results of its organization depth paying off at the MLB level.
Ng (pronounced ANG) replaces Michael Hill, who was the Marlins’ president of baseball operations for the past 17 years.
“On behalf of Principal Owner Bruce Sherman and our entire ownership group, we look forward to Kim bringing a wealth of knowledge and championship-level experience to the Miami Marlins,” Marlins CEO Derek Jeter said in a press release. “Her leadership of our baseball operations team will play a major role on our path toward sustained success. Additionally, her extensive work in expanding youth baseball and softball initiatives will enhance our efforts to grow the game among our local youth as we continue to make a positive impact on the South Florida community.”
Ng has more than three decades of experience in baseball operations. She most recently spent the last nine seasons as MLB’s senior vice president of baseball operations, a role that made her MLB’s highest-ranking Asian-American female executive. She was primarily responsible for international baseball operations in this role.
Before that, she spent nine years as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ vice president and assistant general manager, four years as an assistant general manager with the New York Yankees and seven years with the Chicago White Sox, where her career began as as an intern in 1990.
Her tenure with the Yankees, from 1998-2001, overlapped with the early portion of Jeter’s MLB career and a run of three consecutive World Series titles from 1998-2000.
“I entered Major League Baseball as an intern and, after decades of determination, it is the honor of my career to lead the Miami Marlins as their next General Manager,” Ng said. “ We are building for the long term in South Florida, developing a forward-thinking, collaborative, creative baseball operation made up of incredibly talented and dedicated staff who have, over the last few years, laid a great foundation for success.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2020 at 11:10 AM.
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