More shakeup expected after Miami Marlins executives meeting

Dan Jennings is still the manager.

Beyond that, and beyond this season, his role with the Marlins is anyone’s guess.

As Marlins players enjoyed their first day off following a 20-game stretch, Jennings and team executives met Thursday to discuss his future, and that of the team’s.

While the Marlins are prepared to bring in a new manager in 2016, what becomes of Jennings and the makeup of the front office remains unclear.

Does he return to his previous role as general manager, same as before?

Does he re-inherit that title, only with reduced power?

Or does he bolt Miami and go elsewhere?

Only this much is certain at the moment in the Marlins’ failure of a season: changes are already being made in an effort to remedy the problem, which extends down to a farm system that is close to bone dry in terms of high-end prospects.

Two organizational heads — vice president of player development Marty Scott and vice president of player personnel Craig Weissmann — were reassigned Tuesday to other roles.

But more change is coming, and will likely involve Jennings and others.

Assistant general manager Mike Berger and pro scouting director Jeff McAvoy could assume more prominent roles. Scouting and player development could undergo alterations.

It’s not even certain that Jennings remains in the dugout the rest of the season, though sources said he would likely be there on Friday when the Marlins open a three-game home series against the first-place New York Mets.

Following the season, the Marlins are expected to begin a search for an experienced manager, something Jennings didn’t bring to the table when he took over after Mike Redmond was fired in May.

There’s always a chance Jennings doesn’t last all the way to the end and the Marlins bring in an interim manager to get through the season.

If that occurs, one possibility is Andy Barkett.

Barkett, a graduate of Miami’s Killian High, spent four seasons managing the Jacksonville Suns, the Marlins’ Double A affiliate, before moving to the player development side this season as assistant hitting coordinator.

With Jacksonville, Barkett won the Southern League title in 2014 and managed a select group of Marlins players who have come up through the system, including Christian Yelich, A.J. Ramos, Marcell Ozuna and Derek Dietrich, among others.

COMING UP

▪ Friday: Marlins RHP Tom Koehler (8-13, 4.12 ERA) vs. New York Mets RHP Jacob deGrom (12-7, 2.32), 7:10 p.m., Marlins Park.

▪ Saturday: Marlins LHP Brad Hand (4-4, 4.54) vs. Mets RHP Bartolo Colon (12-11, 4.42), 4:10 p.m., Marlins Park.

This story was originally published September 3, 2015 at 8:13 PM with the headline "More shakeup expected after Miami Marlins executives meeting."