Celebrity CEO

Marlins’ CEO adapting to new position without a playbook

Marlins’ executive Derek Jeter transitions from playing field to front office. “I don’t think there’s a playbook,” he said.

Inside Orlando’s Waldorf Astoria luxury hotel last week, where MLB’s power brokers shared lobby space with vacationers wearing Mickey Mouse ears, team owners were able to walk from Point A to Point B largely anonymously.

Only Derek Jeter was asked to stop for selfies. (He obliged.)

In Jeter’s new life as the celebrity CEO of the Marlins, the fame from his old life as a Yankees icon and future Hall of Fame shortstop is very much a theme. So, too, is the skepticism that Jeter, perhaps the most popular major leaguer of the 21st century, has the skillset and ability to competently run a baseball team and a business given his minimal practical experience.

As Jeter represented his new, non-pinstriped team at the league’s quarterly owners’ meetings for the first time, the world also learned a few details about the early days of his transition to baseball executive.

“It’s a little strange. I tried very hard my entire career to stay out of the owner’s office,” Jeter said. “Even when you have dreams of being a major league player, when you get there it’s overwhelming. It’s hard to believe at times. That’s the case here as well.”

Jeter is living in Miami and, he said, went back to the Tampa area for only two days in his first month and a half in charge of the Marlins. Although he noted that most of his

work so far has come on the business side — consider that a result of baseball’s calendar, which is quiet in October for non-playoff teams — there have been several significant baseball-operations changes.

Most notable is the addition of Gary Denbo, Jeter’s longtime mentor and the Marlins’ vice president of player development and scouting. Most of the front office’s other hires have connections to Denbo.

What’s it like to work with Jeter, to have him as your boss?

“It’s cool,” Michael Hill, president of baseball operations, said with a smile. “I’ll say it.”

It’s not clear yet how involved Jeter is in baseball decision-making, but actual baseball decisions in the coming weeks and months should provide clarity. Hill said Jeter is in the office every day “unless he has something else scheduled.”

When they’re not in the same building they speak a couple of times per day, usually via text, Hill said, and Jeter responds “immediately.” No risk of a doubletext.

“I give him my recommendation [on a given matter], and obviously he’s got a long history in the game,” Hill said. “If there’s something we need to discuss, we discuss.

“It’s been a pretty quick pace since he’s come aboard. He’s excited and engaged and a part of it. Looking forward to what comes next.

“You know what his playing career was, but he’s an executive now. He’s our CEO and owner and has to be engaged in that context. That part of it, you know what the history is, but he knows and we all know that we have a job to do. We’re setting out to take care of it.”

Jeter has also spent time putting his face and name, among the Marlins’ greatest marketing assets, to good use for the Marlins’ brand. He hung out with Miami resident DJ Khaled and other celebs at a party thrown in his honor. He has spoken with Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, and he has visited the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce.

On Friday, he helped during the Marlins’ annual Thanksgiving philanthropic endeavor, handing out food to 1,000 families at Marlins Park.

In Orlando a couple of days prior, Jeter said he was surprised at how many people in the industry — owners, presidents, CEOs and GMs — have reached out offering help and advice if he wants it.

“They might be doing that so hopefully one day revenue sharing isn’t as high down in Miami,” Jeter said.

Jeter spoke to dozens of reporters, many of them from New York and national outlets, highlighting another difference between him and his new peers. Other team owners, or the high-level executives who represent their club at these league gatherings, don’t hold a formal question-andanswer sessions with the media, and often move through crowds without being recognized. Not Jeter.

Jeter, an all-timer on the field and a neophyte in the front office, is still figuring it out.

“Learn on the job I guess. I don’t think there’s a playbook to learn. You learn from others’ experiences,” he said. “I think all of them have told me, pretty universally, it’s going to take time. But you learn as you go.”

JOHN RAOUX/AP Unlike all of the other executives at last week’s meetings, Derek Jeter found himself the focus of the media every day he was there.

RICK DIAMOND/GETTY IMAGES Miami CEO Derek Jeter has spent much of his time after taking over with the Marlins by going out into the community.