New York Yankees and Baseball Hall of Famer Derek Jeter was undoubtedly one of the best shortstops we’ve ever seen. The former Yankees captain was also one of the best leaders you’ll ever find, no matter the sport.
After a 20-year MLB career in which Jeter was named an All-Star 14 times and helped lead the Yankees to five World Series titles in seven appearances, the 1996 AL Rookie of the Year went quiet upon retirement in 2014.
That was until 2017, when he was named CEO of the Miami Marlins. Upon his arrival Jeter immediately fired the team president David Samson, and let’s just say Samson isn’t afraid to let you know how he feels about Jeter.
During a recent interview on the Dan Le Batard Show, Samson discussed Jeter’s very odd debut on Fox and how he handled being the CEO of the Marlins.
Samson Calls Jeter A Fraud
As show host Dan Le Batard talked about how awkward it was for Jeter to be on set with fellow Hall of Famer David “Big Papi” Ortiz and his former teammate Alex Rodriguez, whom he doesn’t have the best relationship with at all, Samson couldn’t resist the opportunity to shred Jeter.
Le Batard made a joke about how uneasy A-Rod looked with Jeter on set. Saying it look forced and phony between him and Jeter, which it did.
“I was merely making fun of how uncomfortable he was sitting next to Jeter.”
Following Le Batard’s remarks, Samson didn’t hesitate to jump right in and begin to shred Jeter.
“It’s not fake,” Samson said. “A lot of this is manufactured like wrestling. The thing with Jeter and A-Rod — and A-Rod’s taken a hit recently with JLo gone — and now Jeter coming to Fox, which he did not want to have happen at all.”
As the discussion continued, Samson then began to pick Jeter apart.
“Jeter’s always been a fraud. Ask people in the know about Derek Jeter. And I’ll start. Happy to start.
“I’m thankful to him for being so dumb as to what he did with the Marlins. So I’m thankful to him. So I’m not criticizing him at all.”
Jeter’s Tenure As Marlins CEO Was Nothing To Write Home About
Samson sounds like he’s happy that Jeter failed miserably as CEO after firing him. During Jeter’s tenure the Marlins went 218-327 overall, with their only winning season coming in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season when they went 31-29. Jeter also caught some serious flak for firing Hall of Famers Andre Dawson and Tony Perez.
Jeter also traded away star players Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich and J.T. Realmuto. In all, Jeter’s four-year reign was unmitigated disaster, and it’s in part because he thought being a great player makes you a great executive. That’s the furthest from the truth, and Samson explained it following Jeter’s resignation in 2022.
“After four years, I think he realized that being a shortstop and being an executive are two totally different things. … I think he realized quickly that being a pitchman for Subway was probably going to be more up his alley than running the team every day and being accountable for that.”
Well, it’s safe to say Samson won’t be receiving any Christmas cards from the Jeter family. Now Jeter is entrenched with Fox and will participate in the All-Star Game in Seattle and be on the set come the playoffs in October.
