Former Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia said his former teammate, Derek Jeter, was not very happy with Marlins’ ownership apparently passing on the opportunity to sign right fielder Nick Castellanos.
Sabathia spoke on his podcast R2C2 with CC Sabathia and Ryan Ruocco saying that the Hall of Fame shortstop was “pissed” with the ownership for not signing the veteran slugger.
“[Castellanos is] a beast,” Sabathia said on the podcast. “I know Jeter wanted him bad. The Marlins are the Marlins. No matter what you try to do to make them better, at the end of the day there’s just always been bad ownership. Jeter did everything he could, he lined everything up for him and this is the year you sign Castellanos.
“They’ve got a bunch of pitching, Jazz Chisholm is a star, you’ve got Miguel Rojas playing short. Seems good, like really good, he built a really good team. The minor league organization is great, but it’s just time to spend money. I know how much time he [Jeter] put into that and how serious he took that job and I know he’s pissed.”
Castellanos, who played with the Reds in 2021 and remains a free agent, had a superb year, hitting .309 with 34 homers, 100 RBI and 95 runs. Even with quality production despite knowing a player like Castellanos would come with a strong price tag, Miami’s ownership apparently chose to move in a different direction. And, so did Jeter.
In 2017, Jeter bought a 4% share of the Marlins as part of an investment and was named the team’s CEO. However in February, the 47-year-old decided to step down from his position after nearly five years with the franchise.
During his tenure as CEO, the Marlins posted a record of 218–327. The team's best outing with Jeter came in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season when the Marlins finished in second-place in the NL East and made the playoffs for the first time since 2003. However, Miami lost in the 2020 NLDS to Atlanta.
