Marlins Announce Kim Ng Declined Contract Option to Return as GM for 2024 Season

The Miami Marlins will be in search of a new general manager this offseason after Kim Ng's departure from the franchise.

Team owner Bruce Sherman announced on Monday that Ng's club option was exercised for the 2024 season, but she declined her side of the option. The first woman ever to earn a general manager role for a team in one of the Big Four leagues in North America, Ng had been Miami's GM since 2021.

"We thank Kim for her contributions during her time with our organization and wish her and her family well," Sherman's statement said. "We will immediately begin a thorough and extensive search for new leadership as we plan to continue to invest in the Marlins organization both on and off the field."

While speaking to The Athletic's Tyler Kepner, Ng addressed her departure on Monday:

"Last week, Bruce [Sherman] and I discussed his plan to reshape the Baseball Operations department. In our discussions, it became apparent that we were not completely aligned on what that should look like and I felt it best to step away. I wish to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to the Marlins family and its fans for my time in South Florida. This year was a great step forward for the organization, and I will miss working with Skip [Schumaker] and his coaches as well as all of the dedicated staff in baseball operations and throughout the front office. They are a very talented group and I wish them great success in the future."

Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic reported Ng declined her option after she "felt like she was being stripped of her power and underappreciated." A major issue was the lack of an extension after the team's success in 2023, per Ghiroli.

According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the Marlins wanted to hire a president of baseball operations:

Though the Marlins had made the playoffs thanks to an expanded format during the 2020 season that was shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, the franchise had been mired by misfortune prior to Ng's arrival. Miami had finished last in the NL East in both 2018 and 2019.

After winning 67 games in 2021 and 69 games in 2022, the Marlins broke through this season and finished with an 84-78 record for just their second winning season since 2009. It was the franchise's first time qualifying for the playoffs in a full 162-game season since its World Series title win in 2003, though Miami lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL Wild Card Series.

Stepping away from the Marlins doesn't necessarily mean the end of the line for Ng in her MLB front-office career. According to ESPN, she "is expected to be linked to the front-office opening with the Boston Red Sox" following the firing of chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom last month.