Derek Jeter is preparing to run the Marlins by asking other people to do his job for him

Transition of ownership with baseball teams — in fact, any professional teams — is a tough road to navigate. There are sensitive conversations and different goals to aim for than the past regime might have had.

Even acknowledging those difficulties though, Derek Jeter doesn’t seem to be managing team ownership as well as he could be right from the get go. Especially since the new ownership group hasn’t even been confirmed by the rest of the owners just yet (a vote will happen in a few weeks to gather votes).

A new report from the Miami Herald indicates that Jeter fired multiple special assistants, including Andre Dawson, Tony Perez, Jack McKeon (who was the team’s manager when they won the World Series in 2003), and “Mr. Marlin” Jeff Conine.

Now, while it’s sad that longtime team employees are being let go, that tends to happen when ownership groups change. It’s a tough thing to do, and many times it’s people that have been with the team for a long time, but it happens.

It’s the way it reportedly happened in this case that seems out of sorts and unusual though.

According to the Herald’s reporting, Jeter didn’t fire any of these men himself. He asked David Samson, who had already been told he wouldn’t be retained on staff under new ownership, to pass along the disappointing message on his behalf because “he didn’t want to do it.”

Process that for a second.

Derek Jeter, who seems like he can’t wait to be the face of a major league team and is jumping the gun about management decisions, asked someone he had ALREADY FIRED to FIRE OTHER PEOPLE FOR HIM instead of doing it himself. The new owners haven’t even fully moved in to the proverbial house yet before Jeter is asking the middleman real estate agent to fire the groundskeeper that has been taking care of the property for decades.

It’ll be fine though, because it’s not like owners have to make a lot of tough and tricky decisions throughout their time managing a team or anything. That never happens. It’ll definitely be smooth sailing from here (/end sarcasm).

The most gut wrenching reaction comes from McKean, who said of his dismissal:

“Sure I’m sad. No question you’re sad. I’m disappointed, but you understand. A new regime is coming in and they want their new people in there. You can’t fault them with that.”

“I enjoyed my relationship down in Florida. In all my years in baseball, 67, 68 years in baseball, I probably enjoyed it more in Florida than I did anywhere. No question. The people were great. The fans were super. I’m going to miss all those fans. That’s the thing that made it so enjoyable -- and makes this so disappointing -- the fans treated you with such respect.”

Without context, this seems similar to any other quote you would hear from a departing employee. However, McKean’s case is especially sad because former owner Jeffrey Loria allegedly promised him he could manage one more game next season so he could pass Connie Mack (at 87 years and nine months) as the oldest person to ever manage a baseball game.

That opportunity most likely being taken away adds some extra sadness to the situation.

Firings happen, ownership changes always lead to some transitional decisions of course, but if it’s true that Jeter asked somebody else to do his dirty work? And that person had already been informed he was being let go soon? That’s not the most auspicious start for the Marlins’ next era.