Miami Marlins GM Kim Ng’s journey to the postseason
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Xuan Thai, ESPN Senior Writer
MIAMI — Down a brightly lit hallway that leads to a section of luxury suites at the Miami Marlins‘ stadium, where each room is filled with fans cheering on the home team, the door to the last suite is closed. Inside sits Kim Ng. No entourage, no buddies from college, no staff checking in. With a laptop, an iPad and a water bottle, the Marlins’ general manager sits with the lights off, watching the game alone.
It’s just before the MLB All-Star break, and second baseman Luis Arraez is chasing a .400 batting average, a feat not accomplished at the July break since 1999. It was Ng who traded for Arraez in her first full season without Derek Jeter in the Marlins’ front office. Already, there are whispers that the team could reach its first full-season postseason in 20 years.
I walk into the suite and attempt to break the ice, recounting a quote attributed to Ng’s mother about the “return on investment” of a University of Chicago degree and Ng’s decision to take an unpaid internship with an MLB team. I can relate. I tell her how my father once asked about the “cost-benefit analysis” of my decision to stop practicing law to take an unpaid internship at a cable news network. Aren’t Asian parents funny that way, I ask? She kindly laughs, perhaps more out of courtesy than comedy. I quickly pivot to baseball.
Ng’s journey to this place has been well chronicled — more than 30 years of management and executive experience that includes stints with MLB, the Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, and the New York Yankees, with whom she won three World Series. She’s often included on those “most powerful women in sports” lists, and has grown accustomed to answering the inevitable questions about the “first” and “only” career labels — the first and only woman hired as general manager of a men’s major pro sports team in North America, the first East Asian American to do it in baseball.
It can be lonely being the first and only, and it’s clear those are things she doesn’t like to discuss. Less than three years into her first GM job, she’d much rather talk about baseball, the team and the “culture of winning” she’s trying to cultivate — to focus on anything other than her own story. It’s hard to break through. Over the course of several interviews this past regular season, Ng sticks to her talking points.
When we meet again three months later, with just six games left in the regular season, Ng is once again having a first-and-only moment. This time she’s in a Citi Field box for visiting general managers, and the Marlins are in close pursuit of a National League wild-card spot. Winning a series against the New York Mets would feel particularly fitting for the GM who grew up playing stickball on the streets of Queens. But it also could help Ng become the first and only female GM to lead a team to the postseason.
To be on the brink of a playoff spot is an accomplishment for any GM. For Ng, who is cautious by nature, this requires focus.
“It definitely hit me around the All-Star break when the team was sitting in a very good position,” she says. “Now we’re down to the last week and it’s starting to hit again, that you’re realizing that you’re just in a great position to do things that you’ve wanted to do for a really long time, and that is get to the postseason. And I’ve been there before with some of my other clubs, but certainly not in this chair. And that obviously makes this different.”
She says she’s tried to avoid feeling stress up to this point.
“Now,” she says, “I’m allowing myself to stress a little bit.”
This is a big admission. She knows that her reactions could affect the rest of the organization, and wants to keep things positive in the clubhouse.
“For a while,” she says, “I was playing the same playlist over and over, as I went into work every day and I was playing it in my suite each night during the game. Probably just to divert my attention from being so stressed.”
I ask, “What’s on this playlist?”
“Oh, yeah,” she says, laughing, “You’re not getting that out of me!”
After opening the second half of the season on an eight-game losing streak, the Marlins dipped below .500 in late August and appeared headed for another disappointing end. But series wins against the Washington Nationals, the Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies, plus a sweep of the Atlanta Braves, helped them finish 84-77 in the regular season. They clinched a wild-card spot with a win Saturday in Pittsburgh, where Ng joined the celebration on the field.
The Marlins are playoff-bound in a full season for the first time since 2003, when they went on to beat the New York Yankees in the World Series. (The Marlins reached the playoffs during the pandemic-shortened postseason in 2020.) They open play Tuesday at Philadelphia (8 p.m. ET on ESPN).
For Ng, who is 54, getting to this historic moment started in 1990, three years before the Marlins became an expansion team. She’d graduated from the University of Chicago and joined the Chicago White Sox as an intern. The White Sox hired her full-time the next year and by 1995 had promoted her to assistant director of baseball operations. When she became an assistant GM of the Yankees in 1998, she was the second youngest person ever in that role at the time.
It would take another two decades for her to land a GM job. Publicly, she remained upbeat when asked about that. She’s joked that she was always a bridesmaid. Today, she acknowledges that some of those GM interviews were more performative than purposeful.
I ask how she dealt with the frustration, how she kept going after a half dozen or so attempts to advance.
She says she’s been asked that question often, and that the answer has been, and will always be, “What am I supposed to do, quit?”
“You just keep trying,” she says. “And it was incredibly frustrating, there’s no doubt about that. But you just keep at it.”
Joe Torre, who worked with Ng during their time with the Yankees and Dodgers and was her boss in the MLB offices, is more blunt, saying some of those teams just “checked a box.”
“I just think that they just never wanted to pull the trigger. Nobody had the courage to do it,” Torre says. “There’d be teams that would call me about interviewing her. And I said, ‘It’s all well and good, but just don’t do it just to cover your ass. I mean, you have to be serious.'”
After years of disappointments for her, another former Yankee, Derek Jeter, made the move. As chief executive and a minority owner of the Marlins, Jeter was known as an advocate for diversity in baseball. Jeter, who declined an ESPN interview request, called Torre when the Marlins first considered Ng for the job.
“[Jeter] had called me about her, and the one thing he said to me because he knows, he said, ‘Just tell Kim I’m not checking a box here. I’m seriously interested in her ability to do this job,'” Torre recalls.
The Marlins named her GM in November 2020.
“When she came in, she inherited almost the entirety of the front office,” says longtime Marlins assistant GM Brian Chattin. “She kind of walked into already an organizational dynamic that had been operating for a few years, which is challenging to do, to come in the leadership role and inherit everyone.”
There were no wholesale firings of front-office staff during Ng’s first two seasons. Ng reported to Jeter, who reported to majority owner Bruce Sherman. The executives in place were largely Jeter’s team, and like Ng, several were former Yankees.
According to some with knowledge of her time with the Marlins, many of the people she worked with continued to look to Jeter for guidance or approval. Ng had one position she could fill in her first months — team travel director. A year later, in January 2022, she brought in her first big hire, Stan Conte, as senior director of medical services. They’d worked together in Los Angeles, and his job was to overhaul the Marlins’ medical unit.
When Ng first approached Conte, who resigned as the Dodgers’ vice president of medical services in 2015, he was living in Arizona with no intention of returning to baseball full-time. As Conte recalls it, he was less than enthusiastic when Ng called.
“I said, ‘No, I don’t want to help. I want to be retired,'” Conte recalls.
He says Ng wasn’t having it. Eventually, he relented.
“This is part of her personality,” Conte says. “She’s very politely in a lot of different ways, wears you down and you don’t even know it’s happening. She isn’t who you think she is, and she does that on purpose. She’s methodical, attentive and deliberate.”
When Jeter left the Marlins in February 2022, again there were no wholesale firings of front office staff, but positions did open up and Ng took the opportunity to make methodical and deliberate moves. To create what she calls “the culture of winning.”
Longtime manager and former Yankees great Don Mattingly left after the 2022 season. The opening allowed Ng to bring in first-time manager Skip Schumaker, who at the time was a bench coach for the St. Louis Cardinals. A major league player for 11 seasons, Schumaker won a World Series with the Cardinals in 2011.
“She definitely took a chance on me, that’s for sure, being a rookie manager. I’m grateful for that,” Schumaker says. “I think she did a really good job of acquiring a staff that also knows what winning looks like and holds people accountable.”
She brought in another assistant GM, Oz Ocampo, from the Houston Astros. Ocampo is known for his expertise in scouting international talent. He was instrumental in bringing in key players to help the Astros win three World Series.
During the interview process, Ocampo says, he needed to figure out whether the Marlins were as committed to winning as he was.
“The history of the Marlins was that they would win and then they would disband the team and then they would be followed by long periods of losing,” he says. “And I don’t tolerate losing very well, and neither does Kim and neither does Skip.”
She also took hold of key player decisions. After trading for Arraez before the start of the 2023 season, she was criticized by some observers for sacrificing too much talent to acquire the hitter. This season, Arraez chased .400 for half the season and has become a driving force on the team.
Before the Aug. 1 trade deadline, Ng knew what the team needed. Those in the room recall the day in awe.
“The trade deadline this year, unbelievable. I was in that room all day long from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and everyone had different opinions, but she knew exactly what she wanted,” Conte says. “What she needed was runs, and she went out and scouted the right people and got them.”
She brought in infielders Josh Bell and Jake Burger. Perhaps just as important, she let go of those in the organization who were not on board with her vision. One of those was Gary Denbo, vice president of player development and an early Jeter hire.
But she also kept people who were put in place before her, and gave everyone a chance to prove themselves. Mel Stottlemyre Jr. has been the team’s pitching coach since 2018. He is one of the few coaches to stay through the changes.
Junior, as he is called by those who know him well, always suspected Ng would become a GM. His father — the late Mel Stottlemyre, a legendary pitcher and coach — told him she would some day.
“I remember when my pops was alive and still working with the Yankees,” Stottlemyre Jr. says. “He mentioned Ng’s name to me, and he talked about the toughness within her. And he finished his conversation and said that this woman was going to be a GM.
“And for him to say that, and then for me to go to work for her in what is her first job?” Stottlemyre Jr. points to goosebumps on his arm.
“Full circle,” I add. He nods. We let it sink in.
I bring up that moment with Ng. She pauses, too.
“When Mel told me the story, it surprised me because I definitely was not there making my mark,” she says. “That wasn’t my personality either, but it was certainly humbling to hear it for sure.”
Not yet three years into being a GM, Ng’s impact on baseball remains undeniable. At an MLB “Take the Field” event, a program designed to promote women working in baseball this past December, Ng gave the keynote address.
“Kim walks up and [my friends] are like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s Kim! That’s Kim!'” says Jennifer Brann, a 25-year-old Marlins data analyst whose friends were eager for an introduction. “People see her as like a larger-than-life figure. I think that she’s more popular than some of the [players] sometimes.”
Ng is aware she’s a role model, which also kept her going through all those GM interviews over the years.
Over the course of our interviews, I’m almost apologetic for asking what it means to be a woman in baseball. It is the year 2023, after all. But Ng is a woman and Asian American, like me, and those facts still matter. Visibility matters.
“Given my understanding of where I was in the universe, and that a lot of people looked up to me, whether it was women in the industry or young women wanting to get in the industry,” she explains. “You just never wanted to just fade off into nowhere. That wasn’t really an option.”
When Burger joined the team in August, his younger sister, Ellie Burger, retweeted a post the third baseman shared in November 2020, celebrating Ng’s historic hire. He tweeted that his sister, who always wanted to be a GM, now saw it was possible for a woman to have the top job. I asked Ellie what Ng’s role as GM means to her.
“It was just kind of breathtaking and wow, it actually happened.” Ellie says. “It was at like 52 [years old] she got hired as GM, and you take a Theo Epstein, for example, who gets hired at 28. And it’s like, why is there this difference? This is long overdue, but finally there’s movement.”
Eve Rosenbaum, a former MLB intern who worked for Ng and is now an assistant GM with the Baltimore Orioles, says Ng has huge weight on her shoulders.
“I think once one team hired a woman and then everyone can sort of exhale and say, ‘OK. Oh look, it happens,'” Rosenbaum says. “And, ‘Oh, look, she’s doing a good job,’ and then everyone else feels more comfortable to be the next person to hire a woman to lead their baseball ops department.”
Still, Ng is somewhat surprised to hear that her colleagues describe her as collaborative, kind, deliberative and smart.
“That’s the external, but the internal is quite a bit different,” Ng says. “It’s interesting that that’s the way they perceive me.”
“What’s the internal?” I ask.
“Very competitive, doesn’t quit,” Ng says, reflecting on her journey, but adding she wonders whether she “should let my personality come out a little more.”
Ng can be guarded about what she says, and careful about how she presents. But the few who know her well say she is fiery, too.
“It would annoy me when writers would ask [if I wanted to be GM]. Because are you asking the guys that? If you’re not asking the guys that, then don’t ask me that,” Ng says, slightly agitated. She rarely gets animated during our interviews. “[Are you asking] because I shouldn’t have that ambition, or it would be odd if I did have that ambition?”
It’s early September, and on this day, I’m back in Ng’s box at the Marlins’ stadium, in the dark, watching what is undeniably a sloppy game. The Marlins are losing badly to the Dodgers. Suddenly, a ball boy mistakes a ball in fair play for a foul ball and costs the Marlins a run. I react in disbelief. Ng is silent.
“Do you wish the game was already over?” I ask.
“Yeah, like five innings ago,” she says wryly.
In nearly every interview with Ng and those in the organization, the phrase “culture of winning” appears. Shortly after sitting down next to her, she says she wants to revisit the “culture of winning” idea again. She doesn’t think she explained it very well the last time we spoke.
“The culture of winning means the process and the preparation,” Ng explains. She then goes into detail about playing smarter baseball. Surprisingly, she says this night’s 10-0 rout by the Dodgers is not disappointing.
“This is execution. And sometimes you just don’t execute,” she says. “Physical mistakes happen. But last year, we might’ve thrown to a wrong base. That is not acceptable. That’s a mental mistake. That’s the mistake you have to learn from.
“We’ve been much better this year. And those are the signs of improvement and building that foundation.”
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Greg Wyshynski
Kyle Palmieri has signed a new two-year contract with the New York Islanders, as one of the better options among free-agent scoring wingers is now off the market.
Palmieri’s contract carries a $4.75 million average annual value. He’s coming off a 4-year, $20-million deal with the Islanders that was signed in Sept. 2021. According to PuckPedia, the new deal has a full no-trade clause in the first year with a modified 16-team no-trade list for the 2026-27 season.
Palmieri, a 34-year-old Long Island native, scored 48 points (24 goals, 24 assists) in 82 games with the Islanders last season. He’s scored more than 20 goals in seven of his last 10 NHL seasons.
In 900 career games with the Islanders, New Jersey Devils and Anaheim Ducks, Palmieri scored 527 points (270 goals, 257 assists). He scored 32 points (18 goals, 14 assists) in 68 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
The Islanders also signed defenseman Adam Boqvist to a one-year contract. He had 14 points in 35 games last season between the Florida Panthers and the Islanders, who claimed him on waivers in January.
New York has had a noteworthy offseason thus far. They won the NHL Draft Lottery for the first time since 2009, earning the first overall pick in next month’s entry draft. They also replaced general manager Lou Lamoriello with Tampa Bay Lightning executive Mathieu Darche, who was named the Islanders’ GM and executive vice president.
According to multiple reports, the contracts for Palmieri and Boqvist were agreed to before Darche was hired, and the new general manager honored them.
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Kiley McDaniel
As the NCAA regionals begin in college baseball, award voting and regular-season stats give you a good idea who performed well this season, while my draft rankings and mock drafts let you know who will go early in this summer’s draft. But which colleges can claim bragging rights for having the most pro talent on their rosters across all draft classes?
I have a bit of an obsession — but also detailed spreadsheets sourced from advanced data and scouts, so I can answer this question by examining how many players (regardless of class) project as future draft prospects.
Because the draft and projections for pro success look heavily at tools and age, those things are emphasized through the process once you get past the surface statistics in my formula.
I’ll remind you that these margins are really tight — if you add one second-rounder to any of the teams below, it will probably move up a few spots — and I used all pro-caliber players to formulate the ranking, even though we list just the top-two-rounds prospects on each team’s current roster below. Players who are currently injured count for this exercise, but I dinged the team rating a bit if you won’t see the player this postseason, and all players listed are 2025 draft-eligible unless otherwise indicated.
Without further delay, here are the most loaded rosters in college baseball:
1. Tennessee
Top-two-rounds prospects: LHP Liam Doyle, SS Gavin Kilen, 3B Andrew Fischer, RHP Marcus Phillips, C Levi Clark (2027), 3B Dean Curley, RHP A.J. Russell
Before I started this process, I figured the Volunteers would win, and they did, carried by a really strong 2025 draft class highlighted by Liam Doyle — who is projected to go No. 2 in my most recent mock.
And Tennessee has even more talent than the names listed above. RHP Tanner Franklin and Nate Snead are two key bullpen arms who reach the triple digits and didn’t qualify, while a number of other players could step up into top-two-round relevance with expanded roles next season, such as RHP Tegan Kuhns and 2B/CF Jay Abernathy.
2. Arkansas
Top-two-rounds prospects: SS Wehiwa Aloy, RHP Gage Wood, C Ryder Helfrick (2026), LHP Zach Root, OF Charles Davalan, LHP Cole Gibler (2027), RHP Gabe Gaeckle
The Razorbacks weren’t the first team I thought of when guessing who would be near the top of this ranking because they don’t have as many top-of-the-first-round prospects as some others, though they annually have tons of pro talent, so this isn’t a shocker.
Aloy is probably the one prospect projected for the top half of the first round of the group, but the rest of the list belongs in the late-first to early-second range, with a number of intriguing talents beyond that, including 3B Brent Iredale and about a half-dozen different pitchers.
3. LSU
Top-two-rounds prospects: LHP Kade Anderson, OF Derek Curiel (2026) RHP Casan Evans (2027), RHP Anthony Eyanson, SS Steven Milam (2026), RHP William Schmidt (2027), 2B Daniel Dickinson
The Tigers are often loaded with pro talent under skipper Jay Johnson, and this year is no different. Scouts soured a bit on Curiel as a high school senior, but he has proved them wrong as a freshman, looking like a first-rounder so far. Evans and Eyanson were revelations as newcomers, and Schmidt has the potential to fit that description in an expanded role next season.
4. Texas
Top-two-rounds prospects: 3B Adrian Rodriguez (2027), LHP Dylan Volantis (2027), RHP Jason Flores (2027), RF Max Belyeu, 2B Ethan Mendoza (2026)
Texas is stocked with underclassmen with early-round upside as Mendoza and Rodriguez will anchor the infield next season and I’d guess Volantis and Flores will both move into the rotation after strong relief performances as freshmen. LHP Jared Spencer would’ve easily qualified before his injury earlier this month.
5. Florida
Top-two-rounds prospects: RHP Liam Peterson (2026), RHP Aidan King (2027), SS Brendan Lawson (2027), RHP Luke McNeillie (2026)
The Gators are the first team with no 2025 draft-eligible players listed, though 2B Cade Kurland would probably qualify if he were healthy all season, and SS Colby Shelton would also likely sneak in if he were 21 years old rather than 22. Peterson is the top college arm for 2026 and King looks like one of many future 2027 first-rounders who popped as freshmen this season; most of them are listed here.
6. Florida State
Top-two-rounds prospects: LHP Jamie Arnold, LHP Wes Mendes (2026), SS Alex Lodise, 2B Drew Faurot
The Noles have solid high-end talent, with three possible first-round talents headlined by likely top-10 pick Arnold. The depth doesn’t stop there as OF Max Williams and RHP Cam Leiter (injured) might be third-rounders this year, and underclassmen C Hunter Carns and LF Myles Bailey are also showing flashes.
7. Wake Forest
Top-two-rounds prospects: RHP Chris Levonas (2027), SS Marek Houston, RF Ethan Conrad
Wake has graduated a number of standout players to pro ball in the past few years and has another solid crop coming this year, with Houston and Conrad both likely first-round picks. Levonas didn’t sign as a second-round pick out of high school last year, and early returns suggest he might be a high first-rounder in a few years.
8. Oregon State
Top-two-rounds prospects: SS Aiva Arquette, RHP Dax Whitney (2027)
The Beavers have only two players listed here, but both look like top-10 picks. There are also a number of interesting prospects in the third-to-fourth-round range for this year’s draft, including OF Gavin Turley, LHP Nelson Keljo and 3B Trent Caraway.
9. Oklahoma
Top-two-rounds prospects: RHP Kyson Witherspoon, SS Jaxon Willits (2026), C Easton Carmichael, RHP Malachi Witherspoon, LHP Cade Crossland
Oklahoma has five prospects listed here, though only Kyson Witherspoon is a clear top-50 pick; the other five are all later second-round or early third-round types of prospects. This rotation makes the Sooners dangerous in a postseason format.
10. TCU
Top-two-rounds prospects: RHP Tommy Lapour (2026), OF Sawyer Strosnider (2026), LHP Mason Brassfield (2027)
TCU’s crop of prospects who made the list (and OF Noah Franco, who was in contention) are all underclassmen, which bodes well for the future. Lapour has three above-average pitches and is the second-best college pitcher for next year’s draft.
11. Mississippi State
Top-two-rounds prospects: OF Nolan Stevens (2026), 3B Ace Reese (2026), RHP Ryan McPherson (2027)
Stevens and Reese both look like potential first-round picks for next year’s draft; Reese is an excellent hitter with medium power, while Stevens has some swing and miss to his game but easy plus raw power. McPherson is the best prospect among a number of interesting underclassman arms, though 22-year-old LHP Pico Kohn is the most impactful for this season.
12. Georgia Tech
Top-two-rounds prospects: OF Drew Burress (2026), C Vahn Lackey (2026), SS Kyle Lodise, 2B Alex Hernandez (2026)
Burress is in the running to go No. 1 in next year’s draft due to his standout power/speed combination. Lackey and Lodise look like solid second-rounders. Hernandez is a borderline second-rounder thanks to a strong freshman year.
The next half-dozen teams: Alabama, Auburn, Vanderbilt, Oregon, Ole Miss, North Carolina
HOUSTON — Soon after Lance McCullers Jr.’s family received online death threats following a tough start by the Astros pitcher, his 5-year-old daughter, Ava, overheard wife Kara talking on the phone about it.
What followed was a painful conversation between McCullers and his little girl.
“She asked me when I came home: ‘Daddy, like, what is threats? Who wants to hurt us? Who wants to hurt me?'” McCullers told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “So those conversations are tough to deal with.”
McCullers is one of two MLB pitchers whose families have received online death threats this month as internet abuse of players and their families is on the rise. Boston Red Sox reliever Liam Hendriks took to social media soon after the incident with McCullers to call out people who were threatening Hendriks’ wife’s life and directing “vile” comments at him.
The Astros contacted MLB security and the Houston Police Department following the threats to McCullers. A police spokesperson said Thursday that it remains an ongoing investigation.
McCullers, who has two young daughters, took immediate action after the threats and reached out to the team to inquire about what could be done to protect his family. Astros owner Jim Crane stepped in and hired 24-hour security for them.
It was a move McCullers felt was necessary after what happened.
“You have to at that point,” he said.
Players around the league agree that online abuse has gotten progressively worse in recent years. Milwaukee‘s Christian Yelich, a 13-year veteran and the 2018 National League MVP, said receiving online abuse is “a nightly thing” for most players.
“I think over the last few years it’s definitely increased,” he said. “It’s increased to the point that you’re just: ‘All right, here we go.’ It doesn’t even really register on your radar anymore. I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing. You’re just so used to that on a day-to-day, night-to-night basis. It’s not just me. It’s everybody in here, based on performance.”
And many players believe it’s directly linked to the rise in legalized sports betting.
“You get a lot of DMs or stuff like that about you ruining someone’s bet or something ridiculous like that,” veteran Red Sox reliever Justin Wilson said. “I guess they should make better bets.”
Hendriks, a 36-year-old reliever who previously underwent treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, said on Instagram that he and his wife received death threats after a loss to the New York Mets. He added that people left comments saying that they wished he would have died from cancer, among other abusive comments.
“Enough is enough,” he said. “Like at some point, everyone just like sucking up and dealing with it isn’t accomplishing anything. And we pass along to security. We pass along to whoever we need to, but nothing ends up happening. And it happens again the next night.
“And so, at some point, someone has to make a stand. And it’s one of those things where, the more eyes we get on it, the more voices we get talking about it, hopefully it can push it in the right direction.”
Both the Astros and the Red Sox are working with MLB security to take action against social media users who direct threats toward players and their families. Red Sox spokesperson Abby Murphy said they have taken steps in recent years to make sure players’ families are safe during games. That includes security staff and Boston police stationed in the family section at home and dedicated security in the traveling party to monitor the family section on the road.
“I think over the last few years it’s definitely increased. It’s increased to the point that you’re just: ‘All right, here we go.’ It doesn’t even really register on your radar anymore. I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing. You’re just so used to that on a day-to-day, night-to-night basis. It’s not just me. It’s everybody in here, based on performance.”
Christian Yelich, on players receiving threatening messages
Murphy said identifying those who make anonymous threats online is difficult, but “both the Red Sox and MLB have cyber programs and analysts dedicated to identifying and removing these accounts.”
The Astros have uniformed police officers stationed in the family section, a practice that was implemented well before the threats to McCullers and his family.
For some players, online abuse has gotten so bad that they have abandoned social media. Detroit Tigers All-Star outfielder Riley Greene said he got off social media because he received so many messages from people blaming him for failed bets.
“I deleted it,” he said of Instagram. “I’m off it. It sucks, but it’s the world we live in, and we can’t do anything about it. People would DM me and say nasty things, tell me how bad of a player I am and say nasty stuff that we don’t want to hear.”
The 31-year-old McCullers, who returned this year after missing two full seasons with injuries, said dealing with this has been the worst thing that has happened in his career. He understands the passion of fans and knows that being criticized for a poor performance is part of the game. But he believes there’s a “moral line” that fans shouldn’t cross.
“People should want us to succeed,” he said. “We want to succeed, but it shouldn’t come at a cost to our families, the kids in our life, having to feel like they’re not safe where they live or where they sit at games.”
Astros manager Joe Espada was livid when he learned about the threats to McCullers and his family and was visibly upset when he addressed what happened with reporters.
Espada said the team has mental health professionals available to the players to talk about the toll such abuse takes on them and any other issues they may be dealing with.
“We are aware that when we step on the field, fans expect and we expect the best out of ourselves,” Espada said this week. “But when we are trying to do our best and things don’t go our way while we’re trying to give you everything we got and now you’re threatening our families and kids — now I do have a big issue with that, right? I just did not like it.”
Kansas City‘s Salvador Perez, a 14-year MLB veteran, hasn’t experienced online abuse but was appalled by what happened to McCullers. If something like that happened to him, he said, it would change the way he interacts with fans.
“Now some fans, real fans, they’re going to pay for that too,” he said. “Because if I was him, I wouldn’t take a picture or sign anything for nobody because of that one day.”
McCullers wouldn’t go that far but admitted it has changed his mindset.
“It does make you kind of shell up a little bit,” he said. “It does make you kind of not want to go places. I guess that’s just probably the human reaction to it.”
While most players have dealt with some level of online abuse in their careers, no one has a good idea of how to stop it.
“I’m thankful I’m not in a position where I have to find a solution to this,” Tigers pitcher Tyler Holton said. “But as a person who is involved in this, I wish this wasn’t a topic of conversation.”
Chicago White Sox outfielder Mike Tauchman is disheartened at how bad player abuse has gotten. While it’s mostly online, he said he has had teammates that have had racist and homophobic things yelled at them during games.
“Outside of just simply not having social media, I really don’t see that getting better before it just continues to get worse,” he said. “I mean, I think it’s kind of the way things are now. Like, people just feel like they have the right to say whatever they want to whoever they want and it’s behind a keyboard and there’s really no repercussions, right?”
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