Kim Ng Becomes First Female General Manager in Major League Baseball History
Kim Ng made history on Friday, November 13, 2020 when she became the first woman in MLB history to be hired as General Manager, the position she has obtained with the Miami Marlins. She also became the first Asian American General Manager in the league’s long history. Her journey to the position took decades, and she does not lack a single bit of experience in baseball front offices, Ng started her involvement with MLB as an intern in 1990 with the Chicago White Sox before climbing the ranks to her first Assistant General Manager position with the New York Yankees in 1998. She spent three seasons in that role with the Yankees, each of which ended with a World Series championship. She then moved across the country, serving as Vice President and Assistant General Manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers for ten seasons. In 2011, she made the move to the MLB league office and held the position of Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations until Friday.
With the Miami Marlins, Ng will be charged with developing the young, talented roster into a World Series threat. The Marlins arrived ahead of schedule in 2020, as they defeated the Chicago Cubs in the National League Wild Card Series after making their first postseason since 2003. Team President Derek Jeter, whom Ng is familiar with from her time in New York, has expressed his desire to build a team that will win championships sooner rather than later. Prior to the 2018 and 2019 seasons, the organization traded away Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna, and J.T. Realmuto in order to cut payroll for its new ownership group. The rebuilding began, and Jeter asked fans to remain “patient”. This season, rookies such as pitcher Sixto Sanchez and shortstop Jazz Chisholm were called up to help at the major league level. Young pitchers Sandy Alcantara and Pablo Lopez did their part to expedite the rebuild process by improving greatly this season. Then of course there were veterans, such as infielder Miguel Rojas and Jesus Aguilar that helped keep the team afloat in the Postseason race. The Marlins even went as far as acquiring outfielder Starling Marte from the Diamondbacks in order to help the club make a run in October. Moving forward as General Manager, Ng will have to land more consistent hitters and lock in a few back-end bullpen pieces to ensure the team can compete for a string of years.
“My goal is now to bring championship baseball to Miami.”
- Marlins’ General Manager Kim Ng
After thirty seasons working in Major League Baseball, Ng’s hire is both well deserved and long overdue.
