Marlins' Jeter thinks 'everyone knows we’re better than this'

Entering Friday, the Miami Marlins own an MLB-worst 9-21 record and sit eight games back in the NL East. Their minus-59 run differential is the National League's worst, and team executives aren't happy with Miami's lackluster start.

CEO Derek Jeter said Friday that he isn't pleased with the club's poor play and horrendous attendance. Marlins home games are averaging fewer than 10,000 fans, which is the worst in the majors.

“We’d love to see more people here,” Jeter said, according to Steven Wine of The Associated Press. "We’re working hard on gaining the trust of our fan base."

Jeter acknowledged the team's ongoing rebuild, but he also suggested the roster isn't playing up to its potential.

"I think everyone knows we’re better than this," he said. "There shouldn’t be a person in this building that’s happy with how we’ve played."

The Marlins shipped off their top talent after Jeter entered the fray following the 2017 season. They traded Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna, and Dee Gordon that offseason, and sent All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto to the division rival Philadelphia Phillies before the start of this season.

The returning pieces aren't giving the team much production at the major-league level. Lewis Brinson, for example, was seen as the central figure in the Yelich deal with the Milwaukee Brewers, and he was recently demoted to Triple-A after a terrible start to 2019. Since debuting with the club in 2018, Brinson has hit .199/.241/.325 with 11 home runs in 136 games.

One of the first casualties came this week for the Marlins when Jeter fired president of business operations Chip Bowers, who had been with the team for 14 months.

"This has to do with our overall business strategy and accountability," Jeter said. "We felt as though there was a change needed. We have high expectations. Some of those expectations weren’t met."