<\/p>\n
FOX Sports Florida reporter Craig Minervini looks as Miami Marlins infielder Yadiel Rivera wearing a monkey mask getting ready to covers shortstop Miguel Rojas with shaving cream after a 9-3 win over New York Yankees during a Major League Baseball game at Marlins Park on June 13, 2018.<\/p>\n
David Santiago<\/p>\n
dsantiago@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
More insight and fallout after the Marlins dumped Kyle Sielaff, Jeff Nelson, Craig Minervini and Rod Allen on Friday, along with several other changes:<\/a><\/p>\n \u25aa When teams replace one announcer with another, fans typically debate the change solely through the prism of their talents as a broadcaster, which includes both the objective (accuracy, attention to detail) and subjective (their likability and emotional connection with viewers, among other qualities).<\/p>\n But in this new era of baseball broadcasting, when the Marlins and most other teams no longer pocket a rights fee from a regional sports network, there\u2019s another factor now very much in play, too: The announcers\u2019 ability and willingness to sell the product.<\/p>\n After leaving soon-to-be-shuttered FanDuel Sports in January, the Marlins now make much of their TV revenue from viewer subscriptions and ad sales. And the team values broadcasters who have a significant social media footprint and use it to promote the product. And if you can actually sell a bunch of subscriptions, all the better!<\/p>\n Here\u2019s an example: Craig Mish, who will now host all the Marlins pre- and postgame telecasts (after sharing the package with Craig Minervini last season), has 43,000 followers on X, and is considered by many of those followers, and others, to be the top baseball insider in Florida.<\/p>\n Minervini, conversely, has fewer than 7000 followers and hasn\u2019t posted on his X account since January 2023.<\/p>\n Mish\u2019s inside information on the pre-game shows, combined with his willingness to promote subscriptions, produced tangible results with viewer sales last season, we\u2019re told. And he has learned the craft of hosting, mastering it to the point that the Marlins feel confident entrusting him with all 155-plus pre-and post-game shows next season.<\/p>\n Minervini, a polished and skilled host, did good work in the Marlins studio for a quarter century. But that\u2019s seemingly no longer enough under MLB\u2019s \u201ceat what you kill\u201d television approach, where teams must generate their own revenue from subscriptions.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not completely a coincidence that the Marlins kept popular former players Gaby Sanchez (as their primary TV analyst) and AJ Ramos (as their sole TV studio analyst) \u2013 but not Jeff Nelson and Rod Allen, who had no ties to the team beyond their announcing jobs. Their Marlins lineage wasn\u2019t the primary reason why they were retained, but it certainly didn\u2019t hurt.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re a familiar face, and a popular former player, that naturally gives you a leg up if the Marlins like your on-air work.<\/p>\n Similarly, Kelly Saco and Jeremy Tache — who were retained as sideline reporters — are viewed by the Marlins as assets not only as broadcasters but also, to an extent, as Marlins ambassadors who promote the product.<\/p>\n Saco churned out dozens of Marlins videos, which are available with a Marlins.TV subscription. Tache hosted a well-received \u201cTalking with Tache\u201d segment in which he interviewed former Marlins greats and others.<\/p>\n Several media chains and hedge funds than own newspapers now judge writers as much by their ability to sell the product (through subscriptions and page views) as the quality of their work.<\/p>\n That is now the case with the Marlins, albeit to a lesser extent. (Even if you\u2019re a prodigious subscription-seller, the Marlins are not going to put you on the air if you\u2019re not any good at broadcasting.)<\/p>\n That we\u2019ve arrived at this point — where helping sell\/promote the product is a valued asset for the Marlins — was unavoidable after the nation\u2019s largest regional sports network realized it couldn\u2019t afford to pay MLB, NBA and NHL rights fees and remain solvent.<\/p>\n \u25aa The decision to replace Sielaff with (in all likelihood) Marlins radio voice Jack McMullen had nothing to do with selling subscriptions.<\/p>\n This was more about McMullen enjoying strong support among the handful of Marlins executives who made the decision. They view the team\u2019s radio announcer as having star potential and high-end natural broadcasting chops.<\/p>\n In our view, Sielaff had strong on-air presence and a distinct style that made him unique in a cookie-cutter world of announcers. After talking excessively during his first season-and-a-half, he smartly became more concise in recent months.<\/p>\n But we\u2019re told he didn\u2019t help himself when he vented, on social media, about fans blasting the Marlins for removing Eury Perez after he pitched seven perfect innings of a July 5 game in Sacramento.<\/p>\n Sielaff, on X, called fans who criticized the move \u201cbrain dead.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJust a startling amount of brain dead people on here today,\u201d he said, noting manager Clayton McCullough was in an \u201cimpossible spot\u201d and made \u201cthe right decision.\u201d<\/p>\n Lesson Number 1 in any business: Don\u2019t insult your customers (or in this case, your viewers.) Sielaff was firmly told by the Marlins not to do that again.<\/p>\n Ultimately, though, his dismissal was simply a subjective decision in a very subjective business.<\/p>\n I would have offered him a chance to return to radio, but Sielaff politely declined to comment on his exit and didn\u2019t want to speculate about whether he would have been willing to return to radio if he had been asked.<\/p>\n The Marlins believed asking him to return to radio would be awkward and decided everyone needed a fresh start.<\/p>\n Regardless, Sielaff is plenty good enough to be in a big league booth somewhere. Hopefully he\u2019ll get that chance.<\/p>\n \u25aa Sielaff handled his firing with class.<\/p>\n \u201cI gotta keep this short or you guys will hit me with that \u2018I\u2019m not reading all of that\u2019 meme,\u201d he posted on X in what he told me will be his only public comment for now.<\/p>\n \u201cForever grateful. From 22-years-old to 36. A long time! You guys are the absolute best. Thank you for everything. Keep supporting. Keep cheering. Nothing but love!\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s the high-road way to exit when you\u2019ve been fired.<\/p>\n \u25aa Minervini, on the other hand, openly questioned the Marlins\u2019 decision in a post on his Facebook page.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, it wasn\u2019t my call,\u201d he said. \u201c But I\u2019ve had an incredible run of 25 straight years, a Marlins TV record on the broadcasts. It has been a Big-League Blast\u2026Big-G style!<\/p>\n \u201cI was informed today that the team was not bringing me back. Why, is unclear. The ole \u201cgoing in another direction\u201d schpiel !<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s strange is I was told during our in-season review that I was \u201cthe best host\u201d on our broadcasts. Think about that. You are told by your immediate bosses that you are tops, #1, the \u201cbest host\u201d on our show.<\/p>\n \u201cThey went on to say they loved the mix of humor, knowledge and energy. That\u2019s rewarding. We don\u2019t do our jobs for that, but it\u2019s nice to be appreciated. So, how (and why?) does this happen? So, yes, that does stick in your craw a bit. Hey, I\u2019m human! \u201d<\/p>\n Minervini calmed down from there, delivering a more graceful goodbye.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, however, the team has control of the TV personnel,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThey made the call here, period. I wish them the best. Great run, but I\u2019m not done.<\/p>\n \u201cThanks to Clayton McCullough, the managers, players, owners and execs [through] the years and of course my great TV colleagues who are more like friends. The Kyles [Sielaff] and Kellys [Saco], the Jess [Blaylock], Gaby [Sanchez], Rods [Allen], THuts [Tommy Hutton] and Nellie\u2019s [Jeff Nelson]. The AJs [Ramos], JPs [Arencibia], PWs [Preston Wilson] + Pavs [Carl Pavano]. And of course, my longest running co-hort, Mr. Marlin himself [former studio analyst Jeff Conine].<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, the number one job of a host is to be a team player. That is, like a point guard. You run the show to get the best out of your unit. To make the others better, with setups and sometimes, challenges. I always strived to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n He also thanked his colleagues on radio and several former Bally\/FanDuel executives.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd mostly thanks to you, the fans,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThe comments, the hello\u2019s at the desk, the smiles. Man, I can\u2019t explain that look when someone asks if they can shake your hand! And now, even your reaction to this, is heartwarming. I\u2019ll see ya soon. Podcast, game show, documentary, stay tuned!<\/p>\n \u201cI hope you know I truly loved every minute of our time together. And lastly, if you are looking for a Host\/Play-by-Play guy, who loves telling great stories, you know where to find me.\u201d<\/p>\n Kudos to Minervini for smoothly navigating studio shows for 25 years. Hopefully this won\u2019t be the end of his three-decade-plus run in our market.<\/p>\n \u25aa So why not keep everyone? The Marlins believed they simply had too announcers (12) — more than most teams — and wanted to establish more defined roles. By contrast, the Heat has five announcers (albeit for less than half the number of games).<\/p>\n \u25aa There was another factor in play with the Marlins\u2019 decision to retain Sanchez and Ramos.<\/p>\n The Marlins value analysts who see the game through a modern lens, who understand the contemporary approach of using data and analytics and making greater use of the bullpen in the middle innings.<\/p>\n You don\u2019t necessarily need to agree with everything the Marlins front office and manager do. But they want their analysts to at least be able to explain why they do what they do, and possess what the Marlins consider a strong knowledge of — and ability to articulate — how the game is played today, both with managerial decisions and roster construction.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think the Marlins would have a problem if an analyst says: \u201cThe Marlins often yank their starters because data shows batting averages rise the third time a pitcher faces a batting order. In this particular case, I think Ryan Gusto is on a roll and I would let him go one more inning.\u201d<\/p>\n The Marlins respected Nelson, and the quality of his work was fine. But he was more of an old-school analyst, in their eyes, and he didn\u2019t have great support in the front office, we\u2019re told.<\/p>\n The game is managed a lot differently than it was 15 years ago, and the Marlins want analysts who can coherently express that evolution when game situations call for it.<\/p>\n Here are details<\/a> on the Marlins\u2019 new hitting coach hired Monday.<\/p>\n This story was originally published October 12, 2026 at 4:37 PM.<\/p>\n
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