Dec. 1 (UPI) — Former Miami Marlins scout Marty Scott said the organization fired him on Oct. 16 while he was in the hospital recovering from colon cancer surgery.
Scott revealed the specifics of his departure from the organization in an interview with Yahoo Sports.
The 64-year-old joined the Marlins as a vice president in 2011 before later becoming a scout. He was told his contract would not be renewed on Oct. 16. At the time, he was at the Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Fla. Three days before the news of his firing, Scott had a cancerous tumor and polyps removed from his colon, according to the report. He also is in need of a kidney transplant.
“Derek Jeter doesn’t owe me anything,” Scott told Yahoo Sports. “Probably in their hearts they did what they thought was right. I know based on certain aspects of the game, I probably was making too much money. But we all love the game. We’re all in it together. I just think 40 years was worth more than a spank on the butt and see you later.”
“I’m very hurt. Forty years in baseball, I let a lot of people go. I never, ever fired somebody 10 days, 15 days before their contract was up. If I knew I was going to fire somebody, I did it at the beginning of September.”
Scott’s pact with the Marlins expired on Halloween. He learned of the news of his firing from pro scouting director Jim Cuthbert.
Former New York Yankees star Derek Jeter was part of an ownership group that purchased the Marlins in August for about $1.2 billion. The group took control of the team on Sept. 27 and has since made some bold moves in the front office, but decided to retain manager Don Mattingly. The team is now in negotiations to trade 2017 National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton.
Sources told MLB.com that the San Francisco Giants are meeting with Stanton’s representatives this week in Los Angeles, but a trade between the two teams is not “imminent.”
Baseball’s Winter Meetings begin on Dec. 10 at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort.