Miami Marlins promote Caroline O’Connor, making her pro baseball’s second-highest ranking woman

The Miami Marlins will be led by two of the highest-ranking women in professional sports.

The organization announced on Monday that owner Bruce Sherman is promoting Caroline O’Connor to president of business operations, effective immediately.

The move makes the Marlins the first pro sports team to have women operating the entirety of the team’s day-to-day business. In 2020, the team hired Kim Ng as the first female general manager in Major League Baseball history, making her the league’s highest-ranking woman in baseball operations.

The Marlins have a history of diverse hires. In 2017, the team hired Derek Jeter to become baseball’s first black CEO.

O’Connor has been with the Marlins for six years. She began as senior vice president and chief of staff, before becoming chief operating officer in 2019.

“Her leadership will continue to guide the Marlins organization toward our goal of sustained success while strategizing additional new ventures to grow our business and enhance our brand recognition,” Sherman said.

In her new role, the Marlins said, she will be charged with overseeing all of the club’s business operations, including sales, marketing, human resources and diversity, finance, legal, communications, community outreach, security and ballpark facilities.

“We have made large strides in growing our fan base, expanding our business partnerships, and creating relationships with our community leaders, and we have a great deal of opportunity in front of us,” O’Connor said. “I look forward to working with the team to continue to build on that success and drive further engagement with Marlins baseball while establishing loanDepot park as a top entertainment destination in South Florida.”

The Marlins were MLB Wild Card Champions in 2020 but have failed to make the playoffs the past two seasons.