Baseball HOFer Tony Perez on Saturday said that he and fellow HOFer Andre Dawson "have ended their association" with the Marlins following an "employment soap opera," according to Jon Heyman of FANRAG SPORTS. Perez noted that the team offered around a 75% pay cut, from "about $100,000 to $25,000, and a similar diminishing of duties." Perez said, “They say they wanted us in the organization. But we didn’t like the way they wanted us." Heyman wrote the exits of Perez and Dawson means all four front office execs that new Marlins CEO Derek Jeter "seemed to let go but later changed his mind about are now gone for good." Jeff Conine "turned down a greatly diminished offer of his own ... and winning 2003 World Series manager Jack McKeon was let go." The four men "offered guidance to the major league players when sought, and were advisers" to the former Marlins ownership regime. After word came back that their salaries were now to be $25,000, Perez and Dawson "questioned how badly they were wanted." There was "some discussion about what they’d be allowed to do now, and while they still would be allowed to walk through the clubhouse, apparently they were no longer to dress in there" (FANRAGSPORTS.com, 10/28).
