On Monday, there was a surprising announcement from Hall of Fame legend Derek Jeter. He released a a statement, not through the Marlins, but as a press release saying that he was stepping down from the post of chief executive officer of the Miami Marlins team. He also mentioned that he was selling his stake in the franchise. The baseball icon said that the team and he had different visions.

Jeter said in his statement that the “vision for the future of the franchise” was different from the one he had agreed to lead. He spoke of the hard work, trust and accountability that had “transformed every aspect of the franchise. The 47-year old said that the beginning of a new season of baseball was “the right time” for him to step aside.

Bruce Sherman, who is the main owner and chairman of the Miami Marlins, said that the Baseball club would work as a committee while they were looking for a replacement. He also said that they had mutually agreed to part.

The announcement by Jeter came on a busy day as MLB Owners had given players union time up to Monday to finalize a new labor deal. This deal is of utmost importance as Opening Day and other future games could be canceled if the deal does not take place.

Despite his busy schedule overseeing the labor negotiations, MLB Commissioner took time to thank Jeter for the time he spent running the Marlins. In a statement he described Jeter as “a winner on and off the field.” He also called him a “pillar” of baseball and said that they looked forward to his future contributions to the game.

Sources say that Sherman and Jeter had huge differences on two issues: the size of his stake, which was only four percent in the more than 4 and half years he was in charge of running both the business as well as the baseball operations in the team and the spending on the team; both of which were less than what he anticipated.

Jeter had a long and successful career with the New York Yankees one of the biggest spenders on the league while the Miami Marlins ranked in the bottom four spenders almost throughout all their seasons in the league even when they were called the Florida Marlins.

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