Marlins shake up baseball operations

The Florida Marlins shook up their baseball operations Tuesday by hiring Marty Scott and reassigning Jim Fleming, who has been with the franchise for nine years.

Owner Jeffrey Loria expressed disappointment earlier this season with the state of the Marlins' minor league system. The team has had little draft success in recent years, especially in the first round.

Scott, who has spent 34 years in professional baseball, replaces Fleming as vice president of player development. Scott was director of player development for the Texas Rangers from 1985 to 1994, and he managed the minor-league Lincoln Saltdogs the past three seasons.

''This is about trying to maybe make things even better than we've done it in the past,'' president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest said. ''Marty Scott will maybe take a different look, a different approach. He has a lot of experience.''

Loria owned the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City from 1989-92.

''We kind of developed a relationship,'' Scott said. ''He has always had a winning attitude. That's what encouraged me to come here. We won one championship in Oklahoma City, and he was on the phone daily if we lost a couple games in a row, wanting to know which free agents we were going to sign.''

Fleming, who is under contract through 2015, will become special assistant to Beinfest. Fleming's previous role was to oversee the scouting and player development departments.

Stan Meek, director of scouting the past nine years, becomes vice president of scouting.