The San Diego Padres have relieved radio play-by-play commentator Andy Masur of his duties after six years with the club and eight with the Chicago Cubs. On the surface, this doesn't seem like a huge deal, though Masur was clearly emotional about his departure from the team.. Changes happen every day in the broadcasting world.

But digging a little deeper, things get a little more interesting… and slimy.

The Padres CEO is a man named Mike Dee, who took on the new role in July of 2013. Dee's former job was as CEO of the Miami Dolphins. With the Dolphins, Dee was unable to coerce local and state governments into giving the team between $350 and $400 million to upgrade Sun Life Stadium, likely because of the complete disaster that is Marlins Park. Ironically, Dee was replaced as Dolphins CEO by Tom Garfinkel, who formerly served as Padres CEO and famously blamed Zack Greinke for inciting a Dodgers-Padres brawl last April.

Anyway, the man chosen to replace Masur on Padres broadcasts is Jesse Agler. Who is Agler? Well, he's a former host and commentator for… the Miami Dolphins. Padres CMO Wayne Partello is spinning Agler's hire as one that will be a multi-faceted role, encompassing television, radio, and social media roles.

Padres fans are, well, not pleased. This isn't the first issue the club has had with making unpopular changes this offseason. Also in January, long-time PA announcer Frank Anthony was let go for "no reason", and the team held open tryouts for his position – which ended up including dozens of fans off the street trying out for the job.

To add one more, very odd nugget into the situation, the Padres flagship radio network is The Mighty 1090. You know, the station that hired former Miami radio personality (and quite possibly our least favorite person in sports) Dan Sileo last week.

Something really weird is going on in the world of San Diego sports media, and it's all going back to the city of Miami.

About Joe Lucia

I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.

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