Miami Marlins CEO Derek Jeter refuses to believe that he and the team's new ownership group are approaching this season with a tanking mentality.
Jeter, in an interview for HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" that airs Tuesday, was asked if the team had that mindset after trading away its best players in the offseason.
"Tanking? What is ... tanking?" Jeter said.
When Gumbel defined tanking as "not trying your hardest to win ball games in ... every day."
Jeter, who smiled throughout the exchange, went on the offensive.
"We're trying to win ball games every day," Jeter said of the Marlins, who are off to a 5-15 start after trading away stars Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna and Dee Gordon during the offseason.