In a surprise move, the Florida Marlins' owner, Jeffrey Loria, announced that Edwin Rodriguez, who made history as the first manager from Puerto Rico, would manage the team through the end of the season. The Marlins had been actively pursuing Bobby Valentine since Fredi Gonzalez was fired last week. Indications are that negotiations with Valentine bogged down and then dissolved.
Loria, who indicated that he wanted to quickly turn the season around last week when Gonzalez was fired, apparently learned that a quick fix with a big name wasn't going to be as easy as it sounded. One can only speculate that either Valentine wanted more money, more control or more autonomy than Loria was going to give him. Valentine, known as a disciplinarian and strategist, would have been a nice choice to lead a young and sometimes undisciplined team. But that's not going to happen. So where does this leave the Marlins?
Guys like Valentine and Buck Showalter, both now working as analysts on ESPN's Baseball Tonight, will only take a managerial position if they get to run the show. They are both immensely experienced with big reputations who also happen to have good and cushy jobs. It would take a heck of a sweet deal to pry them into the right situation. The Fan can imagine that with a new stadium in their near future, Loria would have loved to go into that era of the team's history with a big name manager. But Loria either doesn't have the money to spend right now or doesn't like to spend it.
Which works out perfectly with a guy like Edwin Rodriguez. The Fan doesn't know, but can imagine that Rodriguez is still making whatever his salary was as a minor league manager. That would certainly work with Loria's MO. It looks like Loria has a cheap option for the rest of the 2010 season. But who is Edwin Rodriguez?
We know he was born in Puerto Rico as his history making position has been clear news and rightly so. He is 50 years old and he was once a prospect in the Yankees' organization. He did get cups of coffee in three separate seasons, the first one (1982) for the Yankees and the final two with the Padres (1983. 1985). He played in the minors until 1987 and then he retired.
After his retirement, Rodriguez scouted for the Twins for seven years. He started managing in the low minors in 2005 and rose through the ranks in the Marlins' system. He was given the reins of the Marlins' Triple A affiliate in December of 2008. Without doubt, he must have been part of some of the minor league careers of several of the young players on the Marlins.
During the Marlins game on local Florida television, they showed the scene in the dugout when Loria told his team about his decision to keep Rodriguez in the dugout for the rest of the season. It was quite touching to see the players' reactions as there was cheering and hugs all around. That's a good thing. The Marlins' broadcasters mentioned that several players told them that Martinez has already shown them that he is a great communicator and wants to learn from them as much as he wants his players to learn from him. That's also a good thing.
And the Marlins have beat the Mets two straight. Remarkably and fittingly, the series was scheduled long before to take place in Puerto Rico. How's that for a fairy tale story? Who knows, perhaps the Marlins have found a diamond in the rough in their new manager. The big question is on how the players will react when, young as they are, they screw up or act badly and Rodriguez has to make a stand. Will he hold the respect of his players? Time will tell.
But no matter how good Rodriguez might be, the facts still remain that the Marlins are a starter and a reliever short and play lousy defense. They will make dumb, young mistakes no matter who is managing. They have a lot of young talent but besides Helms, have little veteran stability. Rodriguez may add a win or three if he does a really good job. But it seems highly unlikely that he will take the Marlins as they are currently constructed much higher in the standings than Fredi Gonzalez would have. It would be a cool story if he did though.
Showing posts with label Jeffrey Loria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeffrey Loria. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Mulling Over Miami
The Florida Marlins fired their manager, Fredi Gonzalez, on Wednesday along with two of his coaches. It was quite a shock. And whenever shocking news happens, it takes a bit of contemplation to figure out what happened and why. Quotes from the principles who made the decision seem to make sense on the surface. In this story from Yahoo sports, Larry Beinfest, the Marlins' president of baseball operations said that the Marlins seemed stuck in neutral. That certainly seems true as the Marlins area .500 team (slightly under actually). But while that makes sense on the surface, it doesn't feel right.
For one thing, the Marlins have operated on a shoestring budget for years now. They had to be embarrassed by the union and MLB about their lack of spending on players before the season started. What can Beinfest and owner, Jeffrey Loria, expect when they fail to spend any money? Isn't that like buying hamburger and expecting it to be steak? They have one superstar on the field in Hanley Ramirez. They have one superstar in the starting rotation with Josh Johnson. But that talent is somewhat limited around them. In order for this team to win, everything has to go right. And sometimes it doesn't.
Loria's comments were almost comical: "Everyone knows how I feel about winning. That’s the reason we’re making this change.” Everyone knows how he feels about winning? Isn't that statement contradictory to the amount of money the team spends on talent? The Bay Rays do what the Marlins do but they are a bit smarter about it. The Marlins have remained competitive despite their payroll thanks in part to wise personnel management and...well...pretty good management on the field.
There weren't any bells going off about the managing ability of Fredi Gonzalez other than deep confusion about his first name. There have been reports about a feud between the manager and his mercurial shortstop. But that isn't unusual in baseball history. Though that in itself could have caused enough tension internally to end Gonzalez's job security. But besides the feud with his best player, Gonzalez seemed like a good game manager and made the right moves most of the time. And from some of the quotes of the players in the aftermath, they seemed to like and respect the man. So a lot of this doesn't make sense.
So there is a need to break down why this really occurred. And the reasons seem to fall under two possible scenarios, neither of which seem very savory:
1. Hanley wanted him gone.
2. Loria is delusional that his team can carry the day when he shorthands them in every way he can.
Another team president immediately mentioned Bobby Valentine as a person of interest. But the Marlins will have to interview a few minority candidates especially since the departed manager was in that category (which is one of the shames of this story). It would be hard to imagine Valentine desiring this situation in light of the Marlins' budget constraints and with Loria's recent treatment of Joe Girardi and now Fredi Gonzalez. But stranger things have happened. Valentine is known as a disciplinarian. Would that work with Hanley Ramirez? Good luck with that.
No, this move doesn't feel right and it seemed pointless. The Marlins are still going to come in third either way.
For one thing, the Marlins have operated on a shoestring budget for years now. They had to be embarrassed by the union and MLB about their lack of spending on players before the season started. What can Beinfest and owner, Jeffrey Loria, expect when they fail to spend any money? Isn't that like buying hamburger and expecting it to be steak? They have one superstar on the field in Hanley Ramirez. They have one superstar in the starting rotation with Josh Johnson. But that talent is somewhat limited around them. In order for this team to win, everything has to go right. And sometimes it doesn't.
Loria's comments were almost comical: "Everyone knows how I feel about winning. That’s the reason we’re making this change.” Everyone knows how he feels about winning? Isn't that statement contradictory to the amount of money the team spends on talent? The Bay Rays do what the Marlins do but they are a bit smarter about it. The Marlins have remained competitive despite their payroll thanks in part to wise personnel management and...well...pretty good management on the field.
There weren't any bells going off about the managing ability of Fredi Gonzalez other than deep confusion about his first name. There have been reports about a feud between the manager and his mercurial shortstop. But that isn't unusual in baseball history. Though that in itself could have caused enough tension internally to end Gonzalez's job security. But besides the feud with his best player, Gonzalez seemed like a good game manager and made the right moves most of the time. And from some of the quotes of the players in the aftermath, they seemed to like and respect the man. So a lot of this doesn't make sense.
So there is a need to break down why this really occurred. And the reasons seem to fall under two possible scenarios, neither of which seem very savory:
1. Hanley wanted him gone.
2. Loria is delusional that his team can carry the day when he shorthands them in every way he can.
Another team president immediately mentioned Bobby Valentine as a person of interest. But the Marlins will have to interview a few minority candidates especially since the departed manager was in that category (which is one of the shames of this story). It would be hard to imagine Valentine desiring this situation in light of the Marlins' budget constraints and with Loria's recent treatment of Joe Girardi and now Fredi Gonzalez. But stranger things have happened. Valentine is known as a disciplinarian. Would that work with Hanley Ramirez? Good luck with that.
No, this move doesn't feel right and it seemed pointless. The Marlins are still going to come in third either way.
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