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Marlins Making The Right Moves with Coaching Staff

November 10, 2012 in Offseason

The Marlins recently announced the hiring of former Marlin Mike Redmond as their new manager. The fanfare was palpable, and the writing around the move was described generally as a pretty good move with a pin-ache of character. References were made to Redmond’s now infamous naked bout with batting practice that helped cure a team that would eventually propel itself to the 2003 World Series title. It was a team that drastically overachieved according to many viewpoints, and it is precisely this overachievement mentality that the Marlins are hoping to recapture.

In hiring Tino Martinez as their hitting coach, the Marlins are putting together the right culture to accomplish this. Martinez, a two time all star, played for the Mariners, the Yankees, the Cardinals, and the Devil-Rays (his hometown team). He collected 1,271 RBIs with 339 home runs over his strong career and put together a .271 average. Always the consummate professional, Tino Martinez will bring an excellent approach to the plate and help fix a team that only scored 609 runs last season with a .234 average with RISP. He also sports four World Series rings with his time playing for the Yankees and along with Mike Redmond, that is five championships.

It is not only the experience, but also accountability that Martinez will bring. It is one thing to take batting tips from a guy who never really had success in the majors, but another thing to get tips from a guy who has had sustained success over a 16 year career. If you want to create a team of “overachievers” you have to have the proper tools of assessment in place to know where player performance even stacks up in the first place. Then you need to hold them accountable for their performances and recognize the most efficient approach towards getting production on the field.

In Redmond, and now Martinez, the Marlins have the makings of a strong coaching staff that will institute a culture of accountability and professionalism – something this franchise has not really seen since the Girardi-led days back in 2006. Under Fredi Gonzalez, the Marlins had a mental disconnect with their coach and the two parties had to part ways – but Gonzalez has proven to be the more successful of the two visions as he has acclimated quickly into the Braves clubhouse and culture, filling in for the shadow of Bobby Cox.

The other test here is can the Marlins have a coaching staff that will be insulated from the mania of their owner who is prone to delusions of grandeur in his assessment of his own franchise. Martinez, who played under George Steinbrenner’s careful eye, knows what that is like and Redmond, who has played under Loria, both give this staff the correct perspective it will need in order to institute its program with the Marlins.

Miguel Cabrera Wins Player Choice Award, Indicates Wrong Direction for Marlins

November 6, 2012 in Offseason

Award season is starting for MLB and it’s going to be a long one for Fish fans. Miguel Cabrera, fresh off his Triple Crown season and World Series appearance, now is a constant reminder of the wrong direction the Marlins have taken since 2003.

Sure, Miguel Cabrera was putting on weight and there were some maturity issues back when Miggy was looking for his first big contract. The amount of money he was going to command was significant, and the Marlins were cash-strapped and had no real way to bridge Cabrera to when the Marlins would have more revenue. There was no tangible plan on the horizon, at the time, for a new park for the Marlins.

That said, it pains to think of what Miguel Cabrera, teamed up with Hanley Ramirez, would mean for this team’s identity and on-field performance. If you do feel though that the Marlins had to deal Miguel Cabrera, then you would look to what was acquired in return to assess the Marlins moves. In dealing Cabrera along with fan-favorite Dontrelle Willis, they netted back Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin, neither of which made an impact for the Marlins nor even with subsequent teams outside of Maybin’s defensive presence. Basically, the Marlins traded both Cabrera and Willis away for future talent that never arrived. This was not a move to save money as neither player had significant money on the books at the time.

Flash forward to the Hanley Ramirez debacle this season. The Marlins had spent money in the offseason and had a brand new facility to generate new, previously unfathomed revenue. They decided enough was enough and had to deal Ramirez because of maturity issues and other behaviors that just became too much to bear. This was not a financial move because the Marlins had taken the plunge to build a contender. There were concerns about his plummeting performance over the last few years as Hanley’s average has declined from .342 in 2009 to .300 in 2010, .243 in 2011, and .257 in 2012. If the Marlins simply thought Hanley’s time was up, that wouldn’t have been too much of a problem but the Marlins dealt future 3B, Matt Dominguez, for rental Carlos Lee. In fact, they made this deal only a few weeks before they decided to pull the plug on Hanley – which is a clear sign that the Marlins had some mixed signals internally about the direction of the Fish.

If there was doubt about Hanley, they wouldn’t have dealt Matt Dominguez as he could have manned the position for the future. If there were doubts about both players, then perhaps this makes sense. Still, the free agent market for 3B starts, and pretty much ends, with Kevin Youkilis as he is the best option on the board right now.

Which leads us finally back to the Marlins’ hiring of Mike Redmond as their new coach. He is clearly a great pick as an understated guy who has garnered lots of respect throughout the league both as an overachieving player and now as a rising coaching talent. The question is, will the Marlins give him a longer leash than they did with Joe Girardi, Fredi Gonzalez, or even Ozzie Guillen? Girardi was named coach of the year in 2006 – after being let go by the Marlins. Both he and Fredi Gonzalez have skippered their clubs into respectable contenders. All along, the signs pointed towards getting Ozzie Guillen as he was the Marlins’ “guy”. They got him, and he didn’t deliver. They let Ozzie be “Ozzie” and it didn’t pay off.

So, it seems the Marlins latest trend of trying to go big failed. They have to get back to building with pitching, defense, and speed. They have to get back to maximizing talent and overachieving. They do have some extra money to spend this year, as the new ballpark has helped level the playing field, but this front office has to do better with their allocation of funds and identification of talent. Very little has played out the way it should.

Much Ado About Nothing: Firing Fredi Gonzalez a Good Thing for Fish

June 24, 2010 in Coaching Moves, Commentary, Roster

Fredi Gonzalez has 276 on the books, the most of any manager in the brief history of the Marlins. The question is, was he the best manager in Marlins’ history? Clearly, no, but in judging from making the rounds reading the media reaction you would think he was. In fact, all of a sudden, it is being likened to another “mistake” of letting Joe Girardi go.

Look, Girardi is a fine manager for a veteran ballclub with a blank check for its payroll. In other words, anyone can really manage the Yankees if they are a company guy. So, let’s back off of the Girardi was a messiah-in-making idea. The man to replace him, Fredi Gonzalez, was selected because he was an agreeable personality and a local product to boot. He was not going to ruffle feathers and would know his place when it came to Jeffrey Loria and his ownership style.

Yet, that was the problem. Gonzalez was too nice of a guy and it was his lack of fire that cost him. I recall after watching a game last season, the Marlins had lost some games in a row and the media pressed Gonzalez for a reaction. He came up with a line that he doesn’t really care whether or not they win, but rather how well they play the game. Now, you’re just going to have to go with me on this one because I cannot recall where the quote came from as I caught it on TV after a Marlins’ broadcast. I remember being dumbfounded thinking, if this guy was coaching any other team – perhaps a high profile team – he would have been ripped to shreds by the media after a quote like that. He wasn’t. It went mostly unnoticed. (I am trying to find the quote…)

Juan C. Rodriguez was taking the temperature of the situation last season. Just over a year ago. I was tweeting with him about it asking if there was going to be a change. It wasn’t like it was a topic that came out of the blue. Bobby Cox is ripping Loria for firing Fredi – and there seems to be a push to get Fredi back in the Atlanta dugout (we’ll see). When you have a starting rotation as talented as the Marlins have had, and enough firepower to win games, is it unrealistic to maintain higher expectations? I think Loria has that right and to demand better from his franchise is what he is supposed to do.

And now Greg Cote “weighs” in. And what can you expect from the Miami media other than a pedestrian attempt to explain the situation and put it into any real context. Cote attacks Loria for being cheap, even though the Marlins crowds consistently “roar” between 5,000 to 10,000 a night – and the higher end is on weekends where the Marlins have to put fireworks and a concert in place just to get fickle fans to show up. Loria can, and should, be criticized for being cheap – but his group has put together a lot of talent on the field and they have an attractive product that fans should be going out to see. Yet, they aren’t. So, why should we expect Loria to be a bad businessman and just throw money out to fickle south Florida fans? Show some support, and maybe he will have to spend the money. In fact, if the fans showed more support consistently, we may still have Fredi Gonzalez in the dugout – because why would the Marlins take on a bad PR move like getting rid of a local kid who grew up to coach his hometown team? That shrewd idea about the hiring, on the heals of the Girardi debacle, was one of the few positives that was gleaned at the time by the local media.

So because Girardi won NL manager of the year and so has Gonzalez we are supposed to lament this move. No. Loria is right that there is plenty of time to turn this around and at the same time is correct in that Gonzalez may not be the right guy for the job now. This team has the talent – despite the payroll fixture – to get into the postseason. Who is going to be culpable here? The front office has put together the talent and has made the moves in the constraints they have been given. The Marlins are not drawing which means very little revenue stream is coming from attendance. Why should the brass and Loria make a big blockbuster move? It has never paid off historically for the Fish – only winning pays off. See 1997 and 2003. The ’97 champs were not drawing as well as projected and, in fact, the reason why Wayne “H-bomb” Huizenga sold the Fish was because he was claiming a huge loss (all BS which I discussed on a previous article, but I digress). The 2003 team spent money to get a big free agent in Pudge Rodriguez – which didnt draw fans despite the fact that Rodriguez was a generational type player at his position and hispanic to boot. In fact, I called out Dan LeBatard for his comment that it was like putting a boob job on a corpse. All the Marlins did that season was win the whole damn thing.

Oh, and what was significant about the 2003 season? There was a managerial change in-season. Loria hired his buddy Jack McKeon and we won it all. Sure, McKeon could be criticized for his moves but the guy won. Now, Loria is looking to another buddy in Bobby Valentine – and we are supposed to think that firing Fredi Gonzalez is a bad thing now?

Look, the reason why Girardi and Gonzalez were hired in the first place was because they were both talented future skippers. They were matched up with a young talented team and excelled. The Marlins did the right thing in finding their guys and putting them on the bench. Girardi landed in New York – were anyone can really manage that club (endless funds, a DH, filled with veteran players). The idea of getting Bobby Valentine in the Marlins dugout is very tantalizing. This is a guy who was thrown out of a game he was managing for the Mets only to wear a fake mustache so he could see the rest of the game! He is a colorful personality and knows a lot about baseball and this team and fan base would do well to have him in the dugout, doing interviews, etc.

Instead of belly-aching over the latest firing – Gonzalez did have 4 seasons here, afterall – let’s begin to ask what direction this franchise should be heading in. Is it unrealistic to expect this team to make the playoffs? If you believe what BSPN sells, then yes. If you actually look at this roster, you can make the argument that hovering around .500 is unacceptable and that they should be better. Everyone in this division has had a run – except the Fish. Maybe that changes now.

Yankees Sore Losers In Weekend Series With Marlins

June 22, 2009 in Marlins History, Regular Season

Seems that the Marlins taking two from the Yankees is just a bit too much to bear. Joe Girardi and the Yankees officially filed a protest to dispute the outcome of the game on Sunday, FOX reports.

Seems Fredi tricked himself with his moves: in the top of the 8th Chris Coghlan was slated to come out of LF for Alejandro De Aza, who batted for Reynel Pinto in a double switch. De Aza never came into the game and with Coghlan in LF, once Leo Nunez threw a pitch, Girardi came out of the Yankees dugout to protest the game. The Marlins had a 6-3 lead at the time.

Seems the intrigue was for naught as the Marlins held on to win 6-5 and arguably, it wasn’t because of any unfair advantage brought on by the mix up. In fact, Girardi joked he would like to uphold the protest and retain the two runs they gained to drop the lead from 6-3 to 6-5. A ruling will come this week about the matter but it should not overturn the result. Just seems like the Yankees, even if they have just cause, really are just being a bit sour about the result of this weekend’s series with the Fish. Stay tuned to see if the Yankees can rob a result from the Marlins, but it looks highly unlikely at this stage.

Double J Astounds Yankees

June 20, 2009 in Commentary, Roster

Josh Johnson matched AJ Burnett pitch for pitch tonight in what shaped up to be an old-fashioned pitching duel. Of course, the story line was AJ returns to Miami (with Joe Girardi, of course) to face his former team. It is quite obvious that AJ never liked the front office here – much like his current manager – yet, that is beside the point.

JJ got the win while only allowing run run in 7 innings. Only three hits were given up and at one point Johnson retired 10 batters in a row. He seemingly sawed off the Yankees’ bats.

Marlins fans know how good JJ has been. He is quickly becoming one of the top pitchers in all of baseball – his mid 2 ERA is sinking each time out it seems and he continues to string along quality starts, getting to the 7th with as much frequency as your average beer chugger attending games in the stands. Clark Spencer, of the Miami Herald, speculates that the Yankees are now foaming at the mouth to snatch up Josh Johnson – and that he will be one player that won’t make it to the 2012 coming out party for the Marlins franchise as they cut the ribbon on the new stadium.

The Marlins, of course, need to make JJ a priority like they did with Hanley. Right now, the Marlins have the makings of another great rotation – the likes of which won them a title in 2003. Dare I say, this staff is better than that staff though. Josh Johnson, Chris Volstad, Andrew Miller, Ricky Nolasco and Sean West can all win double digits. Volstad and Johnson have #1 stuff while Miller could shake out and be a strong #2 guy on this staff. West is one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball, showing off his skills at future games each year. Who knows what the staff looks like in 2012, but right now this team is on the verge of getting back on track with only 2 more losses than wins and sitting 4 games behind the Phillies.

Marlins Prepare for New Yorker Fans

June 19, 2009 in Commentary, Interleague Play

This recent set of games has been a reunion of sorts. Remember back in 2003 when the Marlins defeated the Yankee$ in 6 games to take the whole enchilada? That’s ok, no one in the media seems to remember either – and why would they? There is no one left from that team that is still on the Marlins.

Mike Lowell, Josh Beckett and Brad Penny (huh?) are now all on the Red Sox. We just ran into them and they took two games from the Fish before letting them escape town with a merciful 2-1 rain shortened win. It is good to see the old fish having success, even if it is with another team.

Which brings us to another ex-Marlin, Joe Girardi. He brings his Yankees to town this weekend for a Father’s Day super-duper matchup series. And every New Yorker posing in Miami will be out in full force complete with gold chains, overly tight black shirts and douche-like hair and attitudes. Probably sporting a Yankee cap or two with alternate colors, like orange and red or something.

Despite the New Yorkers coming out like cockroaches, is there any other reason to not like the Yankees coming to town? At least the front office will have a chance to make some cash this weekend, probably upwards of 30% of their total revenue on the season – so as a lowly Marlins fan, I would like to thank the Yankees for keeping our doors open.

But let’s get back to Girardi for a second – should we be rooting for this guy? After all, he came to Miami to take over in the post-McKeon era and got started by implementing some Yankee rules like no facial hair and arguing with the team management. Jeffrey Loria, by the way, was a part-owner in the Yankees at one time and hails from NYC as an art dealer. Girardi though won 2006 manager of the year with the Marlins, leading the team to a 78-84 record. After a public blowup with the front office at a game, allegedly telling owner Jeffrey Loria to calm down after yelling at an ump for his pitch calling, Girardi was gone.

Seemed like Girardi was leading the Marlins up the totem pole again giving us a credible manager at the helm. I for one was extremely excited the day we got Girardi as a manager for this franchise – he was one of the “young” managing talents mentioned around baseball. Then there was his player management – he almost ended Josh Johnson’s career early on by bringing him back out after a rain delay. The rain delay was an hour and in a game against the Mets that proved crucial for the Marlins that season. To be fair, Mets’ pitcher Oliver Perez was also brough back into th game. Johnson, however, would get Tommy John surgery in the offseason and that was one of the reasons cited for Girardi’s dismissal. Ironically, the Yankees will be facing Johnson this weekend.

It was a mixed year for Girardi. He was given his first opportunity to manage, and in the National League where played most of his years, but instead of coming in with a team that could contend the players where scrapped down to a $15M payroll that season just after his committment to the franchise was made. Nevertheless, the focus was on winning with that ballclub.

So this weekend we get to relive the memories of the litle Marlins overcoming the massive Yankee force in the playoffs (remember, they got there with Aaron “Bleeping” Boone’s home run miracle – who eventually played for the Yankees himself). But we also get to remember that most of those players are gone and the manager that once started here is back in the visiting dugout. We will be constantly reminded of it by the charming fans from New York that always seem to come out to games here in Miami just for the sake of torturing the rest of us who live in south Florida. Play ball.