Look, I know needing a two-out hit in the ninth to avoid being no-hit and I know nearly becoming the opponent in back-to-back no hitters is a very poor look, but the Miami Marlins’ upper management really overreacted this past weekend.
Just 23 minutes or so after Justin Bour singled up the middle to thwart Shelby Miller’s no hit bid, Marlins manager Mike Redmond and bench coach Rob Leary were fired. Because, yeah, they’re the source of the Marlins problems and were the sole reason they nearly got no-hit.
It’s just the latest in a long line of questionable moves by Miami owner Jeff Loria which makes Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones actually look like a good general manager. And oh by the way, he left to somebody else to explain the reasoning behind the firing.
So it’s safe to say that the Marlins screwed up this manager change.
First off, the manager can only work with what he’s been given, and outside of Giancarlo Stanton and Dee Gordon, Redmond didn’t have much to work with. That all falls on whoever is making the player moves, which appears to be Loria in this case. The pitching staff is not very good at all. The team leader in ERA among starters is Dan Harren who has a 3.70 ERA. And closer Steve Cishek has three losses and an 8.78 ERA. You’re not going to win very many games when you can’t rely on your pitching staff at all over the course of a season.
And then on the offensive side, outside of Stanton and Gordon the Marlins don’t have anyone to help those two. The addition of Ichiro has turned out to be a bust with him batting just .278. And no one not named Stanton has hit more than three home runs this season. In short, the Marlins’ lineup doesn’t strike fear into the hearts of opposing pitchers and there’s nothing Redmond could have done to change that.
Loria has also had a history of making a number of manager changes. Dan Jennings, who is also the general manager, will be the Marlins seventh manager since the 2010 season. And none of them have resulted in the success Loria has hoped for. None of the six prior managers posted a record above .500 and even Jack McKeon, who came took over midseason in 2003 and led the team to the World Series, struggled in 2011 in the interim position. So maybe the problem isn’t the managers?
Of course, Redmond didn’t have quite a stellar record, going 151-199 during his tenure in South Beach, and almost getting no-hit is kind of embarrassing.
But the problem in Miami appears to be more than the managers and more than the players on the field. The issue with the Marlins starts at the top. And as long as Loria and the upper management of the team continues to struggle and not bring in quality players, the lengthy coaching carousel for the Marlins will only continue.