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MIAMI MARLINS
Team Audit | Player Cards | Depth Chart

Fired manager Mike Redmond; named general manager Dan Jennings manager. [5/17]

This much is clear: The 16-22 Marlins, six games from first place, are not where they wanted to be nearing Memorial Day. What isn't clear is how much blame Redmond deserves for the slow start, and whether this change will get them swimming in the right direction.

The Marlins have experienced many misfortunes throughout the young season. Jose Fernandez and Henderson Alvarez, the best pitchers in the rotation, have started three games total; closer Steve Cishek has tied his career-high in blown saves after 14 appearances; offseason additions Mat Latos and Mike Morse have been messes; ascending star Christian Yelich has missed time due to injury; neither Opening Day catcher is on the 25-man roster; and so on. Put Cishek on Redmond if you must, but it's hard to hold him responsible for the rest.

Of course, few managers are culpable for injuries, poor performance, and the like. Redmond isn't unique in that regard. The difference is, unlike the average manager, Redmond works for an owner who changes skippers as often as traffic lights change colors. Redmond—largely indistinguishable from the pack, yet seemingly promising—was good enough for Jeffrey Loria last September, when the two sides agreed to an extension through the 2017 season. What changed?

Marlins Managers During the Loria Era (2002-Present)

Manager

Year(s)

Games

Winning Percentage

Fredi Gonzalez

2007-2010

555

.497

Jack McKeon

2003-2005, 2011

538

.522

Mike Redmond

2013-2015

361

.429

Jeff Torborg

2002

200

.475

Edwin Rodriguez

2010-2011

163

.479

Ozzie Guillen

2012

162

.426

Joe Girardi

2006

162

.481

Expectations, for one. Jennings spent the offseason trading youngsters for veterans and assembling a roster that was a plausible contender. It was an aggressive play (and perhaps an overzealous one given the results thus far), and the Marlins entered 2015 with their best shot at the postseason since Ozzie Guillen held the managerial reins. Unfortunately for Redmond, his tenure ended like Guillen's did: with Loria proving once more that perceived under-performance is not tolerated in Miami.

Obviously Loria is the owner and can do as he pleases, but it would seem counterproductive to dismiss the skipper only to replace him with the GM, who has no previous managerial experience. Jennings is a quality talent evaluator who had done a fine job since taking over. He boasts an impressive track record as a scouting director, most notably nabbing Fernandez, Yelich, and Giancarlo Stanton without using a top-10 pick, and helping to build Tampa Bay's farm system before then. But the skill sets required for those jobs and managing are as different as it gets; one is about player evaluation, projection, and roster construction; the other is about human and game management, as well as roster implementation.

When healthy, the Marlins have enough talent to get back into the race. In fact, things are looking up in that department: Yelich and Alvarez returned last week, and Fernandez has began facing live hitters in anticipation of a mid-June return. Additionally, underlying indicators suggest the Marlins have played better than their record indicates (their third-order winning percentage is the second best in the division). While their playoff odds are slim (about 12 percent entering Monday night), they're not so out of it as to flush them down the toilet.

Which is another reason why Jennings' promotion is dubious—a bubble team should seemingly prefer a steady hand at the wheel rather than an on-the-job trainee. Perhaps Jennings proves to be a quick study, but there's no guarantee he's better than Redmond or any other option the Marlins could have installed. Worse yet, at least for Jennings, is how he went from a fairly secure position—Loria has demonstrated more patience with his front office than his managers, which is good news for Mike Hill and Mike Berger, the two presumably calling the roster shots now—to one of the shakiest in the game.

Marlins fans, on the other hand, have to be concerned about how this sequence reeks of Loria. He'd seemingly backed off after putting Jennings in charge, but this process has been handled sloppily. Hence Redmond being fired five minutes after a game, hence the Wally Backman rumors despite Backman being under contract to the Mets, and hence the decision to insert Jennings.

As a result, Redmond seems to have the brightest future of the bunch. Expect teams with managerial vacancies to consider him in the coming months, as those in the past did with Joe Girardi and Fredi Gonzalez. The surprise won't be Redmond succeeding away from Loria's reach; the surprise will be anyone succeeding near Loria.

Thank you for reading

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CraigB
5/18
Usually this move is simply ownership telling the GM, "You told us this was a roster that can win. Win or take a hike.". It has happened before, but I can't remember a specific instance.
sbnirish77
5/18
Loria is the Isaiah Thomas of MLB.

How long can MLB tolerate this guy?

Somehow he benefited from a financial catastrophe in Montreal, was subsidized by MLB to take over the Marlins so John Henry could buy the Red Sox, and then fleeced the city of Miami into buying him a stadium.

He is running his own personal playpen that has been continuously financed on the back of others.

His only genius is in getting others to cough up the dough.

therealn0d
5/18
Good times.
DDriesen
5/18
Actually he is more the James Dolan/Al Davis type, but the sentiment is correct. And I read that Jennings has managerial experience - he coached a high school team in Alabama in the 80's. So he's go that going for him...
walrus0909
5/19
The other way to read this, of course, is that Loria...
- helped MLB get the Expos to the more-lucrative D.C. market,
- blocked Frank McCourt and ensured that good buddy John Henry got one of the most lucrative franchises in the game,
- and got the sweetest of all possible sweetheart stadium deals from Miami, setting the market for other franchises the way A-Rod's $250mm contract set the market for other star players.

I grant that Loria is running his own personal playpen that has been continuously financed on the back of others, and that his only genius is in getting others to cough up the dough.

But to other MLB owners, that's not a problem, that's the dream.
84538411
5/18


"Marlins fans, on the other hand, have to be concerned about how this sequence reeks of Loria." I love this sentence. Haha!
TGT969
5/18
This guy is a hatchet man: MLB said "help us take down Montreal" and he
does. Take over the mess in Florida and get the city & taxpayers to gift
you a ballpark and he does. Run this team into the ground and he is.

A total jerk.
Dodger300
5/18
You believe that MLB told Luria to run the Marlins into the ground AFTER they got their new stadium? That doesn't make any sense.
sbnirish77
5/18
I read one person suggest Loria did this to get Stanton to opt out of his contract to save him money.
DetroitDale
5/19
I don't think that's the case. This came after Stanton criticized Redmond publicy. If anything this is an attempt to cater to Stanton.

If they really want to help him, they'll get some decent hitters ahead and behind him in the lineup.

Baseball is a zero some game, not every team can be a contender, but man for less than half their history, it hasn't looked like the Marlins have been trying. And it's not just Loria... Wayne Huizenga was no prize either.

It's a shame, too. I've made several business trips to Miami/Ft. Lauderdale in the last year, listened extensively to local sports talk radio, and I don't think I heard the Marlins mentioned once. A whole population pre-disposed to being baseball fans, but nobody cares.
Dodger300
5/20
And yet, the Marlins have one two World Series, when other teams haven't even played in any during that same time frame.
kalimantan
5/19
Installing Jennings has to be a short-term move so they can take their time to find the right candidate - surely?
DaveKutilek
5/19
We can rationalize this 7 ways from Sunday, but the reality is Loria has history on his side. And his history is not a pretty picture.
Ddhatfield
5/19
Uhh, unless Dan Jennings is one multi-tasking SOB, isn't your article's link to career stats on "Dan Jennings" to a different Dan Jennings?
50cubs
5/19
C'mon, have you ever seen Dan Jennings and Will Ferrell in the same room? This is another Will Farrell stunt, like playing all 9 field positions and third base coach in spring training. Now he wants to be a manager, so he dresses up like Dan Jennings and pretends to manage, while Brett Butler does the real managing.

Nice going, Will!