Kuzul

As more and more of the offseason days have rolled on by it has become more and more apparent that the Florida Marlins are not leaning towards retaining Edwin Rodriguez as their manager next season. The current interim manager received a strong recommendation from the players and a approval of the front office in the work he has done.

Rodriguez went an even 46-46 after taking over for Fredi Gonzalez and inheriting a series of bullpen woes and freak injuries along the way. 

The consensus among many as been that the front office will look to hire an experienced manager who isn’t a calm presence but a vocal leader who can work well with a young roster. 

While Edwin Rodriguez sure wasn’t helped by the lack of having a healthy Ricky Nolasco, Hanley Ramirez, Josh Johnson, and Chris Coghlan in September, he was never suppose to be on Jeffrey Loria’s managerial hot seat to begin with remember? 

The process for hiring the new manager is expected to take anywhere from 2-3 weeks depending on the availability of a couple of candidates.

Nevertheless, the Marlins should be able to get their man if they act boldly. What manager wouldn’t turn down a new era of a ballclub that will have new uniforms, new name, new stadium, and an emergence of young talent (Mike Stanton, Logan Morrison, and Gaby Sanchez) surrounded by Hanley Ramirez, Josh Johnson, and possibly Dan Uggla. 

If a new manager is indeed at the helm on Opening Day 2011, it would mark the sixth different manager for the Marlins since 2002, when Jeffrey Loria took over in ownership of the franchise. But despite all those changes for the Marlins, their NFL and NHL counterpart Dolphins and Panthers have undergone the same number of managerial changes since 2002. 

The Dolphins have had five different head coaches since 2002 (Dave Wannstedt, Jim Bates, Nick Saban, Cam Cameron, and current head coach Tony Sparano). The Florida Panthers have also had five different head coaches in the same timeframe (M.Keenan, R Dudley, J.Torchetti, J.Martin, and P.Deboer).

Whether further ado take a look at the four big fish the Marlins have lined up as their possible four managers of the future. 

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With the seats getting emptier at Sun Life Stadium in the wake of yet another Marlins late-season collapse, the surging Miami Dolphins snatching the local sports headlines, and the impending start of the NBA season with the Heat Elite of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh about to take the hardwood, the Marlins are in need of a revival.

Luckily, there is a bright light at the surface for the Marlins in their pursuit for their next manager who can be the cherry on top as the Marlins open their new stadium in 2012.

That delicious cherry on top may be a little sour with the media, but he will be loved dearly in Miami, and that name is none other than White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.

Rumors have swirled that have Guillen likely parting ways from the South Side in order to possibly take the Marlins job on South Beach. For months, Guillen’s relationship with general manager Ken Williams has been strained, to say the least, and not winning the division this season only makes it worse.

In fact, since winning the World Series with the Sox in 2005, the team has averaged 82.5 victories, not including this season, and faces yet another season without October baseball.

Guillen’s contract runs through 2011 and holds a club option for 2012, so he has nothing guaranteed beyond next season.

”I never talked to them that I don’t want to come back,” Guillen told the Chicago Sun-Times. ”First of all, I don’t have the power to do it because right now they don’t want to hear that s—. They don’t want to hear me … if I don’t want to come back. I know the answer, ‘All right, have a good one somewhere.’

“But I want to know where I stand in this organization. I don’t want to come here and work day-by-day. I’m better than that. I give this organization more than that. I deserve—I’m not going to say respect—but [I deserve] more consideration about yes or no.”

According to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, it seems as though all talk of “wanting to stay” is all but an exit strategy. Rosenthal mentions that the likely scenario of Guillen’s exit would involve him asking for a contract extension that goes beyond 2012. If the White Sox were to object to that, Guillen could simply resign or ask owner Jerry Reinsdorf to allow him to pursue the Marlins’ managerial opening, which essentially is asking for his plane ticket bound for Miami.

The Florida Marlins are in a dire need of finding the right manager who will lead the Marlins to the postseason. The training wheels of Joe Girardi and Fredi Gonzalez have been all but used up, and now the front office must conjure up a manager who will bring a balance with the Marlins in the local sports media that is and will be heavily dominated by the Miami Dolphins and Miami Heat.

Ozzie Guillen is the perfect man for the job who can bring a spark to the ball club and be that 10th guy on the field. He may be known for controversy when it comes down to things he says in the media, but the Marlins wouldn’t mind that; in fact, they’ll embrace it. Why?

 The Marlins haven’t really been selling tickets quite like the Heat have when LeBron arrived, ahead of their opening in the spring of 2012.

Guillen can be their pitchman and the driving force to get fans, especially Latin fans, to show up at the ballpark. There is no doubt he is very popular in the Latin community, and the Marlins will get their fair share of fans if he is managing the Marlins.

Does Guillen really want to return to the White Sox next season with the same headache of a boss in Ken Williams? If the situation really is so sour, why not take the sweet oranges of South Florida and manage the Marlins?

Let’s not forget that Ozzie Guillen was once with the Florida Marlins as a third base coach when they won the World Series back in 2003. Guillen also owns a home in Miami, where he makes his offseason home.

The bottom line is the door is wide open for Ozzie in Miami, and 2011 is the deciding season for the Marlins to really give a taste to fans of what’s to come when they enter their ballpark. It is their marketing pitch that the team is for real and that it finally means business.

At the end of the day, the reality is clear: There will be job openings galore this major league offseason, and it will rival the current job market. The question remains as to whether the big fish will be swimming out of the Windy City and heading for the warmer waters of South Beach—will Ozzie Guillen make the perfect scenario come true in his only chance to?

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Joe Torre shockingly announced he will retire from the Los Angeles Dodgers, and hands  the reins to successor Don Mattingly today  with two weeks left in the regular season.

It’s a move that caught everyone by surprise considering that the Dodgers may want to interview others such as Tim Wallach, but nevertheless Mattingly is the incoming manager while Torre is nothing but a lame duck on the West Coast.

This offseason is promising to be quite the boiling one when it comes to managers and vacant team openings. As for Joe Torre, where will he end up going next season?

You can bet he’ll end up with a big market team with a playoff bound roster that is destined for the World Series. Remember he is retiring from the Dodgers, not baseball, so whether he is or isn’t we look at Torre’s possible destinations this offseason. 

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Entering their final season at Sun Life Stadium in 2011, the Florida Marlins will yet again relocate a home series.

It won’t be by their choice, but because U2 is having a concert at the stadium on June 29, 2011.

On June 24-26, the Florida Marlins will be facing the Seattle Mariners in an interleague series. Essentially, it wouldn’t give the crew at Sun Life Stadium enough time to set up for the concert stage and seating. 

Reports have mentioned that the Marlins would essentially have to take the series north of the border rather than south and down to Puerto Rico for a San Juan Series Part II. Why north? Well, both the Marlins and Mariners have West Coast games right after the series, making it easier to travel than taking the series further south to Puerto Rico. 

The Seattle Mariners are slated to face the Atlanta Braves in Safeco Field on the 27th, while the Marlins head to Oakland to face the Athletics the 28th. 

The site sought out would be the once domed BC Place stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia. If you know your geography, Vancouver is about a two-hour drive from Seattle, which would make it a road game for the Marlins. If played in Canada, it would be the furthest road game in franchise history away from Miami.

Now I mentioned “once domed” for a reason, and there is a problem with BC Place. The stadium was shut down after the 2010 Winter Olympics and is currently undergoing a $458 million renovation to add a retractable roof. It isn’t expected to be ready until around mid-late 2011. It is still possible it could get finished prior to the time the Marlins and Mariners are slated to play.

If not Vancouver, the Marlins might consider playing further west in Hawaii at Aloha Stadium. Back in 1997, the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres played a three-game series on April 19-20th that included a doubleheader. It would be nothing new, and both teams could easily travel to the West Coast to play their next teams.

Oddly enough, U2 made their final stop at Aloha Stadium for their world tour of their album Vertigo in December of 2006.

If they want to stay closer to home, the Marlins could tinker by playing the three-game series in Champion Stadium in Orlando like the cross-state rival Tampa Bay Rays did in 2007 and 2008. Champion Stadium seats only 9,500, but standing room could raise capacity a bit.

Nevertheless, 2011 is the final season for the Marlins to tinker with a San Juan Series against the Mets or an O Canada Series or Aloha Series with Seattle as they move to their new stadium in 2012.

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October can’t come any sooner for fans of the New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Minnesota Twins, and Texas Rangers. The American League has little to no excitement on the postseason hunt in September with teams like the Red Sox and White Sox playing for any realistic hope that just isn’t there to be had. 

Major League Baseball is in a difficult spot when it comes down to September every year. The National Football League opens play in September and if a team such as the Red Sox or White Sox is out of the hunt you pretty much forget baseball to focus on your Patriots or Bears. 

Personally to play 162 games in the regular season and only have four teams from each league pass through to the next round of the season makes it impossible for teams to end playoff droughts. Teams like the Washington Nationals or Kansas City Royals will never make it to the playoffs in this system. Not with the wealthier teams dominating in their divisions with no space for them to make any ground up. 

Now with Major League Baseball taking the initiative to end the postseason before Halloween, any such fix to the playoffs would have to be relatively short. So what can be done to fix up a leaking faucet of a playoff system? MLB could start by adding a pair of teams into the mix giving 6 teams a shot at the playoffs from each league. 

American League/National League

Team #1 (Best Record); Bye                                                 Team #1 (Best Record); Bye

Team #2 (Second Best Record); Bye                                     Team #2 (Second Best Record); Bye

Team #3 (Winner advances to LDS)                                       Team #3 (Winner advances to LDS)

Team #4 (Loser goes home)                                                  Team #4 (Loser goes home)

Team #5 (Winner advances to LDS)                                       Team #5 (Winner advances to LDS)

Team #6 (Loser goes home)                                                  Team #6 (Loser goes home) 

Italics: Teams play in Wild Card Series (best-of-three) 

Essentially you would have your usual three division winners and now three wild card winners instead of a solo wild card team from each league. The top two teams from each league, if you were translating to this season, Rays and Yankees in the American League and let’s say Phillies and Reds in the National League would get a “bye” for the first round of the playoffs. 

This extra rest adds incentive to play well in the regular season and finish with a better record. This can be seen as one reason teams rarely reach 100 wins in a season mainly because the All-Star game awarding home-field advantage to the winner. Teams usually rest their players down the stretch once they clinch a spot and that’s what eliminates the triple-digit wins from the standings. 

Beyond the top two teams from each league, you have a pair of “Wild Card Series” games in each league. In order to keep the postseason within the month of October, the “Wild Card Series” should only be a best-of-three format. After it’s said and done, the best team from both leagues faces the lowest seeded team (team with lowest record) and vice-versa with the other two teams in both leagues.

In other words, the postseason would revert back to its original format with the LDS (League Division Series) in a best-of-five and a LCS (League Championship Series) in a best-of-seven. The World Series would be the grand finale to a baseball season in its usual best-of-seven format. 

In using this formula for the National League we would see the likes of the Braves, Reds, Padres, Phillies, Rockies, and Giants all in the playoffs this season. Now this would certainly take away from the luster of making it into the playoffs but it would make for an exciting run to see who can avoid the “Wild Card Series” and have a bye to start off instead. Additionally, more teams would be involved in the playoff mix such as the Cardinals or Marlins although both are further back than the rest of the pack this season. 

In the American League, in addition to the Red Sox and White Sox, a team like the Blue Jays or Athletics could be in the mix. They’re records may not be approximate to Boston and Chicago but it would be better if they knew there were more spots up for grabs. 

The reality is that September is seen a trial period for the grand majority of Major League teams. Rosters expand to 40 players and you have an array of players make their debut or essentially try out for a spot next season. It takes away from having teams go all out at the end versus just laying low and parking your season in. Baseball needs more markets involved while it tries to stay afloat against the National Football League in its final weeks. Having six teams in each league make it to the postseason would give more teams hope they can be in the Fall Classic. Since the league doesn’t have a salary cap it makes it hard for low market franchises to ever dream about October, yes, Pirates, Royals, and Nationals I’m talking to you and I hope Major League Baseball is listening too. 

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While the majority of the Florida Marlins’ first round draft disasters were before the Jeffrey Loria/Larry Beinfest/David Samson era and their pair of World Series victories (1997 and 2003) make no mistake the Marlins could have been a great team out of the gates. They had only one winning season between 1993 and 2002 which yielded the one World Series.

Yet we can’t help but look back on what the Marlins lost out on with players who were taken shortly thereafter. Of course many teams have missed out on great players in later rounds but we won’t go that deep, we will only go on the players the Marlins could have drafted based on how good their were pre-draft hype.

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With what essentially was a three-game sweep at the hands of the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies, the Florida Marlins can officially kiss their last playoff hopes goodbye.

The ship began sailing when Ricky Nolasco went down and now recently with Josh Johnson and his back. JJ might be shut down to avoid any further injury when the team is no longer in the race. 

Entering the final offseason of the Sun Life (aka Pro Player, Dolphin, or Joe Robbie) Stadium era, the Marlins face an uphill battle to turn this team back to their winning ways in lieu of a new stadium in 2012.

It will be quite the extreme makeover of sorts from this season and Opening Day 2012 and a whole lot needs to happen in order to have fans even consider buying a Marlins ticket with Heat and Dolphins tickets the hot items in South Florida. 

Here is what the Marlins need to and what I believe they should do to address it. 

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Major League Baseball is about to get a serious face-lift on the managerial front this offseason considering that already this regular season there have been five managerial firings. These include Seattle’s Don Wakamatsu, Kansas City’s Trey Hillman, Baltimore’s Dave Trembley, Arizona’s AJ Hinch, and Florida’s Fredi Gonzlez. 

Once this season ends, we won’t see Bobby Cox, still managing the contending Braves, or Lou Pinella, who got a head start on retirement, any longer as a manager. The duo have combined for over 4,300 major league victories, six National League pennants with a pair of World Series titles. 

We can’t forget about Cito Gaston who is managing in his final season with the Toronto Blue Jays and his managing career. Gaston has as many World Series titles (two) as Pinella and Cox. 

Yet as we look upon this season as the Year of the Pitcher how about can we have a standing ovation for the Year of the Manager? This offseason will dictate the future of Major League Baseball for years to come because as many as 10 teams will have probable openings with a few other teams on the bubble depending on the rest of the hirings or firings. That’s nearly three quarters of the entire league, perhaps getting a new manager from Opening Day 2010.

Even though the regular season ends in early October, expect for their to be as much as a handful of managerial moves during the postseason. 

In an earlier article, I wrote about the possible MLB managerial changes this offseason and headlined those teams but a lot has changed and with a month left in the regular season, this can be seen as the update to what’s to come, whose on each teams radar, and the probable choice for the team’s new manager. 

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The Marlins have had quite the string of injuries these season but all have come because of some event that lead to the injury whether baseball related or plays outside the baseball diamonds. These injuries coupled with the shaky bullpen of the Marlins have hurt their playoff chances for this season. 

It all began with John Baker back in May then it translated to Chris Coghlan in July, Ricky Nolasco in August, Donnie Murphy and Logan Morrison now in September. Luckily, these haven’t been the Marlins best core players like Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, or Josh Johnson or the Marlins would have long kissed away their playoff chances.

Still, these injuries have all affected the Marlins for all the dumb and bizarre reasons. Here is a recap of how they got them, their statistics at the time of the injury and a freak factor rating on a scale of one to 10. 

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The National Treasure that was supposed to put Washington on the baseball map at long last didn’t last.

Instead, the National Treasure tore apart in the way of a torn ulnar collateral ligament which will require the infamous Tommy John surgery: every pitcher’s nightmare. 

The Washington Nationals were being as careful as any team would be with a young fireballer by limiting his innings and pitch counts each outing and through a season. 

Strasburg pitched 123 1/3 innings between the minor leagues and major leagues this season, when his limit was supposed to be anywhere from 150 to 160 innings this season, a reasonable amount for any rookie pitcher.

Yet those 123 innings or so proved to be too much for Washington’s National Treasure and caused his body, particularly his elbow, to veto any more workload and break down. 

For Strasburg fans to feel optimism, they should note that aces such as Tim Hudson, Chris Carpenter, and Josh Johnson suffered through the same fate and came back all right.

All three were selected to participate in the All-Star game and all have ERA’s under 3.00 since their return from the surgery. 

Yet, comparing Stephen Strasburg’s situation to Tim Hudson, Chris Carpenter, and Josh Johnson seems to be too simple and not accurate.

Hudson, Carpenter, and Johnson aren’t overpowering strikeout pitchers like Strasburg is and because of that, they have been able to pitch effectively. 

If there’s any name that Stephen Strasburg fans didn’t want to hear mentioned in the same sentence with Tommy John thrown in there it’s Kerry Wood.

The comparisons between the two are inevitable, especially now that Strasburg has suffered the injury.

Let’s take a look back at when Kerry Wood came up with the Chicago Cubs in 1998. Wood came up with much hype and in his fifth start he struck out 20 batters in a one-hit shutout against the Houston Astros.

Wood missed the last month of the regular season with elbow problems, although he did pitch in the playoffs in a loss to the Atlanta Braves. Wood finished the year with a 13-6 record, 3.40 ERA and 233 strikeouts in 166 2/3 innings. 

Wood had a 12.6 strikeouts per nine innings in comparison to Strasburg’s 12.2 strikeouts per nine innings. Both had Jim Riggleman as their manager when their injuries occurred and when they were diagnosed. 

Wood missed the 1999 season when he had Tommy John Surgery in Spring Training of that year and came back in 2000 with mixed results yet Wood would shine from 2001-2003 where he seemed to have left the dreaded fact that he had undergone any such elbow surgery. 

Already out for the season, Strasburg is expected to miss the entire 2011 season as Tommy John Surgery takes 12-18 months to heal. Even then, Strasburg might not yet be ready for the start of regular season in 2012 and knowing how cautious the Nationals have been they will be even more cautious with him at this time around. 

If there’s any bright side to this is that Strasburg will be back and pitch to the hype, it might not be right away but he’ll get back to pitching like he did when he was a San Diego State, the minor leagues and with the Washington Nationals. 

Strasburg will also also be under control of the Washington Nationals for a season longer because of the injury and that’s a benefit to the Nationals if Strasburg can return with the same stuff he had prior to the injury. 

The question with Strasburg is whether he is in Kerry Wood’s shadow and goes through a series of injuries not related to his elbow such as when Wood has issues with his triceps, knee, finger and shoulder from 2004-2008. 

Stephen Strasburg had inflamed right shoulder in late July prior to a start against the Atlanta Braves, the first sign of warning that Strasburg was breaking down but after a stint on the 15-day disabled list Strasburg returned and struggled with a 5.27 ERA in 13 2/3 innings. 

Now the Nationals may have establish a Stephen Strasburg rule which would stat that if Strasburg gets injured and the team is not in contention that he must be shut down for the remainder of the season. The Nationals may have ultimately benefitted from getting Stephen Strasburg out there after the shoulder troubles because the injury happened now when they weren’t in contention and probably won’t be until 2012 when Strasburg is slated to arrive along with possibly Bryce Harper. 

Nevertheless, Stephen Strasburg will be back to his M.O. which is striking out batters with his stuff. It may not be quite like did before but it’ll be close enough to still call him National Treasure which is currently in possession of the Dr. James Andrews. Not worry fans, the National Treasure will be fixed and delivered in 2012 but for now you must wait until your moment to shine. 

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