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.