In a matter of a couple of weeks, the Marlins have driven their winning vehicle off course and are struggling to bring it back on the road as the team is in a tailspin with eight consecutive losses that includes back to back sweeps at home.
Enter knee-jerk reaction owner Jeffrey Loria, who couldn’t continue watching such losses from his home plate seat near the Marlins dugout.
The Marlins owner ordered the firing of hitting coach John Mallee Wednesday after a six-game skid that happened primarily because of Hanley Ramirez’s absence from the lineup. Of course, many would argue that Ramirez’s struggles are the main reason for Mallee’s firing and the skid gave Loria the ammunition for a move.
The Marlins replaced Mallee, an experienced coach, with one with no major league coaching experience—although he is a former major leaguer—in Eduardo Perez, now former analyst with ESPN’s Baseball Tonight.
But more to the point that Loria is craving for more famous faces amongst his already loaded staff that includes Hall of Famers Andre Dawson and Tony Perez and former Marlins manager Jack McKeon.
We can’t help but look back at last year’s attempts at such celebrity status for the managerial role.
He tried to woo his old pal Bobby Valentine into managing the Florida Marlins, twice. The first attempt came after the 2009 season which the team had its third best season in franchise history with an 87-75 record, but he was talked out of it by his front office. The second came after firing Fredi Gonzalez, but Loria failed to meet Valentine’s salary demands and perhaps possible control of the team.
With the Valentine bridge burned, the Marlins tried to target White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen into coming back to Miami, where he once was the third base coach when the team last won the World Series in 2003. But when the White Sox demanded Logan Morrison as compensation for negotiating with Guillen, that bridge all but collapsed.
So what’s behind Loria’s craving for a “celebrity” staff? Well, in a nutshell, it’s an attempt to get the Marlins more recognized amongst the fans to get them to come to the ballpark.
Since the team doesn’t enjoy spending big on players, it’s solution seems to be tied to hiring big names on the other side of the baseball spectrum.
Nevertheless, the players aren’t taking his latest move easy with Logan Morrison calling out Loria for firing Mallee.
“They felt Mallee had to go,” Morrison said. “I don’t feel that way. He’s there from day one. He got me to the big leagues. I was a 22nd rounder for a reason. I made the big leagues for a reason, and he was in between that time.”
Asked if he felt Loria was responsible for Mallee’s firing, Morrison told reporters, “Absolutely. 100 percent. You know it was. I’m sure he’ll tell you that, too.”
This isn’t a good way to go about business and Loria better not be thinking about firing Edwin Rodriguez during the season but that’s likely not to happen since he is on a one year leash, a leash many suspect will be cut in order to make way for a big name manager.
But instead of glamoring and gushing over a big-name manager, why doesn’t Loria make his fans happy and make a move that actually helps his team and not hurts it?
I already mentioned that the Marlins need to make a move to appease the fanbase that has seen a team with great potential falter because the team has made bad moves throughout the years.
Now, Loria needs to make own to appease his players too, to show them that he cares about the team just as much as he cares about getting baseball celebrities in his shiny new ballpark.
It’s a pretty simple PR move to make, trade for that star player if he becomes available, David Wright is one obvious example.
This Donald Trumpism just has to end, if you’re going to be a second coming of George Steinbrenner at least go after the big players and not the big managers or coaches.
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