The Florida Marlins have struggled this season, and Fredi Gonzalez could have been one of the many reasons why.
Florida has faced many problems. Some of the biggest involved the bullpen and the lack of offensive production.
Yet, I do not think any of these issues have to do with Gonzalez and his managing.
The rumors of Gonzalez getting canned have floated around since last year, once Bobby Valentine started looking for a job. I took this as a great surprise since Fredi, with almost nothing, nearly took this team to the playoffs.
Gonzalez has been fantastic for the Marlins, taking control and helping this young team through consistent growing pains. Yet, as Marlins fans, we have to ask ourselves the question.
Is the change necessary?
From my point of view, the change will do some good. If the Marlins land Bobby Valentine, they could possibly change things in a positive way. Taking new approaches to situations could pull this Florida team in another direction.
A similar situation happened in 2003.
Jeff Torborg led Florida to a terrible start. Then along came Jack McKeon, who gave the Marlins new life. He also guided them to the playoffs, where Florida eventually beat the Yankees to capture a World Series title.
I don’t want to say firing Gonzalez will be all fine and dandy. We won’t know the outcome for a few weeks. But from my point of view, firing Gonzalez wasn’t necessary.
What was—and still is—necessary is getting the Marlins decent bullpen help.
The other thing that grinds my gears is that if Jeffrey Loria invested more money into this team, we would not be having any managerial issues. Instead, we would probably be the best team in the league.
But since we are stuck with the worst owner in baseball, they shouldn’t be pinning all the blame on Gonzalez, one of the finest managers in the National League.
To answer the question of this article, the Marlins are not making a mistake. Instead, they are heading in a different direction, and I’m sure Fredi understands this.
Although this action isn’t necessary, it will hopefully give this Marlins team new life, and the opportunity to make wrongs right.
Gonzalez won’t take this so hard.
After all, he has a job in Atlanta waiting on his doorstep.
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