Sep/061
REPORT: Fredi Gonzalez Will Be Next Marlins Manager
With the Marlins all but eliminated from playoff contention, the only drama remaining for the club concerns the fate of manager Joe Girardi.
Not whether he will be fired, but when.
“I don’t think anything would shock me at this point,” said a person close to the situation. “Either way, it’s all going to shake out in the next six days.”
That is how many days remain in the season for Florida, which faces Cincinnati tonight to begin a six-game homestand against the Reds and Philadelphia.
Girardi, whose relationship with owner Jeffrey Loria has soured, has said he won’t resign. Loria refused to say Monday whether he would have Girardi complete the season, although that is likely.
Dismissing him before the finale Sunday would draw added attention to the ouster of a manager who kept a rookie-laden team with a tiny payroll in playoff contention for much of the season.
“It’s an amazing story,” said Chicago Cubs center fielder Juan Pierre, who was traded from the Marlins during the off-season as part of a payroll purge. “He has a chance to be Manager of the Year and get fired. That’s hard to believe.”
Firing Girardi before the Marlins’ final out also could leave the club without a full coaching staff. Bench coach Gary Tuck, pitching coach Rick Kranitz and third-base coach Bobby Meacham have personal loyalties to Girardi and likely would walk away with him or be fired along with him.
Girardi is believed to be owed $1.5 million for the remaining two years of his contract, but the Marlins might be off the hook if he took another managing job.
If he were not fired quickly but got an offer from another team, the Marlins would be able to seek compensation to let him go. Before the 2003 season, the Seattle Mariners got outfielder Randy Winn from Tampa Bay in exchange for letting the Devil Rays sign manager Lou Piniella.
The most likely replacement for Girardi is believed to be Braves third-base coach Fredi Gonzalez, a native of Cuba who coached in the Marlins’ system for 12 years. One National League club executive said Gonzalez would get the job as soon as Girardi left.
Gonzalez was the choice of Marlins General Manager Larry Beinfest last October, when he sought a replacement for Jack McKeon, but Loria wanted Girardi.
People close to Gonzalez said they don’t believe he would be scared off because Marlins executives and Girardi were unable to co-exist.
“Fredi would be good in any clubhouse,” said Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee, who was a Marlins coach with Gonzalez. “He’s a good communicator. He’s fun. He likes to keep guys loose. He had a good relationship with all the Marlins guys.”
Gonzalez, 42, wouldn’t comment on his prospects. Privately, he has told people close to the Braves organization that he would like to one day manage in Florida, where his parents live and where he coached alongside former manager John Boles from 1999 through 2002.
After Gonzalez left the Marlins, he led Atlanta’s Class AAA club in Richmond, Va., to a 75-67 record in 2002 before joining the Braves as third-base coach under manager Bobby Cox.
“The years he spent with Bolesy were very, very good,” said Dubee, who also noted the value of working for Cox. “He spends a lot of time talking to Bobby and I’m sure picking Bobby’s brain. Fredi will be very prepared.”
Gonzalez said he has tried to emulate the way Cox deals each day with players, coaches, the media and others.
“You’d have no idea if we’re up by 50 games or down by 50 games,” Gonzalez said in an interview with Morris News Service. “That’s the one way I’d love to be like, the same guy every day.”
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