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Time to Slide Armando Out of the 8th, Jeffrey Loria is the Puppet Master

This man should have 8th inning duties.

I know I know. Pummel me know with insults. I claimed weeks ago when Armando settled into his 8th inning role after being acquired from the Giants that the Marlins had one of the best back ends of the bullpen in the National League. It looks like the luster has worn off and Armando needs to be moved. It was known that the Marlins were shopping Armando towards the deadline so he probably wouldn’t have been with the club if Beinfest and company could have found any drunk GM’s to pick him up. After last nights blown lead, I have had it with settling for mediocrity. The time to let guys “find their groove” and “get back the confidence” has passed a long time ago. It’s time to win. Win now and win at all costs. That means not worrying about Benitez’s feelings and telling him he is being pulled from the 8th inning role. The problem? Well I think the problem was told in Fredi Gonzalez’s post game comments after last nights tough 4-3 loss. When asked about giving Armando his support, Fredi responded with the following…

Manager Fredi Gonzalez fell well short of giving Benitez unconditional support after the game. Asked if he has considered using Justin Miller in the eighth inning instead of Benitez, Gonzalez said: “I’ve been thinking about a lot of stuff.”

This quote speaks volumes of the state of the Marlins. It reminds me of the way the A’s were run in the book Moneyball. The FO calling the shots down to the manager. I suspect this is what is going on with the Fish. Fredi knows Armando is not his 8th inning guy but has no choice. You probably ask why? Armando is not being paid that much as the Giants picked up the majority of his contract when he was shipped over here. The front office has “their guys” and refuses to admit publicly that they made some horrible free agent acquisitions this offseason. Now obviously Loria and company are not going to call a press conference to announce that they as an organization, screwed up. But what they will not do is allow them to be shown up on the field by Fredi Gonzalez, who wants to win and win at all costs. Winning probably means moving someone who has handled the bullpen and pressure situations into a more important role like the 8th inning. This guy is Justin Miller. Over the last 30 days JM has pretty much been untouchable. Check out the comparisons of JM and Armando the Cabana Boy over the last 30 days…

Now take a look at the overall comparison for the year, giving you an idea of just how effective Justin Miller has been this season…

Now I’m no manager but I’m pretty sure that common sense says that Justin Miller should be your 8th inning guy. An inning that has proven to be more important for our bullpen than any other inning.

While we continue to throw away games because Loria and company are too stubborn to do the right thing, Justin Miller is being wasted in the 7th inning with no runners on base.

If Loria would just stop playing the role of Puppet Master and loosen the strings on Fredi, we might actually have 6-8 more wins this season.

I’m starting to think Loria requires a “big name” in the late innings because that’s what fans want to see. Hate to break the news to you Jeffrey, he wore out his welcome weeks ago and he isn’t putting anymore asses in the seats than Justin Miller would.

Do the right thing for the team, not your wallet.