Marlins Replace Redmond with Dan Jennings as Manager
The Miami Marlins became the second team in Major League Baseball to fire their manager this season. On Sunday, the Marlins were two-hit by Atlanta Braves pitchers and following the game Mike Redmond, the Marlins manager was fired.
On Monday morning, Dan Jennings the general manager for the Marlins confirmed that he would be the new manager for the team.
Jennings will replace Redmond who Jeffrey Loria the team owner fired after the team dropped to 16-22 after losing 6-0 to the Braves. The Marlins also fired Rob Leary the team’s bench coach.
Jennings, who started with the Marlins back in 2002 moved up from his position of vice president of player personnel to GM following the 2013 season. He will be named the replacement for Redmond on Monday at a team news conference.
Jennings has been an evaluator of talent for the majority of his career. He was a scout with Seattle and Cincinnati, before taking the scouting director position with the Tampa Bay Rays in 1995.
He was responsible for selecting Carl Crawford, Josh Hamilton, Rocco Baldelli and James Shields amongst many other future players in the major leagues.
This will be Jennings’ first job as a manager at any level since the 1980s when he managed at Davidson High School in Alabama. He is a member of the Hall of Fame of Professional Baseball Scouts.
Michael Hill the baseball operations president for the Marlins said the team had not played to its capabilities and the organization is hopeful that a new voice in the dugout will motivate and spark the players.
Some players such as Steve Cishek a reliever said they felt bad for both Redmond and Leary. He said the fault was not theirs.
As the manager of the Marlins, Redmond finished at 155-207. In May of 2003, Loria sacked Jeff Torborg after just 38 games and replaced him with Jack McKeon who led the team to a turnaround that ended with the title in the World Series. However, the Marlins have not even returned to the postseason since that World Series win.
Miami had hopes this season of making the playoffs after signing Giancarlo Stanton the home run slugger to a record contract of $325 million. However, the bullpen has been poor and offensively the team has struggled aside from Dee Gordon who leads the league in batting average and Stanton.
The Marlins have lost 9 of their last 13 games overall and sit in fourth in the National League East.
Loria has been known to be impatient with his managers. Along with firing Torborg early in the season, Loria has also fired Fredi Gonzalez back in 2010, and Ozzie Guillen and Joe Girardi after just one season.
