Mike Lowell, Really?

More news on the management front today. First, Jeffrey Loria sort of denies the USA Today report saying the team will fire Larry Beinfest and replace him with Dan Jennings. "I never comment on any ridiculous and fabricated rumors," he told the Miami Herald. Loria did not say any else, though, making me wonder whether this is actually a denial. I think a change at the top of the baseball side is coming (based purely on a hunch and Loria's proclivity for firing people), so we probably have not heard the last of this story.

More interesting is a report from MLB.com's Joe Frisaro, who wrote last night, "The Marlins, in considering a potential managerial change, have talked about ex-Marlin Mike Lowell as an option." Obviously, no decision has been made on retaining or firing Ozzie Guillen, but the fact that Mike Lowell has been brought up is setting off my bullshit alarms like crazy.

Unlike yours truly, Jeffrey Loria thinks a manager can significantly increase a team's win total. But if he believes that, why bring in a guy with no managerial experience whatsoever? I love Mike Lowell (who doesn't?), but he does not strike me as the kind of managerial candidate Loria prefers. Most likely, this "discussion" will stay just that, but if the team hires Lowell, it will mean one of two things:

1. The team is making an effort to better market the team by making a former Marlin and hometown guy the figurehead.
2. Jeffrey Loria is out of ideas

For the record, I think Loria will balk at firing Guillen because he will have to pay him the remaining $9 million or so owed to him regardless, and Loria will probably (hopefully) prefer to spend the extra money required to get a new manager on guys who actually hit and throw baseballs. But he's made crazier moves than this (like trading two minor leaguers for Guillen!), so I guess anything is possible at the moment.