Midseason Form

If you put all your money on Spring Training Game 8 in the "Guess Ozzie Guillen's First Ejection" pool, you just won big. Guillen got thrown out of the Marlins' 5-3 loss to the Red Sox Monday after arguing a foul ball call with the first base umpire. Ozzie get worked up in a Spring Training game? Shocking, I know. 

The fuck're you looking at?

But wait, there's more! Not only did Ozzie get tossed for "protecting his players," as he put it, he also had some choice words for Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine:

Guillen did not see or hear Valentine's remarks, but asked how he would have reacted, Guillen made his feelings clear.

"I don't see it. I would have told him to go and [expletive] himself, too," said Guillen, with a laugh. "That's the way Ozzie Guillen is."

First of all, I LOVE Ozzie talking in the third person. He cannot do that enough. Secondly, it's been far too long since a Marlin had a beef with Bobby V (the last one I can remember is Cliff Floyd way back in 2001). Glad to see that tradition come back to the fore.

It is going to be so much fun to cover Ozzie this year. He's the only dude who can hold a candle to Jack McKeon as a lightning rod for awesome quotes.

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This Should Put All Bobby V Rumors To Rest Forever

In a puzzling move, former Mets manager Bobby Valentine was appointed director of public safety in Stamford, Connecticut, yesterday. I first learned of this from a tweet from Rob Iracane, and I assumed he was simply referring to some other guy named Bobby Valentine. I'm guessing he was hired for his experience in undercover work (see above photo). This is largely a volunteer gig for Valentine, who will remain an analyst with ESPN. But, he'll probably have a more amenable boss in Stamford mayor Michael Pavia than Jeffrey Loria, who attempted unsuccessfully to hire Valentine as Marlins manager following the firing of Fredi Gonzalez. Methinks Bobby made the right move.

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Him?

I could have sworn that Jeffrey Loria's power-trip tendencies scared him off for good, but Joe Capozzi wrote over the weekend that Bobby Valentine has once again emerged as a strong candidate for the Marlins' managerial position. As with earlier this summer, when Valentine was thisclose to taking the job after Fredi Gonzalez was fired, the major stumbling block appears to be Valentine's wish for some control over personnel decisions. Personally, I doubt Valentine would be given any kind of personnel control if hired, but that is merely a hunch. Anyway, I tried real hard to care about this story, but I think by now we all know my position on managers.

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Train Wreck Mode: Activated

Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, upset that none of the other kids on the playground want to play with him, told the team yesterday that interim manager Edwin Rodriguez will remain at the helm through the remainder of the season. "Edwin deserves a chance to see what he can do, and I want to give him a chance," Loria told the media without a hint of irony. He also added,"I haven't given up on the team, and neither have the players." To quote Matt Foley, la-de-fricking-da.

The decision came after talks with former Mets manager Bobby Valentine reached an impasse. Depending on which reports you believe, either Valentine grew weary of the Marlins' front office, or the front office got frustrated with Valentine's insistence of autonomy. Though we give Valentine a hard time around these parts, he's no fool. With the exception of whichever Steinbrenner spawn is running the Yankees these days, Loria has become the most overbearing owner in baseball, so if the money isn't right (and there's no reason to believe the Marlins would ever make a manager an offer he couldn't refuse), why bother?

If there is one silver lining to the whole episode (and I can only find one), at least Rodriguez, a baseball lifer who has been a player, scout, and minor league manager, will get a shot managing at the big league level. I'm relatively sure he won't be managing the team in 2011 (unless the team makes a miraculous recovery), but at least he'll get a cup of coffee.

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About Fredi

I was preparing to write an indignant post about the Marlins' firing of manager Fredi Gonzalez, but as the day went on, I felt more and more meh about the whole thing. To wit:

• We are talking about baseball, a sport in which a manager contributes maybe one or two wins a year out of 162 games. Firing a manager is kind of like firing the mail clerk at your office. Someone new will deliver the mail/lineup card to everyone/the umpire, but the contents of the mail/lineup card won't change.
• While firing Fredi does not really solve any of the Marlins' problems (namely the atrocious bullpen), I don't expect it will have much of a negative effect either. The team seemed to back him in the Hanley Ramirez dust-up last month, but that seems like ancient history at this point. Besides, I can't think that the team would go into shutdown mode just to spite the owner.
• And if you're feeling too sorry for Fredi, just remember: He is a protege of Bobby Cox, who just happens to be retiring this year. Fredi is already the front-runner for the Atlanta job. So instead of sweating it out with Jeffrey Loria (who I remind you is simply George Steinbrenner with less money), he'll probably get hired to manage a team that believes in things like paying for high-quality free agents. He could do worse.

So instead of giving my condolences, I'm going to go ahead and congratulate in advance the newest manager of the (division rival) Atlanta Braves, Fredi Gonzalez.

On a related note, he's coming:

UPDATE: Rob Neyer cuts through the bs:

... but if he's the reason for the Marlins underperforming their run differential by four wins this year, doesn't it follow that he was the reason for the Marlins outperforming their run differential by five wins last year?

Also

You have to give the Marlins their due; they make a lot of smart moves and play respectably every year despite their payroll. But I can't help wondering if management might need a little work on its people skills.

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Official Reminder

Lest you forgot that team owner Jeffrey Loria is kind of a megalomaniacal dude, Jon Heyman has something to share with you, in his list of MLB managers on the hot seat heading into the 2010 season:

2. Fredi Gonzalez, Marlins. Crazy as it seems, the Marlins seriously considered firing Gonzalez right after last season, when the $36 million team won 87 games. That just doesn't add up. But owner Jeffrey Loria, who believed that his team was playoff worthy, was in contact with Bobby Valentine. By the end, the belief was that Gonzalez had to win the final weekend to save himself, and he did that. Seems crazy. Even Valentine is believed to have advised Loria to keep his guy.

 Jeff Loria: George Steinbrenner with less money.

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Bring Back Bobby

The Nationals look ready to fire Manny Acta (because he's the problem), and speculation as to who his replacement will be is growing. Today, SI's Jon Heyman reports that among those being considered is former Mets manager and Groucho Marx enthusiast Bobby Valentine.

One of those candidates to replace Acta, according to National League sources, is Bobby Valentine, who is currently in his seventh season as manager of the Chiba Lotte Mariners in Japan.

No outside candidates have surfaced for Acta's job to date, but word is that interim GM Mike Rizzo will consider Valentine, who would seem on the surface to be the perfect fit for a young, rebuilding team with public relations and attendance issues.

I really really really really want to see this happen. Perhaps the Nats could also reunite him with former Mets GM Steve Phillips? It's not like things can get any worse, right? Right?

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