According to Buster Olney, this morning’s firing of Fredi Gonzalez wasn’t much of a surprise, if it was a surprise at all. Turns out the Marlins have been thinking about doing this for quite some time:
Olney: Firing Of Fredi Gonzalez A Long Time Coming
Gonzalez as manager of the Marlins has been a dead man walking since the end of last season, when folks in the team’s baseball operations had to talk owner Jeffrey Loria out of firing him, and then going into this season, Loria indicated he expected the low-budget Marlins to contend for a championship, a goal that was probably unrealistic given the lack of depth in the team’s roster at the Major League level.
Olney writes that Gonzalez was almost fired earlier in the season, but then the Hanley Ramirez incident took place, and the organization didn’t want to be seen as supporting its star player’s actions.
Gonzalez’s four Marlins teams had a total payrol of $136.6m. It’s hard to expect too much out of a manager given such a financial limitation, but at least it’s an explanation.
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