The Marlins this morning announced that GM Dan Jennings will take over as manager after Mike Redmond was fired yesterday in "one of the more interesting and surprising managerial twists in years," according to Jon Heyman of CBSSPORTS.com. Jennings has served as Marlins GM since '13 and is a "well-respected longtime baseball executive," but this is a "shocking hire ... even by Marlins standards." Baseball GMs "just don't become managers," and this will be Jennings' first managerial job in the pro ranks (CBSSPORTS.com, 5/18). USA TODAY's Bob Nightengale notes while there have been "several recent hirings or managers who have no experience," they "all had extensive playing careers." By contrast, Jennings "has never played in a professional game." Marlins Assistant GM Mike Berger "will be promoted to assume Jennings' duties" (USATODAY.com, 5/18). In Ft. Lauderdale, Craig Davis notes early indications were that the next manager "would be 'outside the box,'" and this move "certainly meets that definition" (SUN-SENTINEL.com, 5/18). ESPN's Buster Olney said this is "either the most brilliant, inspired hiring in the history of baseball, or this is an unbelievable disaster in the making." Olney: "We’ve never seen anyone like Dan Jennings hired to do this job." ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick: “We tend to think logically on these things, but owners don’t think logically, and sometimes they do things that make no sense. Jeffrey Loria has shown that he has that capacity” ("Baseball Tonight," ESPN.com, 5/18). Also in Ft. Lauderdale, Dave Hyde writes Jennings is Marlins Owner Jeffrey Loria's "greatest experiment, for better or worse." Hyde: "There will be no middle ground here. This is a strange one in a brilliant-or-bust kind of way" (SUN-SENTINEL.com, 5/18). But ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian said, “He does have a good baseball background. He’s one of the best scouts we’ve ever seen, and he’s been a very good executive. He has a really good relationship with Jeffrey Loria. ... He’s going to become some sort of extension to the owner” (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 5/18).
LORIA UP TO HIS OLD TRICKS: FOXSPORTS.com's Ken Rosenthal wrote the Marlins firing Redmond and bench coach Rob Leary yesterday are just the latest examples of Loria’s "helter-skelter management style." Loria's actions are "dubious enough from a baseball perspective," but this time, fans, media and industry observers "will not be the only ones questioning" him. Loria is also "going to hear it from his fellow owners, who cannot be happy with the way he is running his club." The opening of Marlins Park in '12 was "supposed to end the franchise’s long run as a revenue-sharing recipient and transform it into a contributor." Instead, the Marlins "remain one of the largest recipients and -- ahem -- one of baseball’s most profitable franchises." Rosenthal: "If you were the owner of say, a high-revenue club such as the Yankees, Red Sox or Dodgers, wouldn’t you want answers?" It is Loria's team, and "to an extent he is free to run it however he chooses." But he also is "part of an industry, an industry that continues to supplement his revenue with annual contributions in the tens of millions." Rosenthal: "He has some explaining to do" (FOXSPORTS.com, 5/17). The SUN-SENTINEL's Hyde writes Jennings will be the Marlins' sixth manager since '10, and if it "doesn't reflect well on the Marlins' success or management style, it does negate one major criticism of Loria: That he's cheap." Loria now has Redmond ($2.5M per year), former manager Ozzie Guillen ($4M), former GM Larry Beinfest ($2M) and former C Jarrod Saltalamacchia ($7.5M) "on the payroll this season for doing nothing" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 5/19).
SAME OLD SONG AND DANCE? In West Palm Beach, Dave George writes Loria's "master plan is mangled," and again, the Marlins "start over with absolute confidence that they’ll get it right this time with new people, new momentum, new newness." George: "Whatever. Jeffrey Loria isn’t new, and neither is his mercurial management style" (PALM BEACH POST, 5/18). YAHOO SPORTS' Tim Brown wrote Loria "leads the league in impulsiveness." The Marlins are an organization that "reeks of chaos, and that has never set a course that could not be redrawn or entirely ignored or, as likely, overruled" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 5/17). USA TODAY's Nightengale writes Loria makes late Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner "appear as if he had the patience of Job" (USA TODAY, 5/18).
