Fredi Gonzalez Fired By Marlins Despite Four Seasons of Overachieving

The Marlins are again in the market for a new manager, but the question will be asked — who’s going to want that job?

Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez became ex-Marlins manager Wednesday when the team dismissed him from his duties. Gonzalez was in his fourth season as Marlins skipper.

His record with the Marlins was 276-279 and he twice led them to season records over .500.

Gonzalez is the latest manager to get the axe in what is becoming a disturbing trend in the Marlins’ front office.

Owner Jeffrey Loria, notorious for not spending money, is becoming notorious for firing seemingly good managers who have, for the most part, gotten the most out of their ballclubs.Take Gonzalez for instance. Last year, he led the Fish to a second-place finish in the NL East. They finished the year 12 games over .500 with an 87-75 record.

Take a look at the lineup Gonzalez sent out on to the field every night last season, and that record becomes even more impressive. Offensively, Gonzalez had Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, Jorge Cantu and not much else. Ramirez is obviously a special talent, but he is the exception on that roster.

From a pitching standpoint, the Marlins have Josh Johnson who has developed into one of the better young pitchers in the game, but again, after him, not much else. The Marlins used 27 different pitchers last year, an indication of a complete lack of consistency in their pitching staff.

The bottom line is, Gonzalez took a team with not much talent, and contended for a playoff spot.

This is isn’t the first time Loria has canned a manager who’s gotten a lot of production out of little talent. Yankees manager Joe Girardi used his success as Marlins manager — along with his Yankee background — to land the Yankees job.

Girardi was fired by the Marlins following his first season in Miami, 2006, just days before being named NL Manager of the Year for that season.

Early rumors indicate that Loria and Co. have their sights set on trying to lure ex-Mets manager Bobby Valentine into managing their team. Valentine, who has had managerial success in the past and is a close friend of Loria, won’t be a cheap hire.

And unfortunately for him, if the Marlins don’t start spending that type of money on players as well, Valentine will end up like the Marlins managers before him — out of a job.