Miami Marlins Morning Catch: Jeffrey Loria Speaks, Adds More Fuel to Manager Story

Good morning, Marlin Maniac readers and welcome to Morning Catch, the daily morning news and notes column from MarlinManiac.com.

The Miami Marlins are a mess right now. Not only on the field, but off of it as well. After dropping Tuesday’s game against the Philadelphia, the team dropped to 8 games below .500 at 3-11 and are 8 games back of the division leading New York Mets.

And if you thought the Marlins were an embarrassment on the field, you haven’t even been paying attention to the off the field issues. On Sunday, there was a report from the Miami Herald that manager Mike Redmond was on the hot seat, amidst the team getting off to a slow start. On Tuesday, owner Jeffery Loria met with Redmond in his office in Philadelphia, and still nothing is clear.

Speaking to the media, Loria was non-committal towards his manager, add-on to that a report that Loria was already doing homework on a potential replacement in Wally Backman, and you got a full-blown story that’s not going away anytime soon, unless the Marlins start to win.

Was told Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria last week at Citi Field quizzed people who know Wally Backman about his managerial readiness.
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) April 21, 2015

If you want to do research yourself on the guy Loria is intrigued by, just type his name on Google. The results are going to be less than satisfying and upsetting.

At this point, if Loria is not happy with Redmond, he should either fire him and put him out of his misery or tell the media Red is his manager and no move is coming. A few more games should not decide what he thinks of Red as a manager.

I have to think #Marlins players were watching for Loria's reaction to Redmond rumors. He sent a big signal with non-endorsement.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) April 22, 2015

Loria might think he's motivating team and manager with "win now'' talk. But #Marlins clubhouse is not a fun place right now.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) April 22, 2015

This is just Jeffery Loria being Jeffery Loria, again. It’s a mess and another reason this franchise is looked upon as a joke.

No, I am not a huge fan of Redmond as a manager, but he deserves better than this. As did Joe Girardi, Edwin Rodriguez, and Ozzie Guillen.

Red is respected around the league and more importantly by his players. Loria, not so much.

Marlins News from Around the Web:

Jeffrey Loria non-committal on Mike Redmond’s status as Marlins manager

Clark Spencer, Miami Herald

Jeffrey Loria met privately with Mike Redmond on Tuesday, after which he neither endorsed the manager nor indicated that his job is in jeopardy.

Instead, when asked to address speculation concerning Redmond, the Marlins’ owner responded: “I’ve got one thing to say. I’m not interested in palace intrigue. We’ve got to win games.”

The Miami Herald, citing sources, reported Monday that Loria is upset with the team’s poor start, and Redmond is on the hot seat, fueling speculation that if the team doesn’t win — and win soon — he could be out of a job. (Read More Here)

Marlins’ Jeff Loria on manager’s status: No interest in ‘palace intrigue’

Jerry Crasnick, ESPN

Amid speculation that Miami Marlins manager Mike Redmond’s job might be in jeopardy because of the team’s slow start, owner Jeffrey Loria declined the opportunity to issue a vote of confidence Tuesday.

After the Marlins were swept in a four-game series against the New York Mets over the weekend to fall to 3-10, the Miami Herald reported that the team has already begun discussing possible replacements for Redmond, who has a 142-195 record in two-plus seasons as Marlins manager.

Loria and general manager Dan Jennings met with Redmond in his office at Citizens Bank Park before Tuesday’s game against the Phillies. When asked to comment on Redmond’s job status, Loria stopped well short of giving an endorsement. (Read More Here)

Marlins option Jose Urena to Triple-A New Orleans, select Zephyrs’ Nick Masset

Christina De Nicola, Fox Sports Florida

The Miami Marlins made a couple of moves to alleviate an overtaxed bullpen prior to Tuesday’s opener in Philadelphia against the Phillies.

Miami optioned rookie right-hander Jose Urena to Triple-A New Orleans, while selecting the contract of right-handed reliever Nick Masset of the Zephyrs.

Urena, one of the organization’s top prospects, made two appearances over the course of a week during his first call-up. He tossed a scoreless frame in his debut on Tuesday against the Atlanta Braves and allowed three runs on three hits over two innings against the New York Mets on Saturday. (Read More Here)

Not worrying about Christian Yelich‘s slump

Michael Jong, Fishstripes

When a team is playing as poorly as the Miami Marlins have been, things tend to get magnified. It is easy to fall into the trap of getting concerned about players or teams when the overall struggles are so evident and it is the start of the year. For example, take a look at these two players:

Player 1, as the title probably suggests, is Christian Yelich in his first 11 games of the 2015 season. Player 2 is Christian Yelich, from games 41 to 51 last season. One run prompted articles such as this one from MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro, asking questions about how Yelich is working to beat his early season slump. The other run? Well, a Google search for “Christian Yelich” from May 20 to May 30 of 2014 reveals a lot of recaps of his walk-off base hit and not a lot about his recent struggles.

What does that mean? Are Yelich’s struggles meaningless, just a blip on the radar? Probably yes, maybe no. As you can see in the two samples, they are not exactly equivalent despite pretty similar batting lines. Yelich whiffed 13 times this year, which is a huge number even for a guy who strikes out more than 20 percent of the time in his career. For his part, he certainly feels bad about the situation. (Read More Here)