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Miami Marlins to Name Dan Jennings Manager

By Ehsan Kassim |

In a surprising move on Sunday, the Miami Marlins fired their manager Mike Redmond. This was not even 15-20 minutes after the team suffered a sweep at the hand of division rival Atlanta Braves. 

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With Red fired, the team needed to find a new “voice” to be their manager, according to President of Baseball Operations Michael Hill:

“Really, we’re just looking for a new voice,” president of baseball operations Michael Hill said. “There will be a press conference at 11 a.m., where we’ll introduce the new manager and keep moving forward.”

After going through a bunch of potential fits for the Miami Marlins manager gig on Twitter, with Jeff Conine and Dusty Baker making the most rounds, the team decided to stay in the organization and make an “outside the box” hiring.

As Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported late last night, General Manager Dan Jennings became the front-runner for the manager role, despite him not having managed a game in decades.

Jennings, whose been with the club since Loria bought the Marlins, served as the vice president of personnel from 2002-2014. In 2014, he was promoted to the General Manager role when Larry Beinfest was

scapegoated 

fired.

As the case was when Michael Hill and Dan Jennings took over as the “new” front office, nothing really changed for the team. The same will hold true now, as Jennings is not a new voice in the Marlins clubhouse, just one in a different role.

So why the move to Jennings as the manager? Well, what Loria wants, Loria gets. This from Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports:

So, why the heck would Jennings become the Marlins’ manager, on an interim basis or otherwise, when by any reasonable measure he is not qualified for the position?Because Loria wants him to.Loria has treated Jennings extremely well, awarding him, along with former GM Larry Beinfest, an eight-year contract through 2015 at the end the 2007 season. Jennings, in turn, is extremely loyal to Loria. My strong hunch is that Jennings is taking this job out of obligation, not because he considers it a particularly good idea.It is not a good idea. It is an idea that will elicit scorn throughout the industry, even though Jennings is one of its more popular members. It also is an idea that will invite scrutiny beyond even what I described Sunday night in my column about Loria and how he will need to answer to his fellow owners following his dismissal of Mike Redmond as manager.

Dan Jennings has been essentially as “yes man” for Jeffrey Loria for over 13 seasons now and it’s not sure whose idea was this for Jennings to become the manager. A hunch Rosenthal lays out is the obligation Jennings feels for Loria.

This is what Dan Jennings had to say about Loria a few years ago (h/t Tim Reynolds):

Is Jennings really on board with this move or is this a way of paying back Loria? It’s going to be hard to ever know.

My issue isn’t itself with Jennings being named the manager. Managers don’t have as much sway in a game as we’d like to think. They do get too much credit when the team wins and too much blame when the team loses.

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Hell, as a blogger, I root for Jennings to do well. His success could open up the door for many people who have never played or managed in the league for jobs.

My issue is rather with how the team handled the firing and how they got to Dan Jennings as their choice for manager. If you don’t think part of the reason for the move is to save Loria money for himself to not to have to pay another guy, when he’s already paying 3 guys that are no longer with the team, you’re fooling yourself.

Larry Beinfest, Ozzie Guillen, and Mike Redmond will now all be paid to not be with the team. I’ll do that for you too, Mr. Loria.

At 11 AM, the Miami Marlins will introduce Dan Jennings as their 7th manager in the past 6 years. Yes, 7th manager.

It should be an entertaining press conference, to say the least. Get your popcorn ready.

Next: Loria Continues to Drag Marlins Down

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