FanSided

Leadership Problems Spell Trouble for Miami Marlins

By Mark Laming |

Every winning season, every World Series run, every successful trade deadline starts in one place, the front office.

More from Marlins News

In today’s baseball, stability at the very pinnacle of the front office, the GM spot is as essential to your baseball team’s success as the players themselves. Having strong decision makers assembling your roster and making personnel decisions can be the difference between a 90-win season and a playoff berth, and a 60-win failure.

The 2015 Miami Marlins were not a model of stability.

There was no stability with the roster, players who were acquired in the winter were pawned off in July. The managers chair looked secure with Mike Redmond in charge, but, the Marlins decided to make the gutsy decision to bring Dan Jennings from the front office down into the dugout to try to manage the teams’ day-to-day success.

And after all the instability, all the uncertainty, all the misdirection the Marlins find themselves in another unstable situation with their front office.

A source of speculation since the Marlins season came to a crashing halt. Many people believe that Dan Jennings, who has vacated the managerial chair, will step back into the position of GM for the struggling Marlins and try to right the ship.

Next: Former Marlins in Postseason

Reports have stated that several members of the Marlins front office have grown close with embattled owner Jeffrey Loria, creating a potentially uncomfortable situation. Also, Jennings hasn’t given any information to indicate that he is going in one direction or another, and with the strange transition of coming back up to the front office, would he potentially step back into the GM role despite all the negativity?

The Marlins are also searching for a new manager, so inside of the clubhouse the team has no vocal leader. The managerial search is expected to be extensive but potentially candidates including Bo Porter, Phil Nevin, Larry Bowa, and Manny Acta have all been interviewed by the team.

And as always, the owners’ box is yet again a trouble spot for the Miami Marlins.

A man who once was almost as hated in Miami as Fidel Castro still holds the keys to your team. The buck stops with Jeffrey Loria, he’s the teams’ majority owner, whatever he says goes for better or worse whether in a positive light or a negative light.

The Miami Marlins are a turning point.

While the team is busy deciding if they’ll be spending to become a contender in the 2016 season, or if it’s time for another rebuild. The first thing that needs to be addressed is the leadership, from the top to the bottom, front to back. With stable leadership, the Marlins could go places but for now, all of the instability has and will kill this team.

Follow Marlin Maniac on Twitter @MarlinManiac for all your Miami Marlins news, opinion and analysis!

Next: Marlin Maniac RTD: Season Awards

More from Marlin Maniac

Home / Marlins News

Schedule