Marlins Bringing Back Fredi Gonzalez? How Rare Is That?

So the biggest bit of Marlins news in the past week was the report that extensive talks have taken place between between the team and fired Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez about that third base coaching opening.

Yes, that Fredi Gonzalez. The one who managed the Marlins from 2007 to 2010.

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If this actually does come to pass, you can expect to see a much more thorough review of MLB employment records, as the annals of history are scoured to see just how weird this move is historically. Because let’s face it, it does sound odd, right? It was only six years ago that the team essentially told Gonzalez that the Marlins would be better off without him. Which was kind of messed up, and was pretty much the beginning of the end for Hanley Ramirez being anything but a petulant distraction. Despite protestations from both Gonzalez and the front office at the time, the manager-star relationship was definitely a factor; even if it wasn’t, it certainly sent the wrong message to the locker room.

On the other hand, it wasn’t nearly as messed up as the Braves firing him after the 2016 Atlanta Bad News Bears played just as poorly as the front office sincerely hoped that they would. It’s not often the Marlins get unanimously outshined in the unreasonable firing department, so kudos to Braves nation for that one.

It’s interesting to say the least. So just in case this doesn’t come to pass- he does apparently have other offers- I didn’t want to miss the chance to cover some basic history and what ifs. Besides, burners aren’t even lit on the Hot Stove season yet. What else are we going to talk about?

So here we go. Bringing back exes- does this happen a lot, or is it just a Marlins thing? Speaking of Marlins, is anyone on this roster going to have some issues remembering who’s in charge and who isn’t? Just on a manager to manager level, who actually has the better track record here?

Let’s dive in and take a look.