23
2012
Guillen’s Done In Miami
An article by 
Ozzie Guillen has been fired after one year as manager of the last-place Miami Marlins, it was first reported by the Chicago Tribune. Guillen is still owed roughly $7million on a 3 year contract. It’s also being reported that bench coach Joey Cora has been fired as well.
Most expected this news after Guillen made remarks in April that appeared to be sensitive to Fidel Castro, and insensitive toward the families that escaped Cuba and found a home in the Miami area. Pair that with the great expectations and epic failure in Miami, and you need to blame somebody besides ownership right?
This is a very interesting development for the NL East, because the Marlins were predicted to be a division winner by several experts and non-experts, and now they find themselves without the Manager that was supposed to help transform this franchise.
Prior to Guillen being hired, there were thoughts that Bobby Valentine could be a good fit in Miami. Is that still a possibility despite Valentine’s recent failure in Boston? Could Miami follow teams like St. Louis and Chicago and look at a former player like Jeff Conine as a potential Manager?
Other Candidates could include Chip Hale, Wally Backman, Tony Pena, and Brad Ausmus.
Mets fans will want to keep a close eye on this managerial search. A hiring of Backman could be a real smack to Mets fans, and a hiring of Valentine could prove very interesting.
About the Author: Michael J. Branda
My time with MMO began in July of 2009 when I wrote a Fan Post defending Omar Minaya (before it was cool to do that.) I grew up a Mets fan with the mid 1980's teams. My favorite Met of all-time is (and was) Wally Backman. When it comes to sabermetrics versus old school thinking, I like to think I meet in the middle. I believe thinking of new ways to get answers is helpful, especially when the same way has not produced results. However, I think over-thinking certain situations can get you into trouble. I'm excited for the new regime, because I believe they have pieces in place to focus on several aspects of the Mets organization. I've waited this long for a World Series, waiting a few more years for another chance isn't going to kill me.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 30 | .583 | - |
| Phillies | 35 | 37 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Nationals | 34 | 36 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Mets | 27 | 40 | .403 | 12.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 48 | .314 | 19.0 |
Last updated: 06/19/2013
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This will be interesting to watch. I don’t think Wally is coming back anyway.
They hire Backman and I am getting divorced from this team. Enough is enough.
Sounds like you already have your bags packed one foot out the door.
Tough Love. I am tempted to join you but orange and blue is in my blood.
Matt – Wally’s not going anywhere until after he gets dental implants, which is currently an unplanned event.
Seriously, the ball club’s fortunes doe not rise and fall with Wally Backman, although he’ll probably be a very good manager. But, he’s certainly not the only one.
Who gives a shit if they hire Wally Blackman? There’s no reason for anybody to get upset over something like that. If he was actually a good candidate the mets would have picked him instead of Terry Collins.
But but, he’s fiery…and he yells at people..and he’s emotional. And he gives the press good soundbites.
How could that fail for the Marlins?
Lol yeah, I can just imagine Wally mouthing off Logan Morrison over a stupid twitter comment and end up completely embarrassing himself
“If he was actually a good candidate the Mets would have picked him instead of Terry Collins.”
LOL! Because the Mets always make the right moves!
Nice screen name.
True, but you know my feeling on Wally.
I do, and at this point after the last two years I am not sure I disagree that strongly anymore.
Remember, before the O’s hired him, I wanted Showalter badly. Still wish they had hired him and fired Jerry the Joker a year earlier.
I think I wanted Hurdle, remind me if that is correct? Lol
I liked Clint also. I did like the Buck idea, but he was off the market a year early, right?
I do of course know for sure I wanted Jerry gone well before he went.
hey so did I!
http://metsmerizedonline.com/2010/11/taking-a-leap-of-faith-for-hurdle-not-backman.html
Man, talk about 2nd half nose dives. What the heck happened with Hurdle’s Pirates this past season? I did not expect to see them end the season below .500.
Tremendous pressure in finally breaking the .500 plateau got to them IMO.
Lol autocorrect made it blackman
Loria is a crazy man. And Ozzie is laughing all the way to the bank cashing those checks for the next how many years?
Makes no never mind to me if Miami hires Wally.
Loria makes the Wilpons look like the best owners in comparison. The Marlins are a joke and will be until he sells them. He doesn’t care at all about the team, he just uses them to line his pockets. The Wilpons might not be great but you can genuinely tell they care about being involved in baseball. Jeff Loria just wants to screw over the city of Miami as much as he can. I don’t know how anyone could have thought the Marlins would have gone anywhere last year. I knew from the start that just throwing together a team as if it was a fantasy league would never work and they proved it.
If I was Wally or any manager for that matter I would steer far away from Loria. He shafted Joe then Freddi and now turning on Ozzie. If I was looking for a good place to manage it would not be there. However Acta may be the exception to the rule.
somebody that is trying to break into the club and not getting a “good” job will do it just to get a foot into the door.
Is anyone shocked by this? His goose was cooked the moment he opened his big mouth about Castro.
If Valentine becomes the next Marlins manager, it will only be a much bigger circus than it was this past season. Backman? From seeing him manage the Bisons this past season, don’t believe the hype.
Yeah that helped me confirm my opinion. Most of his moves in the series that I watched in Charlotte had the entire group of Mets fans saying What in the hell? And man did he bunt a lot.
The Fidel Castro comment was the beginning of an end for the Oz. The team didn’t mesh and clashing of closer Heath Bell and Ramirez wasn’t going to make the Marlins owners give Ozzie a second chance next year.
I understand the Met fans loyalty to Wally since he was part of the great Met teams in the 80s. However, if he was such a good managerial prospect, dont you think teams would be knocking on the door? How many interviews has he had? One that I know of…for the Mets job.
Even though I am not a Collins fan in the slightest, I will admit that I dont think anyone could have gotten different results with this Mets team. Between being injury bit and overall just not a terrific team, they got as much mileage as they could.
I think Wally or Geren is the Mets manager come 2014. Most likely Geren. There’s been zero talk of Terry getting an extension, and Geren is the safe choice if they stay in house.
I still don’t get why Teufel gets ignored.
Also don’t sleep on guys like Joe McEwing.
Isn’t Joe McEwing, Robin Ventura’s right hand man in Chi-town, I don’t seem him leaving there, but hey, ya never know.
hey Kay – Yes, he’s their 3B coach but he can’t stick with Ventura forever. McEwing was the Manager of the Year in Single A in 2009 and also managed the Charlotte Knights in 2011. So his goal is obviously to be a manager one day.
Being from the Charlotte area, the guys there loved him. Go figure.
Well its only been one year, and no, I don’t think it will be forever either. I really like Joe McEwing and I’d love to see him get his chance, but Miami scares me, I think he’d be make the scapegoat and wouldn’t want his rep ruined for future jobs.
There are no YouTube videos of Tuefel throwing bats on the field and going for a beer.
Yeah, people are in love with the overly loud big personality guys. In reality those guys usually tank before they ever get started.
I’ve heard players say that they really don’t care one way or another how a manager is as long as he is genuine and consistent. Demonstrated competence is way more important to them than being “fiery”.
That is what undid Lou Pinella at the end. He was about being “Lou Pinella loud and whacky guy” instead of “Lou Pinella successful manager”. He was about his brand and the players recognized it and he lost them. They didn’t want to be extras in his media circus.
Cue Bobby V which most of us said would be a disaster in Boston as well. The guy is and always was about being noticed.
If it eventually does become Tuefel as Collin’s replacement, I hope his managerial skills are superior to his 3B coaching skills. He was worse than Razor Shines.
I don’t see Geren managing here unless TC gets fired mid season. Even then, it will just be interim.
Good God and who said this wasn’t a circus? What a joke. I hope they do hire Wally, that would be even more hilarious.
While I don’t think Backman will be a good manager, I don’t wish actual ill on him. That is the worse job in the majors right now.
Yeah, I don’t wish ill will on him either. Just saying that it certainly would be entertaining.
I still like the idea of Joey Cora myself. I think he would have learned from Ozzie’s successes and failures. Heck bring in his brother as an assistant.