Previous Position: Miami Marlins’ Third Base Coach

Age: 1/28/1964 (54)

MLB Coaching Experience: Florida Marlins Third Base Coach (1999-2001); Atlanta Braves Third Base Coach (2003-2006); Flordia Marlins Manager (2007-2010); Atlanta Braves Manager (2011-2016); Miami Marlins Third Base Coach (2017-2019)

Fredi Gonzalez has spent his entire coaching career bouncing between the Braves and the Marlins. Starting out as a minor league coach and working his way to the majors the old fashioned way. After eight years working in the Marlins minor leagues, he got the call in 1999 to join the big club. After spending a few years as the team’s third base coach he sought opportunities to manage again.

He joined the Braves organization and became a minor league manager again. After just one year he joined the Braves major league staff and would stay on until the Marlins came calling again.

in 2007 he became the manager of the Florida Marlins. Gonzalez had the unenviable task of having to follow up Joe Girardi who had just won the Manager of the Year award in 2006. Still, Gonzalez trucked ahead.

By the end of his tenure with the Marlins, he had the second-most wins of any manager in Marlins history at 276. His final record with the Marlins was 276-279. That includes two seasons where the Marlins finished with 84 and 87 wins. Both well over performing the team’s Pythagorean win-loss record.

He was fired partway through his fourth season with the team when the team was 34-36. It didn’t take long for Gonzalez to find another job. After legendary Braves manager Bobby Cox retired following the 2010 season the team hired Gonzalez to replace him.

Gonzalez found immediate success with the Braves winning 89, 94, and 96 games. Things fell off a cliff from there. The Braves lost a large chunk of their core to free agency and decided it was time to rebuild. Gonzalez was again fired partway through a season. In 2016 the Braves let Gonzalez go and replaced him with Brian Snitker.

Gonzalez isn’t often remembered as being a strong in-game tactician, but the stats would support such a claim. Over his decade as a manager, Gonzalez’s average bullpen ERA ranking was 11th in MLB.  In comparison, Joe Girardi, who is often considered a brilliant tactician, only had an average bullpen ERA ranking of 13th in the league.

Gonzalez also helped his teams beat their Pythagorean win-loss in six of his eight full seasons as a manager. Gonzalez also compiled a record of 210-168 or a .555 winning percentage in one-run games during his decade as a manager.

What They Say 

Many Braves players also voiced their displeasure at the firing of Gonzalez in 2016 including Freddie Freeman, A.J. Pierzynski, Nick Markakis, and Jeff Francoeur. The most telling quote is by Francoeur who in a quote to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution made it known that he thought the move was more about a reset for the franchise than Gonzalez ability as a manager:

“I think Fredi did a great job coming in to replace Bobby (Cox); who wanted to do that? That’s one of the toughest jobs there is. But at this point, I think they’d made their mind up obviously with going into a new stadium next year, that things would be different. And I think at this point there’s still 4 1/2 months left and hopefully, this is an opportunity for a new voice to come in and see if we can do something.”

Recommendation

You know what you’re getting when you hire Fredi Gonzalez. You’re getting a guy who has a reputation as a players manager who dealt with the tactical side of the game very well. He’s a guy who has interviewed manager jobs since his firing in 2016 but hasn’t found a top job again yet. He’s a guy who has stepped into difficult situations time and again during his career and succeeded.

Fredi Gonzalez is the kind of guy the team brings in if they’re looking for a mentor to Carlos Beltran.