Jon Heyman of CBS Sports and beat reporter Joe Frisaro of MLB.com are reporting that the Miami Marlins will name current general manager, Dan Jennings, as the team’s new manager to replace Mike Redmond.
The announcement will be made official during a press conference scheduled for 11AM this morning.
The move comes as a shock because Jennings has never managed or coached in the majors or minors and it was believed Miami would bring in someone more experienced to guide the team.
Jennings first joined the Marlins front office in 2002 and eventually worked his way up to general manager in 2013.
Owner Jeffrey Loria had high praise for Jennings.
“Dan has a keen and intimate knowledge of the game especially on the field,” Loria told reporters on Monday morning.
“What many don’t know about Dan is that he’s managed and guided his fantasy baseball team to championships in three of the last five seasons. Now he gets the opportunity to do it with a real team.”
Okay, so I made that last part up.
May 17, 10:00 PM
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports is reporting that despite speculation that Wally Backman could emerge as a candidate to replace ousted Marlins manager Mike Redmond, the Mets have not been contacted for permission to speak to him.
Meanwhile Marlins beat reporter Clark Spencer, who first broke the news that Redmond was on the verge of being fired, hears third base coach Brett Butler is the favorite to be named interim manager on Monday.
May 17, 4:00 PM
After getting swept by the Atlanta Braves and nearly no-hit today by Shelby Miller, the Miami Marlins fired manager Mike Redmond according to MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro.
Bench coach Rob Leary was ousted as well following Sunday’s 6-0 loss to Atlanta.
With the Marlins losers in 10 of their last 14 games, the writing was on the wall for Redmond. There have been rumblings about it for weeks that even included rumors that Wally Backman was being eyed as Redmond’s replacement.
Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria “quizzed” people at Citi Field last month about Wally Backman’s readiness to be a major league manager.
The Marlins will announce a new manager in a press conference scheduled for 11:00 AM on Monday.
