This isn’t directly related to the Chicago Cubs, and is more in the schadenfreude vein (Marlinsfreude?), but it needed to be shared. Today, after a month of dancing around it, the Marlins have fired manager Ozzie Guillen.
You know, the guy they traded two prospects to get.
The guy they signed to a four-year, $10 million contract before the season.
The guy with a history of public embarrassments and difficult-to-corral-temperament.
The guy the Marlins were hoping would provide as much entertainment as accumen.
When he did the very things that the Marlins knew he would do – but the team didn’t win because of their improvident off-season signing decisions including trading for Guillen in the first place – he was fired.
Here’s the embarrassing quote on the embarrassing situation from the embarrassing front office:
“After careful consideration following the disappointment of the 2012 season, we decided to dismiss Ozzie,” Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest said in the team’s announcement. “Our managerial search begins immediately and our hope is that a new manager, along with roster improvements, will restore a winning culture.”
Ozzie, for all his foibles, wasn’t the problem. Heck, one terrible Fidel Castro comment aside, he wasn’t even the embarrassment. But front offices, in totum, rarely decide to fire themselves.
The only good thing the Marlins did all year was give Adam Greenberg an at-bat, and even that generated cries of “embarrassment” from some corners.
Now they’ve got to find a new manager, continue to shed ridiculous contracts, and figure some way to fill seats at a brand new ballpark that they couldn’t fill in its first year. My heart goes out to Marlins fans, because it’s hard to imagine an uglier situation.
(But, well, you know, I can imagine it … )