Miami Marlins Hire GM Dan Jennings As Manager

The Miami Marlins fired Manager Mike Redmond on Sunday after a 6-0 loss to the Atlanta Braves which made their record 16-22. They felt it was time for a change and were quick to hire Redmond’s replacement. They hired General Manager Dan Jennings to be the manager for the rest of the year, becoming the fifth manager in six years.

Jennings never played baseball at the Major League level nor has he ever managed a baseball team on the field. He has been a baseball scout for many years.   He started as an associate scout with the Cincinnati Reds in 1986. He was then an area scout for the Seattle Mariners in 1988. He would stay with the Mariners until 1995. Jennings was hired by the Tampa Bay Rays as the team’s scouting director in 1995. During his time with the Rays, he helped them draft Josh Hamilton, Carl Crawford, James Shields, and Rocco Baldelli. Jennings accepted the job of Marlins VP of Player Personnel.   He held that job until being named the general manager in September of 2013.

The Marlins feel he is the right man for the job. He is the one who scouted the players on this ball club. According to ESPN Team President Michael Hill said, “We wanted a leader. We wanted a motivator. We wanted someone knowledgeable in the game. There’s no better person I can think of. There’s no one who knew our players better than DJ.”

Jennings was surprised that he was named as the manager saying, “There’s really an element of surprise to everybody here. It is out of the box, I will not deny that.”

The Marlins are hoping that past history will work its’ magic again. In 2003 the Marlins fired Jeff Torborg after 38 games and hired Jack McKeon. The Marlins ended that season 91-71. They went to the postseason as the Wild Card on their way to winning the World Series. The Marlins haven’t been to the playoffs since. Their best season after 2003 was in 2009 when they were 87-75. They missed the postseason by five games.

In order for the Marlins to improve under Manager Dan Jennings, their pitching has to be better. They have a combined ERA of 4.17. That ranks 19^th in baseball.   The Marlins won’t be successful this year if they continue to give up runs. That will make it harder on the offense to win baseball games.

What do you think of the move of the Marlins hiring Dan Jennings? What will make the Marlins a playoff team?