Miami Marlins: Don Mattingly at crossroads of his tenure
Miami Marlins Have A Tough Decision
After all, there are counterpoints. Bullpen decisions have been questioned at times throughout his tenure. All of his elite players enjoyed abnormally good health in 2017, and still the team went through an 11-22 collapse to close out the year. Moreover, all of his success as a manager came managing a largely finished product. He’s never done the “build a team” thing. It’s fair to wonder whether or not he’s the best fit as the teacher/coach model of manager required by a young rebuilding club.
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That said, I like Mattingly. And I have a long standing hatred across sports of putting coaches in a no-win situation, only to fire them for not winning. Miami Marlins fans that have read this far probably follow the Miami Dolphins as well, and caught that clever Cam Cameron reference at the top of the page. Mattingly has never channeled Cameron, never failed that spectacularly. He has been a consistent and consummate professional throughout his Marlins tenure. Even when new ownership completely changed the brief he signed on for. Firing him would be grossly unfair.
On the other hand, life isn’t fair. And it’s not like Mattingly would exactly be done a disservice. Because also unlike Cameron, Mattingly has that solid track record. If the Marlins fire him in October, he’s getting a job in October. Odds are, he’ll be the manager of the Mets or the Padres next season. If he manages Miami for all of 2019, he’ll have gotten to spend two years being paid millions of dollars to live in a tropical paradise with zero pressure to succeed. Not a bad gig.
A final consideration is who would be available to take his place. Some fans are already speculating Jorge Posada is being groomed. Perhaps Joe Maddon misses working in Florida, and decides to come back south if the Cubs are foolish enough to fire him.
Barring a clear upgrade- read Maddon- stability would seem the best course. If for no other reason than the fact Mattingly will become the franchise leader in games managed before his fourth season is even over. The Marlins should wait until they have exactly the right guy before making a change.
Even so, four losing seasons out of four is hard to spin. Even with the boatload of asterisks Mattingly defenders can affix to those years.
dark. Next. Marlins allergic to All Star catchers
Rightly or wrongly, and it is wrongly, seventy wins for the Miami Marlins in 2019 feels like the floor for Don Mattingly running the show come Opening Day 2020.