Marlins fire manager for not winning with lowest payroll in MLB

The Marlins are perennially in the wild card chase even though they spend less money than any team in baseball (and even won the World Series in 2003). This got Joe Girardi fired after the 2006 season and he promptly won the World Series once he signed on to manage a team that spends money.

In 2008, in their second year under manager Fredi Gonzalez, the Marlins went 84-77. Last season, they went 87-75. This season, they are 34-36. Today, Gonzalez was fired.

In announcing the move, owner Jeffrey Loria said in a statement: "We believe we can do better and be better. We owe it to our fans to put this team in the best possible position to win. Everyone knows how I feel about winning."

Loria wants to win but he certainly doesn't want to pay for a winning team. Since 2007, Gonzalez's first season as manager, the Marlins have ranked 29th, 30th, 30th and 26th in team payroll. And in Girardi's one season (when he was named NL Manager of the Year), they were 30th. I'm sure Loria wants a medal for raising payroll out of the lowest in all of baseball this season (of course, he only did it because the MLBPA complained that they weren't putting revenue-sharing money back into the team) and claims this shows his committment to winning but the fact of the matter is that Girardi and now Gonzalez have done an outstanding job of keeping the Marlins within striking distance of the postseason despite the challenges that come with having such a low payroll.

This isn't the Pirates, whose managers have repeatedly trotted out pathetic ballclubs despite the low payrolls (haven't had a winning season since 1992, to remind you). This is a Florida team whose managers haven't used the low payroll as a crutch and who have consistently turned young players into overachievers and had them in the wild card race into the last weekend of the season.

I fully understand that the Marlins are in a terrible financial situation that cannot improve until their new ballpark opens. However, for Loria to claim that these managers are failing to win enough for his tastes is dishonest at best and asinine at the most realistic of levels. All these managers can do is get these teams to overachieve and hope that eventually they will catch lightning in a bottle and go on a spirited playoff run (like they did in 2003). To expect anything else is unfair. No manager is going to succeed under these standards.

Anyway, Gonzalez should land on his feet. Already it is being speculated that he will replace Bobby Cox in Atlanta after the season. As for the Marlins, no one is more pleased than Hanley Ramirez who can now go about his business of loafing for interim manager Edwin Rodriguez.