Florida Marlins' Front Office Must Throw Strikes in Pitching Coach Hire

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

When the Marlins let pitching coach Mark Wiley go along with first base/infield coach Andy Fox I wasn’t all that concerned (and if you’re concerned about either of them, they were offered positions elsewhere in the Marlins organization, so they'll be fine). While I liked Wiley, I felt the results of his work were mixed at best. As for Fox, well, his position isn’t even a huge concern in my view.

Now, for the purists who’ll want my head for making that remark, let me just appease you by saying that I understand the first base/infield coaching job is an important one to the team, as are all the coaching positions. However, in comparison to the pitching coach, I think anyone would agree that Fox’s former position simply doesn’t have the possibility of making the same impact on the team and their success.

Also, it’s not as if Fox was doing a stellar job at that position either. Emilio Bonifacio’s play in the field at third base early in the year was atrocious, and while I won’t say that’s Andy’s fault, I also will say he obviously wasn’t a good enough infield coach to improve it in any way.

Defense was one of the keys the Marlins were supposedly focusing on at the beginning of the year because Beinfest had demanded an improvement, and if that’s so, then I’d say Fox’s results in that area of the infield were mixed at best.

Wiley and Fox were both relieved of their past duties on the same day the Marlins decided to keep Fredi Gonzalez as their manager. They also retained the services of bench coach Carlos Tosca, hitting coach Jim Presley, and bullpen coordinator Pierre Arsenault. Although Florida made offers to Steve Foster and Bo Porter, apparently the two sides couldn’t come to terms on a contract.

The controversy surrounding the fiasco with Fredi—where Loria actually contemplated letting Gonzo go because of the Fish not making the postseason; and even worse, thinking about bringing in Bobby Valentine—is fodder for another article for another day.

What I will touch on in this piece, though, is what the Marlins are considering in regard to the pitching coach hire.

Before I begin, though, let me point out that I don’t think Wiley’s service to the team was horrid. Ricky Nolasco was coming off an incredible season, but one in which his innings had increased dramatically over the previous year, and it’s not a real surprise in hindsight that he would have some problems.

To his credit, his demotion to the minors seems to have solved his problems, and his last outing of the year gives Florida fans hopes that he and Josh Johnson can be the one-two punch very few other franchises will have next year.

Also, Andrew Miller never figured anything out during the year—even though most were hopeful the changes he’d made to his delivery in spring training would transform him into the big league workhorse his talent has led everyone to believe he’ll eventually be. Instead, he struggled as much as a young pitcher can, and is hopeful winter ball may help him get back into form.

I can’t really blame Wiley for Chris Volstad’s troubles either. Volstad had started out strong during the beginning of the year and that was testament to Wiley’s abilities. The reason for his late-season problems had to do with his inability to get his sinker to work, which can be directly attributed to the fact he’d pitched a career-high 175 innings the year before.

Beyond that, Anibal Sanchez was recovering from shoulder problems and wasn’t even expected to contribute much to the team. What he did provide could even be attributed to the work of Wiley. So, all in all I’d have to say Wiley wasn’t the worst guy at his job. Nonetheless, the Marlins decided they want to go a different route—and who am I to argue with them? They get paid to make those decisions; I don’t.

Some of the names I’ve heard floating around to replace Wiley don’t even make me cringe, while others have me scratching my head. Rick Kranitz? Are you kidding me? Please, please, whoever’s making this decision in the final analysis, please don’t bring in this guy. I know, I know he was named Baseball America’s 2006 Major League Coach of the Year as a pitching coach for our beloved Florida Marlins, but I am not one for hiring retreads.

There’s a reason he was let go, and I’d rather see someone else get a shot. If there’s one thing that always bugged me about Billy Martin constantly being rehired by George Steinbrenner and the Yankees, it was that, beyond the fact Martin was never an awesome manager, why would George hire someone he’d once fired? If he wasn’t good enough once, I’m of the belief he never will be.

Another name that’s floating around is Reid Cornelius, who did a great job at the Marlins’ AA-affiliate Jacksonville Suns this year, helping them to their Southern League-best regular-season record of 47-23, and more importantly, their fourth Southern League Championship, shepherding such pitchers as great Marlins’ closer prospect Matt Peterson. He’s also worked well in the past for the Marlins’ Class A Advanced-affiliate Jupiter Hammerheads.

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