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

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.

If the Marlins decide to stay in-house, they’ll have another name to consider as well, and one many people I’ve talked with feel might be the best choice, Marlins’ Class AAA-affiliate New Orleans Zephyrs pitching coach Scott Mitchell. While he shares the namesake of a former Dolphins quarterback, Mitchell is someone who’s stuck around Florida far longer than the other Mitchell ever did.

The Dolphins’ Mitchell, William Scott Mitchell on his birth certificate, a lefty backup to Dan Marino for three seasons before getting an opportunity to spell the injured Marino as a starter in 1993, parleyed his successful year into a free agent contract with the Detroit Lions in 1994. Unlike that short stint in South Florida, the Marlins’ Mitchell has been with the organization for eight long years.

He served as a pitching coach prior to the Zephyrs with the Marlins’ AA-affiliate Carolina Mudcats for three years, including 2008, when the staff finished second in the Southern League with a 3.86 ERA. He also worked in the PCL as a pitching coach for the Marlins’ affiliate Albuquerque squad in 2006.

A former pick of the Expos out of the University of the Pacific, Mitchell was in the Expos system for seven years before moving into coaching in 2002. So far he’s proven he’s a very capable pitching coach, capable of getting the most from the young pitchers he works with.

Two other names being mentioned are far more proven commodities, but I’m not sure either are someone the Marlins really want to be working with the young pitchers they’ll have on their staff next year. One is former Mets/Dodgers coach Dave Wallace, who worked in helping to develop Orel Hershisher, Pedro Martinez, and John Wetteland.

The other is former Braves coach Leo Mazzone, who knows Fredi Gonzalez from their days together in Atlanta under Bobby Cox. According to Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel , though, you can cross Leo off your list, as the Marlins supposedly don’t have him under consideration for the post.

While both Wallace and Mazzone are coaches who’ve proven their mettle, I’m of the opinion the Marlins should be looking for newer blood. Again, retreads simply aren’t my thing, and while both of these guys have had huge success in the majors, they’ve also shared another thing; failure.

If not, they’d still be working for their respective former clubs. Shuffling the same coaches from organization to organization is something I’ve always had a problem with, in all sports. It’s like these people have never heard the old definition of insanity.

You know the one: Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.

Simply put, the Marlins need new blood.

However, I’m just a lone voice in the wind, and not likely to be listened to. Instead, the Florida franchise will most likely choose from one of the following four candidates, who are all considered the frontrunners for the position.

The first is Bryan Price, who worked as the pitching coach for both the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks, and who has already confirmed he was contacted by the Marlins about the position and has stated he’s interested.

The second is Randy St. Claire, who only failed to join the southern migration of many of the Expos coaches when Jeffrey Loria traded in the Montreal franchise for the Fish because of family matters that forced him to stay behind. He has strong ties with Loria and the organizations' management, and even after seven years they would welcome him back into the fold. Currently being interviewed, there’s no hard word on the status of his talks with the Marlins.

The third would be veteran pitching coach Chuck Hernandez, who also has strong ties to members of the Marlins’ current front office. Dan Jennings and Mike Hill both worked with Hernandez during their days with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays when he was a minor-league pitching coach there. He also later had stints in the majors as a pitching coach for the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians.

The fourth candidate the Marlins are seriously considering is Rick Peterson. According to Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Peterson isn’t actually revealing whether the Marlins were one of the teams he’s spoken with about returning to baseball, but anyone can read between the lines and tell that his purposely vague reply is a sign he’s probably doing just that.

The former New York Mets and Oakland Athletics pitching coach has expressed a desire to work for the Fish though, and if he were able to do what he did in New York or Oakland in South Florida, even I wouldn’t mind young blood not getting the job. Peterson spent five years with the Mets (2003-08), and was able to mold them into the National League’s third best staff in terms of ERA in both 2005 (3.76) and 2006 (4.14).

Peterson made his name with the young A’s staff that included Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito, developing those star hurlers from 1999-03. In every single one of those seasons, his pitching staff finished in the top three in ERA in the American League.

Whatever the Marlins do, they’re likely to do it soon. I can’t imagine they wouldn’t want their new pitching coach to have some input in what the Marlins intend to do in the offseason—in terms of bringing in new arms and moving others up from the minors to give them a shot in spring training. If they go with Peterson, I can’t say I’ll be overly disappointed, but I would like to see a young guy like Scott Mitchell or Reid Cornelius get their shot.

Whoever they bring in, I’ll be wishing them nothing but success, since it’ll be my beloved Marlins who’ll be benefiting from their success. Whoever makes the decision better be throwing strikes on this one, not balls.

Update: Randy St. Clair was hired as the Marlins Pitching Coach.