Jeffrey Loria is a weird baseball man, and he continues to do weird baseball things.
The Miami Marlins were a trendy postseason pick coming into this season. They made waves in the offseason by handing out the largest contract in professional sports history to Giancarlo Stanton, and dealing for players such as Dee Gordon, Mat Latos and Martin Prado—moves all considered fairly shocking due to Loria’s long history as a frugal, shitty owner.
But the Marlins stumbled out of the gates to a 3-11 start, and manager Mike Redmond was quickly put on the hot seat. Amidst reports of an imminent firing, Loria wouldn’t give Redmond a vote of confidence. The Marlins would rebound and get back to .500 soon after the early season swoon. Loria capitalized on the success by declaring Redmond’s job safe in late April, one week after rumors of Redmond’s job (in)security began circulating.
On Sunday, after Miami came within one out of being no-hit, Loria quickly went back on his word. Loria fired Redmond and bench coach Rob Leary minutes after a 6-0 loss to the Braves. The team will announce a new manager tomorrow morning, according to MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro.
It’s merely the latest in Loria’s erratic history with managers. He hired an 80-year-old Jack McKeon as an interim manager in 2011. He fired Joe Girardi after one season—a season in which he won manager of the year. Ozzie Guillen also lasted only one year, and the team is still paying off his contract. Redmond ends up lasting just over two seasons.
Loria, who fell ass-backwards into a World Series title in 2003, will outlast whichever sucker takes the job next. And as long as Loria is in charge—he doesn’t seem intent on selling any time soon—the Marlins will continue to make all the wrong headlines.
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