Fredi Gonzalez, Manager, Florida Marlins

December 30, 2006 @ 03:56:25

By Mitch Fortner
Edited by Ryan Dodson

Background

Just hours after dismissing National League Manager of the Year Joe Girardi, the Florida Marlins announced the hiring of new manager Fredi Gonzalez. Gonzalez, 42, spent the past four seasons as third base coach for the Atlanta Braves learning under manager Bobby Cox. Before his stint with the Braves, Gonzalez was a member of the Marlins organization in what included becoming the first minor league manager hired by the expansion Marlins in 1992. Seven of his nine years in the minors as a manager were spent with the Marlins organization, and he was the third base coach for the major league staff from 1999-2001.

The situation for Gonzalez couldn't be any better as he is taking over a young, overachieving ball club, one with aspirations of the playoffs in 2007. Despite manager Joe Girardi's successes last year, it's easy to see why the Marlins didn't hesitate to make the move to Gonzalez once the offseason began. At 42, Gonzalez is a young manager, which will help him relate to a Marlins squad filled with plenty of youth, and plenty of talent. In addition to his age, Gonzalez has spent the past four years learning from one of the best in the business, Braves manager Bobby Cox. His experiences with the Braves, as well as his time spent with the Marlins early on in his career, should help create a well rounded individual who can manage this highly talented, but still very young, Marlins team.

Development

The most difficult part of becoming manager for the Marlins will be making sure all of the talent on the team is utilized properly. While there is plenty of potential among the group of Marlins hitters, the focus for Gonzalez should be on the pitching staff. It is a group that includes four budding stars who all with the potential to become an ace. Dontrelle Willis, (12-12, 3.87 ERA, 160 strikeouts) Josh Johnson, (12-7, 3.10 ERA, 133 strikeouts) Scott Olsen (12-10, 4.04 ERA, 166 strikeouts) and Anibal Sanchez (10-3, 2.82 ERA, 72 strikeouts) have all displayed enough talent to be premier starters in the majors, and only one, Willis, will be older than 23 when the season begins. Last season each pitcher had his moments, but the brightest spot of the season came on Sept. 6 when the rookie Sanchez tossed a no-hitter against the Arizona Diamondbacks. With Sanchez listed as the fourth starter in the rotation, it shows just how much talent Gonzalez has to work with in his pitching staff. If he is able to help these players continue to improve, it will be a staff that rivals the staffs Cox used to produce in the 1990s.

Gonzalez has to deal with his first dilemma as Willis was arrested for drunken driving last week. The team has vehemently denied the ongoing trade rumors, but this may change their minds. He's going to make a lot of money, and he should be setting an example for his rotation-mates instead of making mistakes like this.

As for the hitters, there is no drop-off in talent. The Marlins boast the National League Rookie of the Year in shortstop and leadoff man Hanley Ramirez. The 23-year-old Ramirez hit .292 in 2006 with 17 home runs, 119 runs and 51 stolen bases; and is just the beginning in a lineup that has the right combination of speed and power for Gonzalez to work with. Something to keep an eye on is that Ramirez ended his Winter League stint early due to shoulder problems. He flew from Venezuela back to the States for an MRI. It doesn't appear serious. Some of the key hitters, aside from Ramirez, include second baseman Dan Uggla (.282, 27 homers, 90 RBI and 105 runs), third baseman Miguel Cabrera (.339, 26 homers, 114 RBI and 112 runs), and outfielder Josh Willingham (.277, 26 homers, 74 RBI and 62 runs.) With the amount of talent Gonzalez has to work with, the key for him will be managing the many personalities within the clubhouse, and properly developing all of his potential stars. If Gonzalez can keep the team levelheaded and avoid any clubhouse distractions, he could have a very successful beginning to his managerial career.  

Fantasy Outlook

With the entire team seemingly under the age of 25, it will be hard to gauge Gonzalez's true fantasy impact. Most of the players on this roster will improve upon their numbers just on playing experience alone, and this team as a whole should boast even better fantasy statistics than last years squad, which quietly became a fantasy gold mine. The key for Gonzalez will be to help last years rookies avoid any kind of sophomore slump, namely Ramirez, Uggla and Sanchez, and help the team to continue to improve every time they step on the field.

Summary

While it all seems peachy for Gonzalez stepping into the Florida clubhouse, this teams expectations will be much higher than those of a year ago, and it will be difficult to live up to that in the tough National League East. The Mets, Braves, Phillies and Nationals all have high expectations of their own and won't sleep on the Marlins this season, like they did a year ago. However, the Marlins have the talent, and with the proper guidance from Gonzalez, will at the very least be a team competing for a wild card spot.

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Mitch Fortner
Mitch Fortner has been a KFFL contributor since 2006.

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