Who else thinks Joe Girardi was unjustifiably fired by the Marlins?

Question

He turned that team around with almost no star players & look how thry thank him. It's no wonder why almost nobody cares about this team.

Answer 1

Jeffrey Loria proves again, that he's one of the worst owners in professional sports.

He ran the Montreal Expos into the ground... and then got a sweetheart deal from his buddy, Bud Selig... that allowed him to sell the Expos to Major League Baseball... and buy the Marlins at a cut rate price.

Now hes holding another city hostage with his demands for a subsidized stadium... and fielding another team of rookies.

Girardi made them competetive, taught them, kept them playing good ball... and lost his job for telling Loria to shut the f*ck up.

Answer 2

"Justifiably" and "unjustifiably" are relative terms in professional baseball. There is so much money -- and so many egos -- on the line.

I do agree that, on its face, the Marlins firing of Joe Girardi is ridiculous. He managed a team comprised largely of rookies from 20 games under to wild card contention, for God's sake!

Then again, he may have ended up hurting the Marlins in the long-term. Word is that the organization wanted to use 2006 to evaluate their rookies and move forward from there.

Now Joe obviously did play a lot of rookies (he had little other choice), but he still relied heavily on what few seasoned/veteran players the Marlins had (the catcher, for instance) and that probably angered management. Plus, who knows what else he did (besides the on-field shouting incident) that rubbed the corporate suits the wrong way.

When all is said and done, the Marlins ownership will get their wish. Next year they'll have a rookie manager (again) and they'll still largely have a rookie team.

I'm a Cubs fan. So I certainly won't be unhappy if Joe ends up with us next year. I'm not totally convinced he's the BEST man fo the job, and I've heard rumors that Lou Pinella has already more or less been offered the position.

But it seems very likely Girardi will come to Chicago. The new Cubs president is a marketing guy, and there's no better marketing angle in the world than welcoming back our prodigal son to the fold to lead us to what I hope and pray is a winning season in 2007.

Good question.

Answer 3

Honestly, I don't think he was unjustifiably fired. Put yourself in Marlins owner Jeffery Loria's shoes. Girardi didn't get along with him or his front office management. Now think of every other workplace in the country. If you are a lower person on the corporate ladder (and yes, the coach is just a couple steps up from the bottom rung), and you have arguments with the CEO of the company, and you don't get along with the management of the company, what's going to happen to you? You're going to get fired, that's what - regardless of how good you are at your job. It doesn't matter who's "at fault," because Loria writes the checks and Loria makes the rules. (No accounting for the CEO's intelligence quotient, however...)

Answer 4

Valid point....its not like Girardi was eating up tons of salary, and he did way better than anyone expected. He basically took a AAA team and had them contending for a playoff spot....I think the owner is like the owner of the Indians on Major League....wants the team to keep loosing so they can move the Marlins to a new city.

Answer 5

I think it may have been for the better, at least for Girardi. He is definitely management material, but needs a team that he can truly be a part of. If the owner or general manager make it hard to do your job, you're better off moving on. Joe will land on his feet in another town. And succeed. Having been fired will not slow him down at all. I'll root for him, wherever he goes!

Answer 6

It will suck for the marlins cause they will not get a manager like him again, and hopefully Girardi will find a good team that will appreciate his hard work.

Answer 7

Ego clash with the owner. It seems as if Girardi was trying to make peace, but the boss's ego was wounded and he became warped. He fired a good manager because he couldn't accept his own failings.

Answer 8

You're right but it's all about who holds the power. An owner is never going to let an employee tell him that he's wrong even if the owner asks like an azz. Look at it this way, it's Florida's loss and someone else's gain, whoever that may be.

Answer 9

He pissed off the owner not a good thing for job security. He did a good job managing that Triple A team, but if the man who signs the checks is not in your corner its all over

Answer 10

Me! Well we all know Loria is a moron anyway. However it's probably a blessing in disguise for him, I see better things coming! That's why there are echoes every time I am at that stadium, rooting for my Mets when they are in town as is everyone else, hehehehe!