Marlins to hire new manager, ask Jennings to return as GM

The Miami Marlins are hoping for a good season following a 2014 campaign, which saw them battle for the second NL wild card spot before a scary injury to star Giancarlo Stanton that ended the team’s run, eventually finishing with a 77-85 record. But instead of the Marlins manager moving back to the general manager’s office, he may be out of the organization entirely.

The latest rumors indicate Marlins’ owner Jeffrey Loria will once again make drastic changes to the team’s baseball operations, according to Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald. Sources also told Spencer the relationship between Loria and Jennings has become strained after the team’s struggles this season. That transition for Jennings has supposedly (and understandably) put a strain on their relationship, so maybe Jennings doesn’t feel the same loyalty he once did to his owner. Already, the Herald reports, Loria is reassigning, or firing, members of the scouting and player development staff. Every single one of their farm teams sucks too. “The system right now is not going to fill the short-term needs of the major-league club”. As troublesome as some things have been in Seattle over the years, anything is better than more time working under Loria, especially for someone who traded in their suit for dugout pajamas.

He has not been dealt the most fortunate hand this season. He has not been showing up at games and was noticeably absent for the annual, end-of-season team photo in Miami last week. “Jennings could return to the front office, but not necessarily as general manager”.

If Jennings doesn’t move back upstairs to the GM’s chair, one possible candidate to take over in that position is assistant general manager Michael Berger, who has assumed a more prominent role in the day-to-day roster decisions. But it also would be easy to see how certain candidates would not want to work for Loria, given his impulsive nature. Stanton took himself out after making three plate appearances. He allowed just two hits before having to come out because of a blister on his left middle finger.