Bobby V: If this is a Major League Process I Hope I'm Never in the Process Again

[FishFF]

Poor guy goes to interview for a job and now he's the asshole.

[FishFanInPA]

I didnt say that. I'm just saying it's not like he's squeaky clean angelic.

[Bucklin12]

Now you may say those are small things and Steve Phillips is an idiot and blah blah blah...but honestly, i'd rather not deal with any of that.

I don't imagine our oppressive FO and Bobby V would work well together, but I suppose you're eventually going to deal with some disruptions with every manager, no matter the circumstance.

[FishFanInPA]

Girardi was so angelic. lol

[Namaste]

Oh, so you actually expected a serious response with that post?

OK, here goes.

No, he probably did not make those demands, as those are silly and oddly specific demands for a person uninvolved with the organization to make, save the last one, which they've shown they are willing to do by trading for Nick Johnson last year. If he was aware that we ran our season into the ground with Boner, as implied by your post, then he would have to be aware of last year's trade deadline move to acquire a very good offensive player.

bob we take your ultra homer stance on all things Marlins FO seriously so why would you not take my post seriously?

Look, at the end of the day we're doing the "bobbob is in the mood to argue" thing here and quite frankly I hate myself for getting sucked into it.

The Marlins FO obviously did not fire Fredi to make Edwin the manager for the remainder of the season (although I'm sure bob could somehow argue that as well) so evidently they did not have all their ducks in a row otherwise it would not have turned into the butt-fuck-a-thon that it did.

To even suggest that this is somehow more BobbyV's fault than it is the Marlins FO fault is like I said, being contrarian for the sake of being contrarian.

[Bobbob1313]

Who is suggesting that this is more Bobby Valentine's fault?

All I've done is offered a possible alternative to the "Jeffrey Loria is a fucking retarded asshole" theory.

I've said like 15 times that it's certainly possible that they dicked him around. But I don't think we have to accept that as the only possibility.
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bob we take your ultra homer stance on all things Marlins FO seriously so why would you not take my post seriously?

Also, the reason I would not take your post seriously is because it wasn't a serious post. Obviously Bobby Valentine did not ask those specific questions, and you weren't being serious in asking them. I'm not trying to be a snarky jerk, I just think it's pretty obvious you weren't being serious.

[Goodfella]

Steve Phillips is an idiot.

[Ramp]

“It’s very disturbing, confusing and it was insulting at times, but it’s over.”

Truly the quote from someone who went into the meeting guns-a-blazing throwing out insane demands and probably punched out an intern.

[wanks1212]

He was probably disturbed, confused, and insulted that intern-punching is frowned upon within the Marlins organization.

[MiamiHomer]

Samson on 790 right now.

[Bobbob1313]

What could have been disturbing about the process? Did Larry Beinfest and David Samson start butt fucking each other?

[Ramp]

Bob is anti-gay

[Ramp]

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Bobby Valentine thought he would be managing the Marlins by now. Instead, he gave them a parting shot on national television after being dropped from their search.

"If this is a major-league process, I hope I'm never in the process again,' Valentine said on ESPN's Baseball Tonight. "It's very disturbing, confusing and it was insulting at times, but it's over.'

The process might be over for Valentine, a regular commentator for ESPN who made his remarks Tuesday night. But the Marlins are left with an image problem.

"They didn't do their homework. They didn't do their due diligence on Bobby V. It looks like you got caught with your pants down a little bit,' said former New York Mets general manager Jim Duquette, who has a baseball show on satellite radio.

Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria had considered hiring Valentine since at least May 2009. But after clearing a spot for him last Wednesday by firing Fredi Gonzalez, the plan fell apart in less than a week.

The Marlins' fall-back strategy? They essentially called up a manager from Triple-A, Edwin Rodriguez.

"I think they wanted Bobby and got caught by surprise by some of the things that he wanted and decided, well, we're not quite ready to go down this road right now,' Duquette said.

Marlins President David Samson called the messy process "unavoidable" and disputed the notion that Valentine - a friend of Loria's for more than two decades - was ever a lock for the job.

"It just seemed that way to the media,' Samson said Wednesday on 790-AM.

There is a belief that Loria wanted Valentine - an experienced manager with extensive experience and a strong ego - but that the baseball-operations staff balked at his demands for control over personnel decisions.

There also is a belief that Valentine had second thoughts after taking a closer look at the Marlins.

"Whatever happened, they're not really saying. But clearly he was the guy they wanted and it went awry. The reasons it went awry are not clear,' Duquette said.

He said the Marlins compounded the problem by publicly stating, during their news conference to announce Gonzalez's firing, that Valentine was a candidate.

"At the least, they didn't do a good job of communicating it from a public-relations standpoint,' Duquette said. "At worse, it makes them look like bumbling idiots.

"Of course, they're not. They're smart guys. They don't make a lot of mistakes. They don't win and have success on a low payroll for no reason.'

Now the Marlins are being run on the field mostly by newcomers to the majors.

Three men who were minor league coordinators or coaches just eight days ago now hold full-time coaching positions: batting coach John Mallee, bench coach Brendan Hyde and first base coach Tarrick Brock.

The three holdovers from the opening day staff weren't with the big-league team last year: pitching coach Randy St. Claire, bullpen coach Reid Cornelius and third-base coach Joe Espada.

Samson said the Marlins "went with Edwin because we thought Edwin was the right person to manage. Any time you are going quickly through a process, obviously you tend to go with people you're more comfortable with and we were more comfortable with Edwin.'

Even Marlins players admitted the negative attention in the national media was a distraction.

"I don't think we were ever sitting here going, 'Man, I can't wait for Bobby,' ' said infielder Mike Lamb. "It was more like, 'Can we just name a manager and let's go?'

"I have family (in Miami) listening to talk radio crushing the (team) and then I have to answer to my wife. That's where the distraction lies.'

The turmoil might not be over. The Marlins know they need to win the majority of their games leading up to the All-Star break, or the front office might make roster changes by the July 31 trading deadline.

Retired player Eduardo Perez, who was on the ESPN2 broadcasting crew for Wednesday night's game against the Mets, said he thinks the Marlins will be fine. The challenge now, he said, is to convince the fans that the club can succeed without a high-profile manager like Valentine.

"I think the (fans) are going to be a little skeptical because of all the inconsistencies that have happened here,' Perez said. "Everybody thought it was going to be Bobby V."

Perez said Marlins players will play as hard for Rodriguez "as they would for any Hall of Fame manager. People like rooting for the underdog. Right now, he's the underdog.'

Joe Capozzi, Palm Beach Post

[Namaste]

How was the messy process "unavoidable"?

I'd love to hear Samson explain why.

[Bobbob1313]

He basically said that anytime you fire a manager in season and try to find a replacement quickly, it's messy.