Anyone care about the Marlins anymore? Did someone just raise their hand? Oh, the guy in the corner wearing an Ocean Conservancy Group T-shirt. Sorry, we mean the Florida Marlins baseball team, not the actual fish.
Anyway, the Marlins have hired Edwin Rodriguez to lead the team for at least another year.
Rodriguez took over after the team mysteriously fired manager Fredi González for reasons no one really still understands. Rodriguez had been the manager of the Marlin's AAA affiliate the New Orleans Zephyrs. The Marlins finished the season under .500 for the first time since 2007.
González has since been named the manager of the Atlanta Braves, a team that is known to spend actual money, where he'll probably end up winning a World Series or something.
Rodriguez meanwhile can drop the "interim" from his title, as he'll be back all of next year. He's been given a one-year contract. Usually new managers get at least two years, so the move is interesting.
Next season will be the Marlins' last in Sun Life Stadium. Starting in 2012 they'll reemerge in a fancy new ballpark built on the grave of the Orange Bowl as the "Miami Marlins." Unless Rodriguez has a break-out season, we wouldn't be surprised if they have a new manager by then, too.
