Marlins' Manager Rodriguez Calls It Quits
MIAMI (CBS4) – Less than 24 hours after a devastating loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, Florida Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez has resigned.
The Rays beat Florida 7-4 on Saturday night in St. Petersburg.
"Same questions. Same answers," Rodriguez said after the loss. "One thing for sure, those guys, they're giving it 100 percent. You see the intensity on the bench. They're pulling for each other. It's just not happening."
Ricky Nolasco (4-3) allowed five runs and eight hits over five innings. The right-hander was coming off a start last Monday against Arizona in which he gave up nine runs — five earned — in three innings of 12-9 loss.
"Ricky, he was up in the zone," Rodriguez said. "That's why he got hit. He's just struggling, like the whole team."
Rodriguez tweaked his lineup, having recently acquired Dewayne Wise hit first and dropping the slumping Hanley Ramirez from the top of the lineup to sixth.
Ramirez, who entered hitting just .201, had a single in two at-bats and walked twice.
Saturday's night loss was the ninth in a row for the Marlins.
Rodriguez was counting on a win against the Rays to boost them out of a June swoon, the Marlins are 1-17 in June. The Marlins (32-39) are in last place in the National League East.
"It's been extremely frustrating for everyone," Florida president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest said. "I think everyone here knows what is going on — the way we've played, the way we've performed. It's tough on everyone, especially him.
"He communicated with me early this morning that this was something he was thinking about, and when I got to the ballpark we accepted his resignation," said Beinfest.
Beinfest informed the players of Rodriguez's decision during a team meeting before Sunday's game.
Rodriguez was at the ballpark and talked with individual players in the manager's office. He didn't speak with reporters.
"It was surprising, I guess, but I think it's more shocking," Marlins infielder Wes Helms said. "Right now, nothing is going right for us. Right now, it's all negative with the Marlins, that's the way it is. It's tough to swallow, it really is. I do know he did everything he could. We didn't do our job as a team."
Rodriguez was in his first full season as the Marlins' manager. He became interim manager June 23 of last year after Fredi Gonzalez was fired. He was given the job permanently five days later, becoming the first Puerto Rican-born manager in major league history. Florida went 46-46 under Rodriguez, who opened the season as the Marlins' Triple-A manager in New Orleans.
Bench coach Brandon Hyde will lead Florida on Sunday.
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