Marlins Way? It starts with Beinfest doing his job

With Mike Redmond's hiring,Larry Beinfest is in charge again

Dave Hyde Sun Sentinel Columnist

4:21 p.m. AKDT, November 2, 2012

MIAMI - Mike Redmond is the story today. But Larry Beinfest is the column. Redmond was introduced Friday as the Marlins new manager, and anyone who doesn't like him doesn't like sunshine, laughter, ice cream and strolls through the park.

Redmond is young. He's fresh. He's fun. He's known. He's respected. He's personable. He's expected to be the kind of manager who, as a Marlins player, kept teammates loose in the clubhouse and played a professional role on the field.

But the most important quality to Redmond's portfolio if you're a Marlins fan came Friday during the traditional donning of the new manager's new jersey. In that photo op, he was flanked by Beinfest, the President of Baseball Operations, and his assistant, Michael Hill.

For lovers of symbolism, the Marlins couldn't have been more direct in saying this was a baseball hire made by baseball people for baseball reasons. No headlines. No marketing involved.

This isn't to say team owner Jeffrey Loria has any issue with Redmond. He doesn't. Again, who doesn't like Redmond?

But the lesson of this past season was how a house divided against itself will finish last in the National League East. Ozzie Guillen was Loria's pick as manager. By the end, Guillen and Beinfest didn't talk. They privately feuded.

Guillen seems to have that affect on certain general managers. Or maybe Beinfest does on certain managers. Remember, Loria's other hand-picked hire in 2006 had trouble with Beinfest by the end, either.

Joe Girardi was named the National League's manager of the year a few days before he was fired by the Marlins. Girardi hasn't done too shabby since then as the New York Yankees manager.

So even as Friday's cameras pointed at Redmond, the bigger spotlight was on Beinfest. He's being given the keys to the franchise again. He's being challenged to raise the Titanic again.

His batting average looks as dismal as the Marlins players in the past couple of seasons. Just think of the two players he passed on last off-season: Pitcher Gio Gonzalez (2.89 ERA) and outfielder Yoenis Cespedes (.292, 23 home runs).

How much better would Guillen have managed with them in the lineup?

The bigger problem, at least as Beinfest describes it, is one of navigation and philosophy.

"We've kind of lost our Marlins Way,'' he said. "We have a Marlins way on how we bunt, how we go to first and third, how we do slide steps and pick-off moves. But I think the real Marlins Way was we always out-performed our challenges.

"Whatever our challenges were, whether it was playing in a football stadium or weather was a challenge or lack of fans, or lack of revenue for that matter, we always found a way to outperform our challenges."

That's just it, though. Beinfest has to come up with a Marlins Way 9.0. The past challenges aren't the new ones. The Marlins Way of competing with a restricted payroll were different than the Marlins Way with a new stadium.

Can he re-write the Marlins Way? And quickly?

"The challenges ahead aren't hard to define,'' Beinfest said. "They're black and white. Look at the statistics from 2012. They're not pretty.

"The offense has to improve. The defense has to improve. The pitching has to improve. Hitting in scoring position has to improve. We have to go out and fill those holes."

Beinfest filled one hole Friday. The issue isn't that Redmond is a better manager than Guillen as much as he's a better fit for Beinfest and the baseball people. That's how this played out. Again.

Both Girardi and Guillen wanted to run the team themselves and both lasted one year. Redmond, no doubt, will listen to Beinfest more in the manner Fredi Gonzalez once did.

Here's the bottom-line on Redmond's hiring: Loria did what was necessary. He took a step back. Beinfest got to pick his manager. Now the issue swings to whether Beinfest gets the job done.

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