M-I-A in Miami: Marlins fire manager Mike Redmond

The Miami Marlins fired manager Mike Redmond and bench coach Rob Leary on Sunday following the Marlins’ 6-0 loss to the Atlanta Braves. The loss pushed the Marlins to 16-22 in 2015 with 10 losses in their last 14 games.

Redmond exits Miami with a record of 155-207 over the course of three years with the team. Miami’s struggles in a season in which some thought the team could compete in the NL East proved too much for Redmond, who was a catcher for the Marlins from 1998 to 2004. A replacement will be named on Monday.

Miami’s move marks the second firing in a still-young MLB season. The Milwaukee Brewers fired manager Ron Roenicke on May 3 and named Craig Counsell as his permanent replacement.

With Redmond now on his way out, who’s next in Miami? Here are five names that I believe should be considered for the vacancy:

Wally Backman, Las Vegas 51s manager – Backman is the odds-on favorite to land this job. Backman was rumored to be the frontrunner about a month ago when rumors began circulating that Redmond was on thin ice with Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria. The former second baseman is in the middle of his third season managing the New York Mets’ Triple-A affiliate and is one year removed from winning Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year. Overall, he has spent 18 seasons as a minor league manager and was briefly the Arizona Diamondbacks manager before he was fired for lying about his past indiscretions. There are reports saying that Loria has not reached out to Backman yet, but it seems a sure bet that it’s only a matter of time.

Dusty Baker, former Cincinnati Reds manager – Redmond had the disadvantage of being a first-time manager, which led some to think he could never lead the Marlins to relevancy in the National League. That fact makes it seem like a veteran manager may be the way to go for the Marlins, which is a spot-on description of Baker. The 65-year-old won 1,671 games in stints with the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds and won the 2002 pennant with the Giants. The Reds gambled by firing Baker after a 90-win season in 2013 and lost, as replacement Bryan Price has won just 94 games in the midst of his second season in Cincinnati. Baker doesn’t seem satisfied with retirement, and a job like Miami may be a match made in heaven for both sides.

Brett Butler, Marlins third base coach – Butler has a good chance of being named interim manager on Monday, which could parlay him into the full-time job. A 17-year MLB veteran, Butler spent eight seasons as a minor league manager, which included a Pacific Coast League championship in 2012. The Marlins are only six games behind the NL East-leading Washington Nationals with 124 games left to be played in the regular season; would the team be willing to experiment by replacing Redmond with someone who has never managed at the MLB level before?

Ron Washington, former Texas Rangers manager – Although the end of his run with the Rangers was ugly, Washington stands as the most successful manager in Texas history. Texas won at least 90 games from 2010 to 2013 and reached the World Series twice, falling to the Giants in 2010 and the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011. Washington had a few notable hiccups as Rangers manager–he admitted to using cocaine and resigned from the team after having an extra-marital affair–that may cause Loria to think twice about him. If he has taken the time off to straighten his personal life out, there’s no doubt that Washington is a person worth bringing into any organization.

Eduardo Pérez, ESPN analyst – Pérez is a candidate that ESPN’s Buster Olney thinks may come into play. Pérez played with seven different squads over the course of his 13-year MLB career and managed Leones de Ponce in Puerto Rico, Colombia in the World Baseball Classic and the Santurce Crabbers in the Puerto Rican Winter League. He has direct ties to the Marlins organization, which included serving as the team’s hitting coach under managers Edwin Rodriguez and Ozzie Guillén. Pérez has shown in his work with ESPN that he is a true baseball expert and a move back to coaching should be a natural transition for the 45-year-old.

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