Some experiments just don’t work. New Coke, Herman Cain’s presidential campaign, David Hasselhoff’s music career, Magic Johnson as a talk show host. Apparently, Dan Jennings as manager of the Miami Marlins was doomed to fall under that category as well.
On Tuesday, the Marlins officially pulled the plug on Jennings as their skipper, announcing that the 55-year-old would not be returning to their dugout in 2016, according to Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. Jennings also serves as the general manager of the club and was asked to continue in that role, but it is unclear at this point if he will accept.
The #Marlins announce Dan Jennings will not be back as manager. Team search will be extensive, exhaustive.
— Joe Frisaro (@JoeFrisaro) October 6, 2015
David Samson says Dan Jennings was asked to return as GM. #Marlins
— Joe Frisaro (@JoeFrisaro) October 6, 2015
Jennings became GM of the Marlins in 2013 and ascended to the additional role of manager after the team fired Mike Redmond in May 2015. It was a move that puzzled many at the time as Jennings had no previous managerial experience on top of the lack of precedent for hastily throwing a general manager into the dugout. He did little to silence the naysayers in the 129 games he managed this season, going 55-69 as the Marlins finished a distant third in the NL East at 20 games under .500 (71-91).
It’s near-impossible for a single person in any professional sport to do an effective job serving in both roles so it looks like the Marlins are making the right call here moving forward. They can likely be expected to look for a candidate with a deeper managerial background as well as full focus on the position to manage the club in 2016 and beyond.
