The Miami Marlins announced the firing of manager Ozzie Guillen on Tuesday, and perhaps nobody was more upset over the news than pitcher Ricky Nolasco.
Nolasco, who has been with the franchise since 2006 and went 12-13 during the season, tweeted in protest as soon as the move was announced:
By about 30 minutes later, Nolasco had thought better of the tweet and pulled it down. We all know teams don’t like it when players question the front office moves, so he was probably told to take it down, or did it on his own once he calmed down.
Nolasco’s shock aside, this move was inevitable. Guillen was lucky he wasn’t canned in April after publicly expressing his support of Fidel Castro. He was given a chance to turn around what started off as a disappointing season, and he didn’t. The team finished 69-93 — last in the NL East — after spending millions to bring in free agents in anticipation of a move into their new stadium.
Between his bouts with Heath Bell, Bryce Harper, and the team’s owner, Guillen became more of a distraction than anything else.
It’s not a surprise that the Marlins fired him, but it is a surprise they cut him loose despite owing him over $7 million over the next three years. That shows how badly the notoriously cheap owner wanted him gone.
