Mike Redmond will make his MLB managing debut with the Miami Marlins in 2013, so it would be understandable if the casual fan has never heard of him. The former catcher spent 13 seasons in the majors and won a World Series with the Marlins in 2003, but that was before Miami prospect Jose Fernandez’s time.
Fernandez, the top pitching prospect in the Marlins system according to Baseball America, was asked a general question about Redmond on Tuesday and it caught him off guard. Simply put, he had no idea what Miami’s new manager’s name was.
“Can you talk about how Mike Redmond was here today?” Local 10’s Alyana Cristal asked Fernandez on Tuesday.
“Who?” the puzzled youngster replied.
Video of the humorous exchange can be seen here. Someone then informed Fernandez that Redmond is now the manager of the MLB club that he aspires to pitch for one day.
“Oh, okay. I don’t know his name, I just met him,” Fernandez said. “I just met him a bit ago. We had a meeting so he passed by at the meeting and introduced himself. He’s pretty nice.”
Clearly he didn’t make a fantastic impression. Redmond obviously isn’t as famous or as big a personality as Ozzie Guillen was, but one would think the top prospect in a minor league system would know the name of the highest-ranking manager in the organization. If Fernandez still doesn’t know who Redmond is by April, then we can start worrying.
