Kranitz is Out

by craig on Sep 25, 2007 8:44 AM EDT in News and Rumors

Hurricane was the first to report in the comments yesterday -- that Rick Kranitz is no longer the pitching the coach of the Marlins.

General manager Larry Beinfest on Monday announced the franchise is moving ahead with essentially the same coaching staff. There is one exception.

Pitching coach Rick Kranitz was offered the opportunity to return, but the 49-year-old informed the club he wanted to pursue other opportunities.

The Marlins are in the process of getting their organizational meetings started, and the team has acted quickly in regards to putting together manager Fredi Gonzalez's staff.

"Offers were extended within the last week, and I asked Rick Kranitz for an answer [Sunday] on whether he was going to accept the contract or not," Beinfest said. "It was a contract offer that included a salary increase. We wanted him to return. He said that he was not prepared to make that decision and he wanted to explore other options. The organization made a decision to move on."

The 2008 staff will include Carlos Tosca (bench), Jim Presley (hitting), Andy Fox (infield/first base), Bo Porter (third base/outfield), Steve Foster (bullpen) and Pierre Arsenault (bullpen coordinator).

For the remaining six games, Foster will assume the role of pitching coach.

I can't say I feel sorry about the decision. I won't go into my usual complaints about Kranitz, especially since I've probably said enough already. But he won't be missed.

It is doubtful that the Marlins will be able to fill the pitching coach slot until after the season is over or even possibly the post-season. I would suspect that the Marlins will want to talk to former Marlins pitching coach Mark Wiley before making a final decision and more than likely the Rockies won't approve an interview until after their season is over and they are very close to being playoff bound.

In the meantime the team can discuss the position with Wayne Rosenthal, who was pitching coach for the 2003 World Series champion Marlins and is presently the organization's minor-league pitching coordinator.

Of course, it is possible that the Marlins will go outside and hire someone else. If I got to vote, and I don't, I would go with Wiley but Rosenthal would be just fine.

We shall see.

And as Hurricane alluded to, I am not anything close to sad about this development.

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