"It was time to settle the issue."
Never mind that Jeff Loria is the one who created said issue; those were the words of the Marlins owner after the announcement was made that Edwin Rodgriguez would manage the Fish for the remainder of the 2010 season.
Earlier in the evening, Loria gathered up the ball club in the home dugout at Hiram Bithorn stadium, and told the team of the decision to drop the "interim" from E-Rod's managerial title. The team responded with a warm ovation for Rodriguez, the first Puerto Rican-born manager in MLB history.
The players may be relieved to have the issue "settled," but the rest of the baseball world was left shaking its head.
The Marlins fired Fredi Gonzalez, and after hitting a brick wall with Bobby Valentine, have settled on Rodriguez, who despite being a solid guy, had no Big League managing experience until last Wednesday, and a losing record managing in the minors.
When Loria fired Fredi, the winningest manager in Marlins history, he claimed he was taking steps that he believed were "necessary to improve our ballclub."
Clearly, an improvement is exactly what has taken place here, Jeff.
Congratulations, Edwin Rodriguez. Welcome to Mission: Impossible.