Fredi Gonzalez was interviewed by the MLB Network Radio channel on SIRIUS XM.
Andrew Fitzpatrick sent the transcript via email.
Today, June 29, on the MLB Network Radio channel on SIRIUS XM, hosts Jim Duquette and Kevin Kennedy spoke with former Florida Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez.
On whether his dismissal came as a surprise:
Fredi Gonzalez: "Yeah, you know what, it came as a surprise. It really did. You know, I don’t think there’s a perfect timing for anything. You know, we won two out of three series and beat the Devil Rays twice in the series and we got swept in the middle of those series by Texas and then we win the game in Baltimore. So, you know, you got to feel pretty good about yourself and you got to feel pretty good about your team going maybe in the right direction. And again, I don’t think there’s a perfect timing. Looking back, I think that I was more upset last year in September, you know, after everything came out than I am about the firing. What they told me is they’d see if they can jump start the club. And there’s nothing much you can do or say about that. So, you know, wish them luck, went home, watching some baseball on TV and spending time with my family."
**********
To read the rest of the interview just click on the continuing reading link.
Host/Kevin Kennedy: "I hope it didn’t have anything to do with the way you handled Hanley Ramirez cause I thought it was phenomenal what you did. And we just saw something in St. Pete that was very similar with the way BJ Upton went after a ball. So I thought you handled it with dignity and class and I hope it had nothing to do with that."
Gonzalez: "Kevin, I don’t think so. There’s been some stuff out there that maybe that it was but they never gave me that reason and I don’t think, I mean, the way Larry [Beinfest] and Mike [Hill] and even Jeffrey [Loria] backed me on that situation, I don’t think that was any reason. What they told me was, ‘Hey, maybe we’ll make a change and jump start the club.’ You know, they did it in ‘03 with [Jeff] Torborg and Jack [McKeon] and they won the World Series so maybe they would do it again. I want to put it out there that Hanley had nothing to do with it. Actually our relationship afterwards was better."
**********
Host/Jim Duquette: "Did you feel like you guys were underperforming?"
Gonzalez: "No, I don’t think so. I think we were right where we should have been. Like you mentioned, Jim, I think we had some holes and we tried to address them in the off season with all those guys you mentioned, [Mike] McDougal, [Seth] McClung, [Derrick] Turnbow, [Jose] Veras, all those guys. You know, and it didn’t work out. I thought our bench needed some improvement. But I don’t think we were underachieving. I think we were right where we should have been. I think with a couple of pieces here and there maybe more than two or three pieces we would have been ok. And Larry and Mike were working hard to try to get those pieces under the circumstances and it just didn’t work out. I think the team is still the same team and I think for them to win or get back into this race you need to address those issues."
**********
Duquette: "Looking at the rest of the summer, you said you’d be around the house, if somebody comes up and gives you a ring and says, ‘Hey, we’d like you to come on as a special advisor like what Ned Yost was doing for Dayton Moore prior to him taking on the managing spot, is that something that you’d have interest in depending on the situation?"
Gonzalez: "You know what? Depending on the situation, I’m not looking to jump back into it but I’m not looking to sit around for a year either. I don’t think the wife’s happy about that, either. We’ve been married 22 years and I think with baseball we’ve only been together about 10. I think after about two weeks she maybe going, ‘Hey, why don’t you go scout for free or go watch a game or something, just get out of the house.’"
"Inside Pitch," with Jim Duquette and Kevin Kennedy, airs weekdays (10am-1pm ET) on MLB Network Radio, XM channel 175 and SIRIUS channel 210 with the "Best of XM."