Miami Marlins Hire Mike Redmond as Team's New Manager

The Miami Marlins fired Ozzie Guillen last week, knowing full well that the position of manager would be difficult to fill with candidates knowing about the team's ever-shifting ways at the position. But today, it seems the Marlins finally filled the manager position by hiring a former long-time Marlin, former catcher Mike Redmond, according to CBSSports's Jon Heyman.

#Marlins hire Mike Redmond to be their manager

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) November 1, 2012

The move should come to no one's surprise given the fact that Redmond has long been considered the frontrunner for the job ever since his name first appeared in the rumor mills. Redmond was coaching the High-A Dunedin affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays this past season, and that was the first managerial experience he has had at the professional level. Apparently, the Marlins were happy enough with his candidacy that they went ahead and hired him after just one season of professional managing experience.

The team did consider a number of other candidates, including Cincinnati Reds pitching coach Bryan Price, former manager Larry Bowa, and current Detroit Tigers hitting coach Lloyd McClendon, whom Eric Weston covered earlier today. However, Price withdrew his name from consideration earlier this week and Brad Ausmus already declined an interview opportunity, showing the Marlins that the job is not as highly desired as the team would like it to be.

Still, for a while it felt as though the Marlins were looking for an "in-house" name among a family of former players with little or no major league managing experience. Among the first names that came up for consideration in addition to Redmond were former Marlins players Mike Lowell and Jeff Conine, who both mentioned that they had no interest in managing at this time. While it is likely the Marlins would have preferred Lowell or Conine, who is already working with the team as a special assistant and as a broadcaster on Fox Sports Florida, Redmond has displayed close ties to the organization and has apparently impressed a number of former Marlins managers with his knowledge.

The Marlins are right now going for a different approach after trying and, in their minds, failing horrifically with a brand-name manager. Once again, the team is going for a young name in the managerial game, hoping that inexperience serves well for them as it did for the Chicago White Sox with Robin Ventura or the St. Louis Cardinals with Mike Matheny. The hope here is that Redmond's knowledge of the organization's ways will mesh better with both the front office and players and perhaps allow for better chemistry after a disastrous 2012 season.