A Strong Candidate Emerges
By Bill Shanks
With the news Wednesday that the Marlins have fired Fredi Gonzalez, it gives general manager Frank Wren a new candidate to consider when he replaces Bobby Cox at the end of the season.
In fact, Gonzalez arguably becomes the leading candidate.
There are a lot of ties that make Gonzalez a legitimate contender for the job. First, he still lives in the Atlanta area, having never moved to Miami despite managing the Marlins for the last three-plus seasons.
But it runs much deeper than that. Gonzalez originally worked for the Marlins from 1992 through 2001. He was a minor league manager for the first seven seasons, before taking over as the major league third base coach in the last three years.
Guess who the Vice President/Assistant General Manager of the Marlins was from 1991 through 1998?
Frank Wren, now the GM in Atlanta.
And Wren, who by then was the assistant GM with the Braves, had to be an influence when Gonzalez was hired to manage Richmond, Atlanta