The Lunatic Fringe

Jeffrey Loria may be the worst owner in sports, at least in the not-Jed-York division.

Loria basically lucked into primary ownership of the Montreal Expos, whose fans abandoned the team, and then traded the team to the rest of Major League Baseball to manage into the Washington Nationals in return for the Florida Marlins.  (They can’t blame Matt Williams on Loria, but still…)

He gets a World Series with the Marlins, but within years, the Marlins’ stadium is as empty as Montreal was.  He turns the Orange Bowl into a gaudy nouveau-stadium that only the 1980’s on more coke than the 1980’s contained could love, promises to use the revenue to spend big on the team…a move that lasts one year before he begins scuttling the team (again).

The Marlins fired their manager, Mike Redmond, in mid-May in 2015…the second time they’ve done such a move so early.  They replaced him with the team’s General Manager, Dan Jennings, who had no field management experience.  Then they offered him to return to a GM role.  Then they fired him from all the roles.

Recently, they’ve fired color commentator Tommy Hutton, who was popular in Miami and was critical at times of the team’s performance, because when you have so many opportunities to be, how could you not be once or twice.

One of the two young stars who they did sign to huge deals has been tired of this crap for a while, and might get traded.

Don Mattingly was recently hired as Marlins manager after years of Dodger dysfunction and playoff disappointment, in a move that no one thinks will be very healthy for either side, moving onto a seat that’s still hot, and probably won’t not be.

And now….Barry Bonds might join this team, even if it’s as “a” hitting coach?

I really like Bonds.  I root for him.  I know what he did, but I know many, many, many others who did the same thing who most people give a pass.  And Barry, if nothing else, was loyal to the Giants (if not necessarily the best teammate).

But putting the temperamental, still-mostly unloved Bonds in a toxic clubhouse like that, with a temperamental, meddling owner that makes the owner in Major League look decent?

I want to see Barry Bonds as a hitting coach, and I want to see him succeed.  I’ve listened to him talk about hitting, and not only does he know more than any other hitter out there, he explains it better than most.  Even if it’s not with the Giants, I’d be happy for him to succeed.

But Barry Bonds being involved with the Marlins feels like the worst idea since letting Jeffrey Loria have anything to do with baseball.