Bobby Valentine figured he’d be managing the Marlins by now. Instead, he’s slamming the organization on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight for the way they conduct their hiring process.
After the Fish fired Fredi Gonzalez last week, Valentine withdrew his name from consideration as manager of the Orioles. The media figured that he was on his way to Florida to work with his good friend, team owner Jeffrey Loria, but Valentine was never hired. So instead, he decided to rip the organization on live TV.
From USA Today:
“If this is a major-league process, I hope I’m never in the process again,” Valentine said on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight. “It’s very disturbing, confusing and it was insulting at times, but it’s over.”
According to the Palm Beach Post, Marlins President David Samson called the messy process “unavoidable” and disputed the notion that Valentine – a friend of Loria’s for more than two decades – was ever a lock for the job.
“It just seemed that way to the media,” David Samson said on a radio station Wednesday, according to the Post.
Valentine eventually told Sirius-XM Radio that he didn’t mean to be harsh with his comments.
“I just meant for them to be honest. It’s a tough process. We never negotiated anything and, you know, I just feel when you’re 60 years old – you know, I know Jeffrey (Loria), I’ve known him for 25 years – I just felt that being left in the dark isn’t quite the way to allow things to move forward. But I think it’s a good situation. As I told them right from the start, someone from the outside moving in in mid-season I don’t believe is a good idea. I don’t think you can train coaches and train players to think and do what you’re expecting on the run. That’s what spring training is for. And Edwin Rodriguez has had these guys in the minor leagues. He knows the spring training process, what that organizational philosophy is.”
It kind of seems like Valentine was embarrassed for withdrawing his name from considering in Baltimore because he thought he had the job in Florida locked up. Then when the Marlins didn’t hire him, he decided to vent his frustrations on a national stage, which was a little classless.
Either way, his name is going to be mentioned again for job openings down the road. If he really wants to manage again, he will.
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