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Bobby Valentine is talking to the Florida Marlins

Fredi Gonzalez won 87 games with a team that makes a few sheckles above minimum wage and is considered one of the better managers in baseball. So it makes perfect sense that he’s rumored to be on his way out:

Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria is said to be less than satisfied with his team’s standing, and in a fairly shocking development is apparently considering replacing well-regarded manager Fredi Gonzalez, who has been widely praised for his performance this season. The Marlins are 87-74 under Gonzalez despite a league-low $36 million payroll, but people familiar with the situation say Loria believes the team is good enough to have made the postseason.

These same “people familiar with the situation” say that Valentine is talking to the Marlins about a job. I suppose it’s possible that they’re talking about a GM or some other kind of front office position, but it’s not like he has any experience with that kind of thing.

I can’t at all feature the Marlins hiring the guy. In addition to the fact that Gonzalez is a good manager, he’s under contract for two more years at what I can only assume is a much lower price than what Valentine would ask for even one year. And sure, it’s possible that Valentine has undergone a sea change in personality during his time in Japan, but he never struck me as the kind of guy who would thrive in a low-resources kind of environment like Florida.

The same article has the Indians and Nats interested in Valentine as well. Neither of those seem like great fits for the guy -- the Indians less so than the Nats -- but at least they have job openings.