Marlins fire Gonzalez

After winning two straight games and playing .500 ball over the last 20 games, the Florida Marlins decided that something had to be done. They went ahead and fired Fredi Gonzalez, their manager of the last three and a half years.

As for bench coach Carlos Tosca and hitting coach Jim Presley? They are gone too.

“It is never easy to make a change in managers,” Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria said in a statement. “Fredi has been with our Club for four years. We have become close, and I am extremely fond of Fredi. I, along with all our fans, am grateful for Fredi’s contributions. At the same time, we can’t let personal feelings get in the way of taking steps that we believe are necessary to improve our ballclub.

“Decisions on individual personnel cannot supercede our overall goal, which is to win. We believe we can do better and be better. We owe it to our fans to put this team in the best possible position to win. Everyone knows how I feel about winning. That’s the reason we’re making this change.

“We still have a very long season in front of us, and plenty of time to turn things around. Everyone – our fans, our team, our organization, and myself – wants us to win. That continues to be, and will always be, the goal.”

Edwin Rodriguez will take over as interim manager.