Manager John Boles named his coaching staff. Key is the promotion of Fredi Gonzalez as third base coach. Gonzalez coached the Marlins first ever game at Rookie League Erie. Many considered him as a potential major league manager. Pitching coach Rich Dubee remains from last years staff. Rusty Kuntz is the new first base coach, Jack Maloof hitting coach, Tony Taylor infield coach and Joe Breeden bench coach. All were signed to 2-year contracts.
John Boles, the Marlins director of player development, who replaced Rene Lachmen in 1996 and lead the team to a 40-35 record will be named the new manager of the Florida Marlins.
The riff between owner Wayne Huizenga and John Henry seems to have been solved, as the two agreed on purchase terms. In addition to the $150 million price, Henry will pay Huizenga’s Pro Player Stadium $12 million for renovations. Henry will also give the stadium the remaining money on the $60 million stadium grant from the state.
Jim Leyland stepped down as the manager of the Florida Marlins. Leyland received a $500,000 buyout and has indicated he wants to coach in 1999, but only with a contender.
Here are the major transaction from the 1998 season including the fire-sale of the 1997 World Series Champions:
| Who’s new: | Who’s gone: |
| Oscar Henriquez, RHP Manuel Barrios, RHP Mark Johnson, RHP (trade, Astros) |
Moises Alou, OF (trade, Astros) |
| Joe Fontenot, RHP Mike Villano, RHP Mike Pageler, RHP (trade, Giants) |
Rob Nenn, RHP (trade, Giants) |
| Jesus Martinez, LHP (trade, Diamondbacks) |
Devon White, CF (trade, Diamondbacks) |
| Blaine Mull, RHP (trade, Royals) |
Jeff Conine, 1B (trade, Royals) |
| Chris Clark, RHP (trade, Padres) |
Ed Vosberg, LHP (trade, Padres) |
| Brandon Cromer, IF (waivers, Pirates) |
|
| Rafael Medina, P Steve Hoff, P Derrek Lee, 1B (trade, Padres) |
Kevin Brown, RHP (trade, Padres) |
| Lorenzo Bundy, Bench Coach | Jerry Manuel, Bench Coach (Manager, White Sox) |
| Rich Dubee, Pitching Coach | Larry Rotschild, Pitching Coach (Manager, Devil-Rays) |
| Tony Saunders, LHP Mike Duvall, LHP Randy Winn, OF (expansion draft, Devil Rays) |
|
| Fletcher Bates, OF Scott Comer, P (trade, Mets) |
Dennis Cook, LHP (trade, Mets) |
| Eric Ludwick, RHP (trade, A’s) |
Kurt Abbott, IF (trade, A’s) |
| Randy Knorr, C (free agent) |
|
| Hector Ramirez, RHP (trade, Orioles) |
|
| Jesus Sanchez, LHP A.J. Burnett, RHP Brandon Villafuerte, RHP (trade, Mets) |
Al Leiter, P (trade, Mets) |
| Kurt Miller, RHP (trade, Cubs) |
|
| Darren Daulton, 1B (retirement) |
|
| Alex Arias, SS (released, Philadelphia) |
|
| Mike Piazza, C Todd Zeile, 3B (trade, Dodgers) |
Charles Johnson, C Gary Sheffield, OF Bobby Bonilla, 3B Jim Eisenreich, 1B/OF Manuel Barrios, P (trade, Dodgers) |
| Preston Wilson, OF Ed Yarnall, LHP Geoff Goetz, P (trade, Mets) |
Mike Piazza, C (trade, Mets) |
| Brian Edmondson, P (waivers, Braves) |
|
| Ramon Castro, C (trade, Astros) |
Jay Powell, P Scott Makarewicz, C (trade, Astros) |
| Jose Santo, 3B Dan DeYoung, P (trade, Rangers) |
Todd Zeile, 3B (trade, Rangers) |
| Kevin Orie, 3b Jason Speier, P (trade, Cubs) |
Felix Heredia, P Steve Hoff, P (trade, Cubs) |
| Manuel Barrios, P (waivers, Dodgers) |
Cliff Floyd received the media award as player of the year. Matt Mantei was named the most improved. Mark Kotsay was named Rookie of the year. Rich Donnely was awarded the good guy award.
John Cangelosi, John Wehner, Donn Pall, and Randy Knorr have all filed for free agency.
In what appears to be the first step in John Henry’s purchase of the Florida Marlins, Don Smiley withdrew his bid to buy the team. Smiley‘s 14-month attempt to purchase the team was unable to gather enough money. This clears way for John Henry to complete his deal. In more exciting news, GM Dave Dombrowski who built a deep minor league system and a world champion re-signed for 5 more years. Despite lucrative offers, specifically from the Dodgers, Dombrowski opted to stay in South Florida. Henry has already indicated that he wants to invest more money in the payroll and name Dombrowski the president of the ball club.
News out of Wayne Huizenga and John Henry‘s representatives indicate that Henry is on the verge of purchasing the Florida Marlins. Henry has already promised to build a new stadium from his own funds. He also suggested that any public fund would be welcome and allow him to direct more of his money to the payroll. Henry also would keep Dave Dombrowski as President and General Manager. Finally, and most importantly, Henry would increase the payroll back to a competitive level, probably convincing Jim Leyland to stay. At this point, Henry still has not sold his 1% of the NY Yankees and Huizenga has not submitted his name for approval by Major League Baseball.
Marlins reactivated Edgar Renteria and Mike Redmond from the DL. Andy Larkin was sent back to the Minors. Preston Wilson, Randy Knorr, Brian Daubach, and Alex González will remain on the expanded major league roster.