Fredi

Gonzalez used to be a coach for the Braves and is a leading candidate to replace Cox. A week or two ago the Cubs wanted to interview Fredi, but he turned them down. Some think that means Gonzalez already has a deal with the Braves.

The Marlins owner is one of those wacko types, with unrealistic expectations for the team. Then manager Fredi Gonzalez benched star shortstop Hanley Ramirez for a few games, for a lack of hustling. Gonzalez was fired not long after that, even though many experts credited him with keeping the Marlins competitive.

Cox defended Gonzalez in the press. The rumor is the owner decreed that the Marlins would not honor Cox.

The Marlins owner wants to hire Bobby Valentine to manage. Valentine would rather manage the higher profile Cubs, Mets, or Dodgers.

Torre is 70. I love him, but I think he’d rather have the Mets job, if any. Or the Yankees, if Giraldi were to move to the Cubs. Torre was talking about watching his daughter’s games, so he may retire to Fox or ESPN.

Perhaps Gonzalez will promote the Gwinnett Braves hitting coach, who’s been given high marks.

McLouth has been asked to play LF these past two games, and has discovered it to be quite different than center. He missed one that dropped foul, misjudged a tough one and missed on the dive, had a ball get knocked out of his glove over making a diving catch, then rainbowed the throw over the cutoff man’s head, allowing the winning run to score last night.

At the plate he is making good contact, but continues to try to hit home runs.