The Florida Marlins appear to be the type of team Bobby Valentine would want to manage: young, raw talent, in need of a true leader, and always the underdog. They are not that different from the Mets when he took over in 1996. That Mets team wound up turning to veterans when their young players fizzled, but Bobby V still was the face of the 1999-2000 squads. Now you hear reports that Valentine might be interested in the Florida Marlins as he returns to American baseball after five years in Japan.

Florida is a team that seems to be one fire sale away from obscurity. The amazing part is they have torn down their franchise twice and built it back up in a short span of time. They have won more World Series the last 15 years than any team not named the Yankees or Red Sox. Would ownership stay committed with Valentine at the helm? Could he inject life into the apathetic Miami fan base?

Part of me thinks of Valentine as the baseball version of Pat Riley. When Riles went to South Beach the Miami Heat were perennial loser. Within a year they had beaten the Knicks and were challenging Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls for the Eastern Conference crown. It took a decade, but Riley brought a title to Miami and years of competitive basketball. Even with the two titles consistency is what the Marlins lack.

With that said I think deciding on a team like Florida would be a mistake. Taking a year off and waiting is easy for an outsider like me to say, but who knows what jobs could be available a year from now. Obviously there is the Mets, Tony LaRussa can’t stay in St. Louis forever, and Lou Pinella might be a billy goat away from finally popping and retiring. The Cubs and Valentine would be a great story. There is also the Joe Girardi situation. General Joe will be a lame duck next season and could easily be replaced if the Yanks don’t win a title before then.

Florida may be tempting, but I believe there will be better opportunities in the near future. Valentine could be the perfect panacea for a struggling franchise. He would inject life into the team and reenergize the fans. The problem with South Florida is there are no fans to energize. Essentially he would be signing up for the baseball version of that old saying about the “tree that falls in the forest where no one is listening”. So my advice to Bobby V is sit back, enjoy analyzing baseball in Bristol, and wait for a real opportunity to present itself.

Tags: Bobby Valentine, Florida Marlins, New York Mets