Marlins name former Yankees slugger Tino Martinez new hitting coach

The Marlins have hired four-time World Series champion and former Yankees first baseman Tino Martinez to be their new hitting coach.

Though he has no professional coaching experience, Martinez, 44, has stayed involved in baseball since retiring after the 2005 season. He has served as a Yankees spring instructor and special assistant to general manager Brian Cashman, and has also been an analyst for YES Network broadcasts.

The Red Sox were also reportedly interested in Martinez as their hitting coach before the Marlins snatched him up Thursday.

The Tampa native finished his career as a .271 career hitter with 339 home runs and 1,271 RBI in 16 major league seasons. A former first round pick of the Mariners, Martinez finished second in the MVP voting in 1997 when he it .296 with 44 homers and 141 RBI.

The Marlins finished next-to-last in the National League in scoring last season with 609 runs. They hit .244 (13th out of 16 NL teams) as a team and hit 137 home runs (13th).

Comments

[Tony in Miami]

Looks like a great pick 4 the franchise.
Now... Are we keeping the same pitching coach?

[Flagstafffishfan]

Good pickup for this team. Brings a winner on board for Mike.

[Stan M]

Sounds good to this old man. Now for a credible pitching coach. Also good news that that great infield instructor is returning. I can't remember his name but he has a great reputation. So far so good.

[Fish Fan]

From what I heard, Loria's personally a VERY big fan of Martinez when super-star with NYY. Not surprising that Loria made the move when it hit the wires an hour or two ago about BOS interest in Martinez.

[bob]

Another guy with no experience, though at least this guy actually had good hitting numbers.

[marlins beatwriter]

Need a pitching coach with no experience to round out this last place team...Roger Clemens maybe, or any other ex Yankees for Steinbrenner wannabe but never willbe Loria. Perry Hill is the infield instructor and 1st base coach.

[richiej]

Martinez has no prior coaching experience, BUT, a class act and a winner, and, he has defensive and offensive credentials. Definitely a huge upgrade over Eduardo. About time I had something positive to post.

[Mogen David]

While he's at it Loria should try David Wells or David Cone for pitching coach. What the hell...is Whitey Ford available?

[solly hemus]

Ted Williams frozen head would be a huge upgrade over Eduardo Perez.

[Frank Perdue]

still cant make chickenliver outta chickenshit

[Peter Gammons Dog]

Sun-sentinel reports that Martinez hiring a Loria pick all the way. Redmond has no say in his coaches. With Loria making all the decisions ,they are doomed to failure.On field staff is a puppet regime. Only thing bigger than the monstrosity HR sculpture in Marlins Park is Lorias ego. Good Luck Marlins fans,whatever few are left.Get used to last place.

[spitballer]

How about the recently retired Dontrelle Willis for pitching coach????

[TC]

Why Charley Lau Jr. Isn't coaching in the majors is a joke. The man knows hitting and how to teach it.

The Marlins had a golden opportunity to hire the best and he's in our own back yard no less.

Politics plain and simple.

[Marlins fans are suckers]

When are you Marlins fans gonna realize that Loria will never put a contending team on the field again???

[Lou]

TC, Baseball and broadcasting are two of those professions where having a productive father is somehow seen as a valid reason for your employment. Fortunately the sons of surgeons must actually demonstrate skills and have been educated rather than just being handed a scalpel. Wonder if Letterman's kid gets his own talk show?

Redmond may be allowed to fillout the lineup card. Well, he can fill it out as long as he copies from the one sent down to him.

Great comments about what it takes to be an upgrade over Eduardo Perez. I would nominate a ripe turnip and a bowl of beets.

[Lou]

"Marlins fans are suckers," That is a tad harsh. They are FANaticS like all people who follow sports from a purely vicarious and visceral level. They believe they have commited and it is now their lifelong obligation to share in the good and the bad. In other forms of recreation and entertainment when things are not working out for your enjoyment , you are able to dismiss the source of your anguish and move on to something else,however, if you do that with a pro sports team that makes you a bad FANatic and therefore not worthy of being a member of the club. Just like the FANaticS around the world who blindly follow a person, idea or entity without regard to the value of object of their loyalty, the FANaticS of sports teams almost view themselves as martyrs to the cause. Now they don't get the 74 virgins, in fact they really get nothing if they follow a bad team, but they do get to identify with the object of their affection and almost masochistically brag of their loyalty---FANaticS!!!!

[Baseball Stew]

Very true and very sad. Heard that Loria's first choice for hitting coach was ex Yankee Jim Abbott.

[Thememanxx]

El Duque mustn't have anything going on these days, why not just hire him as pitching coach?

[NYSportExchange]

Great hire. He was a quality hitter and has has helped out at Yankee spring training. On top of that he is a likable good man. For a NY perspective http://www.nysportexchange.com/2012/11/yankees-119-coverage.html

[Marlins fan]

Great perspective...Not.

[ALEXC]

TINO IS A CLASS ACT
GREAT CHOICE
HE COMES WITH THE WINNING ATTITUDE OF THE YANKEES
EVEN IF NOT PICKED BY REDMOND WILL GET ALONG GREAT
MAYBE LORIA IS GETTING SOME SENSE IN HIS HEAD

[Three Pete]

yeah right...and maybe every on field move Loria's made wont turn to shittttt...

[mr jefferey's house of horrors]

Whadaya mean??? Loria was a high school baseball star..that qualifies him to be a player-personell genius. In his own mind. Just ask Buck.

[AARP]

Loria trying to get Yogi Berra for bench coach.

[Ballantine Blast]

wont get Yogi,Loria wont come up with enough Yoo-Hoo

[riddle me that , Fatman]

If Tino is going to be that good a hitting coach,why did the Yankees let him go,instead of keeping him in their own organization. Reasons???

[Russell]

Anibal seeking a $100M contract, good grief why couldn't I have been better at baseball. Can't blame the Marlin's FO for not giving this guy a long term deal if the following is his expectation.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/mlb-rumors/20901696/pitcher-anibal-sanchez-seeking-six-years-90-million

Good Luck Anibal!

[Yakoff Smirnoff]

Some sucker owner will step on his dick,and Anibal will have hit the lotto...even if he never throws another pitch after they sign him up...what a country.

[madonna chavez]

yeah and then Anibal will be singing "Dont Cry for Me ,Venezuela"

[Jo jo]

Hopefully he ll bring HIS success to the Marlins.BTW......NO that crappy pitching coach is G-O-N-E.(St Claire)THAT LOSER should have been gone at least 3 years ago.Every good Marlin pitcher.....and there were many......got much worse in his last 3 or 4 years as the PITCHING coach.I never could understand how Loria and Beinfest NEVER REALIZED IT.St Claire was a bum and glad his contract expired.HE WAS PATHETIC.

[Flav C.]

I'm going to call this one, and who knows, I might be right: The Marlins is one of the 5 teams interested in Melky Cabrera. He would be a cheap option for CF (compared to Bourn), giving flexibility to move Boni to 2B, or even use him as trade chip (since he will be owed around $ 2.5 m in arbitration), and keep Solano as option for 2B or 3B.

Just saying.

[samsonsucks.com]

Sounds great but nancyboy samson would never go for it

[bob]

On Dontrelle Willis, I guess Loria has more love for the Yankees than for money. He could've had a two-in-one hitting and pitching coach with Willis.

[Marlin Fan]

Arizona fall lge on MLB. Network .it wll be cool to see the Marlin's prospects

[embarassing]

Marlins were fed up with Dontrelles off the field activities...ALOT of partying... mother was bombed at the home games she attended..apple didnt fall far from the tree..

[diversity Hill]

Loria contemplating ex-Lakers coach Mike Brown for bench coach.

[Lou]

Great Comments---NOT being facetious. Your salient comments are appropriate for the caliber of the team. Keep it up.

By the way, LAST U!!!!!!rinal football game of the year next Saturday. For any South Florida resident looking for something to do there are about 60,000 tickets available and you will also get to OBSERVE the Phi Beta Kappa who dresses in a beach towel, carries a child's horn and holds up signs fabricated in a special ed classroom somewhere in Uzbekistan. Go enjoy the fun and purchase your own section of seating.

[BoyGeorge]

Reminds me more of a Twink than a nancyboy, and I oughta know.

[TC]

Lou....
I would agree except that Lau Jr. is a proven commodity. He's taken the principals his father taught and improved on them. He has a track record of success that speaks for itself.
It's unfair to dismis him because his father was a pioneer in the art of hitting. Jr did the work studied the science and improved on the methods and has been teaching for a long time now to great reviews.

[not interested in their bullshittt]

Why does the Herald still have Hanley and Ozzie spouting their idiot jibberish on the Marlins twitter? Why cant they delete these ex-Marlins twitter accounts.

[Julio]

HaHa..was thinking the same thing. Why do they still have their lame twitter on the marlins account

[Lou]

You guys are the BEST!!!!!!!! Drive the deluded supporters into the Clevelander Pool. NOTICE!!!!!!! This team will NEVER get better with this ownership group. Post something funny and /or witty or just stay away. Keep your baseball related upbeat comments under wraps. This post was not humorous enough to warrant space on this site but I just wanted to give compliments.Anyone thinking the Marlins are getting better should go help the Koch brothers raise money and go enlist in a Karl Rove Prognostication School. Tell me, how does a man get married 4 times, divorce 4 times and not produce any children from any of these relationships? I'm sure the Bombastic One blames the wives or just maybe he has the problem. That's okay--Just Keep SHOUTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lou]

Rush married women.

[Rosie O']

Oh..thought you meant a Bush

[Lou]

Sorry Rosie O'. I DO know that lesbians tend to be women so my response did not make sense. Of course being married 4 times, yet NEVER having any kids and then calling into account the morals of others seems to be rather bizarre. If you have 4 times violated what is to be a sacred oath and you are also a known user of illegal drugs and if you had at one time said users of illegal drugs should be imprisoned---shouldn't you just be quiet and worry about your own moral dilemmas. Just asking???

[Lou]

And before anyone starts the "keep the political stuff off here", I am not discussing a person who holds political office. I'm discussing the hypocrisy of a South Floridian who probably is a Marlins fan. I want him right there with Loria and Samson.Maybe he has some knowledge of player development.

[Still Counting Ballots in Little Havana]

Who is going to win the election?

[Lou]

Dear Counting, Even the 3rd generation Cubans have broken with the silliness prevalent for about 45 years. I'll tell you who will not win an election ever again----White Males. Game!!! Set!!!! Match!!!!! Guess you can't aggravate women, Latinos, gays, and African Americans without paying a price. Add in the fact that even those over 65 were conflicted due to threats to Medicare and Social security and you are really starting to shrink your "base." Even the Jewish population voted 69% for the guy not named Romney. I guess they were not concerned as Bibi was over the U.S.leaving Israel in the lurch.

[Lou]

Another humorous aside, the states that complain the most against the government, receive the most from the government. The "great" state of Mississippi receives #2.00 back from the Federal Government for every $1.00 sent to DC. That is the worst example but similiar numbers hold true for the entire Southeast with the exception of Florida. Meanwhile the states in the dreaded Northeast get less money back on the dollar. Connecticut gets .64 cents for every dollar sent in. I would post the sites for this info myself but to guarantee I'm not picking biased sources, feel free to access any of the numerous sites on the internet that will post same info. North Carolina actually did pretty well as far as not being a "Welfare Queen", but the rest of those states, not too well. Basically except for Texas and Missouri, the Crimson States rely on the Federal government and the large--and productive tax bases---in other areas. What's it like to be on the dole???? For Years???

[Marlin Fan]

JOHNSON AND BHUERLE TO TORONTO ?????