Marlins fire Girardi, quickly hire Gonzalez

MIAMI -- Once the runner-up to Joe Girardi for the job of managing the Florida Marlins, Fredi Gonzalez became his successor Tuesday.

The Marlins fired Girardi, and five hours later announced that he'll be replaced by Gonzalez, third-base coach for the Atlanta Braves the past four years. Girardi's departure after only one season had been expected after his rift with owner Jeffrey Loria boiled over in an on-field confrontation two months ago.

Gonzalez, 42, interviewed with the Marlins a year ago after Jack McKeon resigned. Instead they hired Girardi, but his relationship with Loria and general manager Larry Beinfest soon became strained.

The cost-conscious Marlins wanted Girardi out so badly they were willing to let him go with two years left on a guaranteed three-year contract. They fired him even though he's considered a strong candidate for NL manager of the year.

The Marlins had baseball's youngest team and lowest payroll at $15 million, but Girardi led them to a 78-84 record, and they were in contention for a playoff berth until a late-September fade.

Girardi said he was fired during a short, unemotional meeting in his office with Beinfest, team president David Samson and assistant general manager Mike Hill. Loria did not attend.

"They came in and said, 'We're going to make a change,"' Girardi said. He said no reason was given, and he didn't ask for one.

Girardi, an Illinois native, Northwestern graduate and former Chicago Cubs catcher, becomes a potential candidate to replace Dusty Baker, whose four-year tenure with the Cubs ended Monday. Two other teams are also looking for managers -- Washington parted with Frank Robinson, and San Francisco cut ties with Felipe Alou.

Steroids in baseball

Barry Bonds' personal trainer wants to withdraw his guilty plea because prosecutors based their steroid distribution case on an illegal recording, his lawyer said Tuesday in a court hearing.

Greg Anderson, who is jailed for refusing to testify before a grand jury probing whether Bonds committed perjury, already served a three-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to the steroid charge.

But attorney Mark Geragos said Tuesday that an illegal tape recording of Anderson was the basis for the federal case against him in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative scandal.

-- The Associated Press