Kirk Gibson Should Be Fired As Diamondbacks Manager

Sep 17, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson against the San Francisco Giants at Chase Field. The Giants defeated the Diamondbacks 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Five weeks ago I wrote about Kirk Gibson‘s situation, and said that I thought Gibson should remain the Dbacks manager in 2015. At the time my argument was justified. After a the first month the Dbacks were 9-19. This largely resulted from key injuries at the wrong time, and the trip to Australia.

They played themselves out of the playoff picture before the month of May began. It would have been easy for the Dbacks to give up, but the clubhouse stayed together, and they had the mindset of just taking it one game at a time. As a result, from May-July the Dbacks were basically a .500 team, and who knows where this team would be at without the month of April. I thought Gibson did a great job keeping his team together and focused.

However, baseball is all about what have done for me lately, and I have changed my mind. Gibson needs to be fired as manager of the Diamondbacks and it needs to happen soon.

Chief Baseball Officer Tony LaRussa has a lot of respect for Gibson, so I wasn’t all that surprised that they didn’t fire General Manager Kevin Towers, and Gibson at the same time, but the month of September has confirmed my suspicions about Gibson and the rest of the clubhouse: this team has given up, and it is clear that Gibson has lost the clubhouse.

This is what Fox Sports MLB Insider Ken Rosenthal tweeted a couple of weeks ago:

When I saw this tweet originally I was skeptical of who Rosenthal’s sources were. Granted, Rosenthal is one of the most respected baseball insiders in the business, and his report certainly opened my eyes. The way the team has played in September to me has only confirmed this report. This month they are 6-15 which is by far their worst month of the season. They were swept by the Rockies in a four game series, and what was most disappointing about that series was that none of the games were close.

They have the worst record in major league baseball. Thanks to a 6-2 win over the Twins last night, the Dbacks will avoid a 100 loss season.

This team has clearly given up, and its clear in watching Gibson’s press conferences over the last five days that Gibson doesn’t know what to do anymore. If the clubhouse has given up on him, than there is no point in bringing him back in 2015. The players aren’t going to play hard for him, and it really wont matter what off-season changes the team makes. If the players don’t have good chemistry with their manager, than the results wont be there.

I don’t know who will be the new manager next year, but is clear that Gibson has to be fired. The team will decide his fate when the new General Manager is hired, which could come as early as Thursday.