A year ago, first-time big league manager Joe Girardi took over a Marlins club that was gutted of its high-dollar contracts soon after his appointment. Florida seemed destined to lose 100 games and perhaps threaten the Mets' modern-day National League record of 120 losses with a roster stacked with Double-A and Triple-A talent. Girardi convinced his young players they could win, and after an 11-31 start, the Marlins went 67-53 the rest of the way.

While Girardi nurtured his young players, nurturing working relationships with the ownership and front office wasn't his strong suit. His relationship with team owner Jeffrey Loria hit a low in August when the owner, seated near the team dugout, started a verbal assault of a home plate umpire at a time Girardi had decided to pick his spots and leave the umpire alone. Girardi finally spoke up when he told his boss to "sit the (bleep) down."

The Marlins stuck around the wild-card race into September and Girardi was rewarded with NL Manager of the Year honors. The Marlins' brass awarded him a pink slip.

This spring, another first-time major league manager arrives on the scene. Fredi Gonzalez has spent the last four seasons coaching third base for Atlanta under Bobby Cox. Now he jumps into the fire with the Fish. It's tough enough being a first-timer taking over a team that will endure its share of growing pains, but Gonzalez also follows a guy who got more out of his talent than could be realistically expected. Maybe it was Girardi's touch. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was a case of young players being too green to know they shouldn't be beating teams with more experience and major league-ready talent.

In any event, Gonzalez faces building on last year's success, and he may already have a strike against him. Two of last year's pleasant surprises, starters Josh Johnson and Anibal Sanchez, come into camp with arm issues. Johnson experienced soreness in his forearm over the winter. Sanchez has been nursing a sore shoulder. The Marlins will proceed slowly with both of them.

Gonzalez has been emphasizing communicating openly and honestly with his players in talks with the media.

"I think honesty is No. 1," he said. "Truthfulness. Maybe they are not going to like the truth. But if you walk into my office, I'm going to tell you how I feel. If you don't want to know the answer or know the truth, don't walk in."

That sounds like a cornerstone of how Girardi worked. The difference may be that Gonzalez should be better at communicating honestly and effectively with the front office. But in the end, Marlins fans will be more interested in seeing Gonzalez's team be as effective as Girardi's between the lines.