Fired Marlins hitting coach Barry Bonds is thankful for "one of the most rewarding experiences" of his baseball career but is looking forward to what the future holds, he wrote on his personal blog Thursday.
The Marlins fired Bonds on Wednesday.
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His full post:
Working with the Marlins this past season has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my baseball career. I am grateful and humbled that Jeffrey Loria and the Marlins gave me the opportunity to be a part of their organization. Though my contract was only for one year, I enjoyed sharing my hitting knowledge and other aspects of the game with such a talented group of players. I am proud of their development and accomplishments over the course of the season and hope they will be able to continue to build off their hard work as they head into next year. I look forward to what the future holds for me — but I do know that baseball is and always will be in my blood.
The Marlins (79-82) batted .263 as a team, second in the National League, but scored just 655 runs, ahead of only the Braves and Phillies in the NL in 2016.
Bonds — baseball's home run king whose record was tainted by steroids use — was dismissed along with third-base coach Lenny Harris and bullpen coach Reid Cornelius.
Manager Don Mattingly on Wednesday said the Marlins decided to move in a different direction regarding his coaching staff.
"I don't need to get into the reasons really with anything with Barry," Mattingly said (via ESPN.com). "We feel like any time you talk about coaches and letting someone go those are not easy things to talk about. We'll just try to get the best guy for the situation."
