Report: Marlins hire Fredi Gonzalez as 3rd base coach

A familiar face is on the verge of returning to South Beach.

The Miami Marlins have reportedly hired Fredi Gonzalez - who managed the club from 2007-10 - as their third base coach for the upcoming season, according to Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald, citing sources.

Gonzalez compiled a 276-279 record over his three-plus seasons with the Marlins and guided the club to its two most recent winning seasons in 2008 and 2009. He also served as the Marlins' third base coach from 1999-2001 and managed in the team's minor-league system. The 52-year-old spent the last six seasons managing in Atlanta, where he led the Braves to a pair of playoff appearances before being let go this past May.

Although Gonzalez had been rumored as a candidate to join manager Don Mattingly's staff for the last month, his imminent return to the Marlins organization could still be seen as surprising, given how their previous relationship ended. When Gonzalez was fired during the 2010 season, he and owner Jeffrey Loria traded harsh words; and the feud continued two years later while Gonzalez was still in Atlanta.

"There's not a manager dead or alive that Jeffrey Loria thinks is good enough," Gonzalez said in 2012, according to Spencer. "Not Connie Mack, not anyone."

In response, Loria told reporters that he was "surprised" by Gonzalez's "classless" comments because of his apparent lack of success in the Marlins' dugout.

"He was with us for five years and he was a colossal failure," Loria retorted in 2012, per Spencer.

Gonzalez will take over in the third-base coaching box for Lenny Harris, who was one of three coaches let go by the Marlins at the end of the season. Hitting coach Barry Bonds and bullpen coach Reid Cornelius were also dismissed, and the team is still searching for their replacements.