Three hours before the Florida Marlins' final game, the only activity on the field involved manager Joe Girardi and his four-year-old son, Dante, who tried out catcher's gear, took a few swings at the plate and shagged flies in the outfield.

``This year he has learned to catch popups over his head,'' dad said proudly.

Everyone agrees the Marlins' manager works well with young players. General manager Larry Beinfest conceded as much, even though he's expected to fire Girardi this week.

``This team was prepared to play. They played hard every day,'' Beinfest said Sunday, when the precocious Marlins wrapped up a 78-84 season that left them 10 wins behind the NL wild-card winner but 36 losses shy of the most dire pre-season predictions for them.

``There was a winning attitude instilled here, and this team won a lot of games,'' Beinfest said. ``Joe and his staff deserve a lot of credit for that. I would have to say that as far as the game managing and things like that, I thought it was good.''

For the Marlins, that's not enough. Girardi may be the front-runner for NL manager of the year in his first season on the job, but his strained relationship with Beinfest and owner Jeffrey Loria seems beyond repair.

And a manager needs to get along with his general manager.

``When you live and work with somebody for eight months, plus everything in the off-season, it's important,'' Beinfest said.

With an engineering degree from Northwestern and a New York Yankees pedigree, Girardi displayed a strong-willed demeanour that rubbed some the wrong way. He declined to change his approach and said there was nothing he would have done differently.

``People might take that as being arrogant,'' he said. ``I'll never second-guess myself, because I'm prepared.''

For most of the season there were no signs of a power struggle. Girardi was popular with his players, and the clubhouse mood remained upbeat all year, even when the Marlins started 11-31.

They improved to 73-71, becoming the first team to climb to a winning record from 20 games below .500, before fading in the final two weeks.

``I don't think a team can say they had a sub-.500 season that was as successful as us,'' said ace Dontrelle Willis, whose 2003 World Series ring made him a clubhouse leader at age 24. ``It's kind of an oxymoron, but to me this is the funnest season I've had in baseball at any level. Not to discredit being able to win the World Series, but it's a different situation.''

Despite the lowest payroll and youngest team in the majors, the Marlins contended for a playoff berth into late September. They were the first club to have four rookies win at least 10 games, including Anibal Sanchez, who threw the lone no-hitter in the major leagues this season. They set a record with 112 homers by rookies. Among the 22 rookies Girardi played, shortstop Hanley Ramirez (17 homers, 51 stolen bases) and second baseman Dan Uggla (27 homers) made the strongest bids for NL rookie of the year.

``You can go up and down our lineup and through our pitching staff, and I think anybody in this locker room could be rookie of the year,'' Uggla said.

Beinfest and his staff deserve credit for accumulating so many prospects when the Marlins pared their payroll after last season.

Girardi and his staff deserve credit for sorting out the maze of unproven talent.

``It seems like we were just in spring training and needed name tags,'' Girardi said.

It will be different next year for the manager, because the team will be set at most positions. Beinfest said he'll be in the market this off-season primarily for a centre-fielder and bullpen help.

The rotation and infield should remain intact, unless Beinfest trades Willis or slugger Miguel Cabrera, whose contracts may become too hefty for the cost-conscious Marlins.

``They're stars,'' Beinfest said. ``Miguel's production the last 3{ years has just been incredible. Dontrelle is a very special player in a lot of ways, not just wins and losses. We recognize what they mean to this organization.''

Assuming both return, expectations in 2007 will be much higher than this year, when the goal was to disprove critics who forecast a 120-loss season.

``We can get better,'' Beinfest said. ``When you approach 80 wins, you're only six to 10 wins from where you want to be to qualify for the post-season. That'll be the goal. We are further along that we thought we would be.''

If the Marlins change managers, Girardi's successor will face a tough act to follow.

© The Canadian Press, 2007