Florida pitching coach Rick Kranitz (above) left the club Monday with 6 games remaining in the 2007 season. SNY’s Gary Cohen, otherwise consumed with Mike Pelfrey’s control problems (and Guillermo Mota’s inability to mop up properly) though the situation curious enough to comment on (“maybe Scott Olson drove him crazy?”), as did Rebuilding Year’s Josh Rosen, noting “Kranitz was the Baseball America Coach Of The Year in 2006 and he only made $80,000.  In Miami, where the cost of living is high! The Marlins are so fucking cheap. As Dave Samson should know, you cant even buy a good penis pump for $80K.” The Sun-Sentinel’s Juan C. Rodriguez seems to concur, promising, “take it to the house, this had everything to do with money.”

The Marlins and Kranitz didn’t exactly have an easy negotiation last offseason. The Marlins finally gave him a $30,000 raise to $110,000. This year, there would be no negotiating. Kranitz would take a $5,000 raise or he could go elsewhere.The Marlins wanted an answer Sunday. Kranitz was not prepared to give one. No waythe Marlins were going to leave open the door in the event Kranitz didn’t land a more lucrative position.

You have to think Kranitz will emerge from this OK. Joe Girardi likely will get a managerial job this offseason and Kranitz probably is the first guy he’ll call.

Beinfest was complimentary of Kranitz’s performance considering the injuries and personnel he had to work with. When 26 different pitchers take the mound over the course of a season, it doesn’t matter who the pitching coach is.

As far as who might replace Kranitz, have to think the Marlins will give Mark Wiley another sniff. Wiley was the pitching coach here in 2005, which happened to be the year Dontrelle Willis won 22 games. The Marlins hired Girardi the following offseason and he wanted to bring in his own guy.

Have heard Leo Mazzone might be done in Baltimore, but I would cross him off the list. Mazzone is the Rudy Jaramillo of pitching coaches. In other words, too expensive for the Marlins to consider. Had Kranitz accepted the raise, he still would have been the worst compensated major league pitching coach for a third straight year.