ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Florida Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez unexpectedly resigned with his team on a nine-game losing streak, frustrated with his last-place club after less than one year on the job.
Bench coach Brandon Hyde managed the Marlins against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday in a 2-1 defeat as Florida lost its 10th straight game. The club will begin a search for an interim manager.
"I can't say enough about the effort that this staff and these players have put into this season," Rodriguez said in a statement released by the team. "I could tell that they continued to give 100 percent effort each and every day on the field. I wish this organization and players nothing but success in their futures."
Hyde and former Marlins manager Jack McKeon, 80, were being considered, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney. Nationals third base coach Bo Porter, a former Marlins coach, was also on the list of candidates to consider, a Florida front-office source told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark.
ESPN baseball analyst and former manager Bobby Valentine said he likely wasn't among the possible replacements.
"As far as I know, I'm not a candidate for that job," Valentine told Olney.
Rodriguez was in his first full season as the Marlins' manager. The Marlins would not have made a change if Rodriguez had not resigned, a team source told Stark.
"It's been extremely frustrating for everyone," Florida president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest said. "I think everyone here knows what is going on -- the way we've played, the way we've performed. It's tough on everyone, especially (Rodriguez).
"He communicated with me early this morning that this was something he was thinking about, and when I got to the ballpark we accepted his resignation.
Rodriguez became interim manager June 23 of last year after Fredi Gonzalez was fired. He was given the job permanently five days later, becoming the first Puerto Rican-born manager in major league history. Florida went 46-46 under Rodriguez, who had opened the season as the Marlins' Triple-A manager in New Orleans.
"This was an extremely frustrated, proud man," Beinfest said. "This kind of caught us a little off guard. I know there's been a lot of speculation, everything, but this is not something I thought was going to happen today."
The Marlins fell to 1-18 in June with Sunday's loss to the Rays. They were 32-40 and in last place in the NL East, 13 games behind the Phillies, who played later in the afternoon.
The Marlins' recent slide can be attributed in part to the struggles of ace Josh Johnson and shortstop Hanley Ramirez.
Johnson, who led the NL in 2010 with a 2.30 ERA, has been on the disabled list since mid-May with right shoulder inflammation.
Ramirez, the anchor of their lineup, is batting .204 with four homers and 17 RBIs after spending two weeks on the disabled list with an injured back.
Beinfest said the team would move quickly to bring in an interim manager.
"So we can move ahead with the business of playing baseball and trying to win games," he said. "When you have a change like this, with a popular person, I think it's tough on a lot of people. You just need to go play baseball, and that's first and foremost."
Beinfest informed the players of Rodriguez's decision during a team meeting before Sunday's game.
Rodriguez was at the ballpark and talked with individual players in the manager's office. He didn't speak with reporters.
"It was surprising, I guess, but I think it's more shocking," Marlins infielder Wes Helms said. "Right now, nothing is going right for us. Right now, it's all negative with the Marlins, that's the way it is. It's tough to swallow, it really is. I do know he did everything he could. We didn't do our job as a team."
"I'm sure he had a lot of sleepless nights," Helms added. "I can't speak for him ... I'm sure it was just killing him or he wouldn't have done it. There's only so much you can take mentally and physically in anything in life. I'm just sure he had enough and couldn't do it anymore."
Florida first baseman Gaby Sanchez said the players have to respect the decision.
"It's definitely difficult," Sanchez said. "We have to continue to play hard, go out there and keep fighting. The season is not over. It's just one of those things where we have to move forward."
Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon believes Rodriguez was thinking about what was best for his team
"He's one of the nicest, most decent men I've met in this game, and it's unfortunate that he has to feel the weight of this whole moment because it's not his fault," Maddon said. "He's worked so hard to get to this point. They were doing so well a couple weeks ago. That's the strange part about it. We just played them down there and they beat us two out of three. They were playing good baseball."
Beinfest did not rule out additional changes.
"When you go the way we've been going, I think everything is on the table," Beinfest said. "I'm probably on the table as well, and rightfully so. It's been a very difficult period and I think when you go through these things you can't rule anything out."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.