I liked Del Rio as a character, but i can understand why he was removed from command.
"oh hey Del Rio! what's up?"
"you know that guy who saved us all and has been right about saving us a bunch of times but died??"
"yeah?"
"He's alive."
"What!?! where is he?"
"He said he needed to do something to save earth, but i thought it was a load of crap so i left him there."
Totally deserved it.