The Marlins loaded up this season trying to build excitement for the future. There were a lot of new changes for the Florida Marlins: new stadium, new name, new logo, new jerseys, new players, and a new manager. The name seemed to work (Miami Marlins). Two of their three key free agent acquisitions panned out (Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle). The logo and jerseys could have been better. The stadium should have been smaller. But most of all, the manager search could of, and should of, extended longer.
The Miami Marlins didn't just sign new manager Ozzie Guillen, they traded for him. You know, that thing teams do with players. Well the Marlins decided to do it with a manager. Guillen, the longtime Chicago White Sox manager, had lost control of his promising 2011 White Sox team. The team wound up 3rd in the AL Central at 79-83. It was the third time one of his teams went other .500, the others being 2007 (72-90) and 2009 (79-83). Under .500 three times in five years is not very good, especially when each team was competitive. The Marlins ignored all this though and acquired him anyways. I guess they figured that a change of scenery would get him back on track. Well, it didn't.
A mere week into his first season, Guillen angered a lot of people in Florida when he came out in support of Fidel Castro (kind of). In an interview with Time magazine, Guillen had this to say about Castro:
"I love Fidel Castro ... I respect Fidel Castro. You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that motherf-er is still here."
While this is technically support, it is more of a backhand compliment. Guillen didn't say he loved Castro for the evil he has done, but because he's dodged death so long. It is still wrong to say, especially in Florida where there are many Cuban-born people. The Marlins suspended five games for the comments. Upon return from suspension he took a vow of silence, including using Twitter, of talking about anything other than baseball.
The rest of the season hasn't been great for Guillen, either. Besides a terrific May in which the Marlins went 21-8, the Marlins have been under .500 every other month. Management started dumping salary in late July. Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante were sent to the Tigers and Randy Choate and Hanley Ramirez were sent to the Dodgers. Once this happened, the Marlins essentially threw in the white towel on the season, and the speculation about Guillen being fired started. Guillen has stated he's not worried about being fire and that he actually believes he'll be the Marlins manager next year. When asked again about his job situation, Guillen said, "If Jeffrey doesn't think I'm doing the job I should do ... it's not the first time he's fired a manager. Look yourself in the mirror and ask why so many (expletive) managers come through here." A comment that obviously angered his boss, and owner of the Marlins, Jeffrey Loria.
Most recently a player has spoken out against Guillen. Former Padres closer, Heath Bell, who lost the closer job in Miami earlier this season, described Guillen unkindly. Though his comments about his manager were indirect, he was clearly referring to him. He had this to say about Guillen:
Bell is clearly bothered that he never got the chance to regain his closer job. His numbers are not good and haven't been good all season. But his quote indicates that Guillen might have told him one thing and acted in a completely opposite manner. If this is the case, that something you don't do as a manager. Hard to get the team behind you when they don't trust you.
The writing has been on the wall for awhile now in regards to Guillen's job status. If management was going to give him and the team a second chance, they wouldn't have started dumping players in July. Also, Guillen was going to need a phenomenal season in order to keep his job after his Castro comments. Without that phenomenal season, there is no justification for keeping a man that has fallen out of favor with a majority of your fan base. Management announced recently that more salary would be dumped in the offseason, which is another reason to start over at manager as well. Guillen is not kind of manager to preside over a rebuilding project. Considering that Robin Ventura, a rookie manager at all baseball levels, is guiding basically the same White Sox team to the playoffs, I think Guillen can't even manage a good team anymore. The outspoken Guillen has run his course in the major leagues. He led the White Sox to a title in 2005, now it's time he leads Twitter in most outrageous tweets.
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