Miami Marlins Fire Ozzie Guillen

After just one season, Ozzie Guillen is out in Miami as manager

By Hannah McCaffrey

(AP Photo)

The Miami Marlins released a statement Tuesday afternoon stating that that manager Ozzie Guillen is no longer part of the Marlins organization.  USA Today reported a statement by the Marlins president Larry Beinfast regarding Guillen’s termination:

“After careful consideration following the disappointment of the 2012 season, we decided to dismiss Ozzie.  Our hope is that a new manager, along with roster improvements, will restore a winning culture.”

Despite three years and $7.5 million remaining on Guillen’s contract, the Marlins determined that he needed to go.   The Marlins finished the season as the frustrating last placed team in the National League East with a 69-93 record.  However, the losing season was just one of the many factors that lead to firing Guillen.

Despite a losing record, Ozzie Guillen’s one year management stint with the Marlins was far from uneventful.  Guillen’s display of outbursts and antics did not come from out of the blue; he already had a reputation for this type of behavior when he managed the Chicago White Sox.  Guillen created an especially notable media frenzy when he decided to voice his admiration for Cuban Dictator Fidel Castro.  Things quickly unraveled from there as Guillen continued to have problems with fans, players, and the front office.

The Marlins seem eager to clean house and put this unfortunate season behind them as quickly as possible.  In addition to firing Ozzie Guillen, The Marlins also traded pitcher Heath Bell to the Arizona Diamondbacks.  The Marlins got rid of most of Bell’s $21 million contract and received two prospects, Yordy Cabrera and Chris Young.

Losing a manager and a starting pitcher all within a week, and not really gaining anything in return.  There are rumors of Alex Rodriguez possibly coming to Miami, but how realistic that is, no one can really say for sure yet.  It seems that this may be just the start for the Marlins housekeeping, they are in for an extremely eventful off-season.

That Guy

Every team has them. It's the guy you can always blame, for better or for worse. by Mike Izzo

AP Photo/Tony Gutier

Last week spring training finally began and baseball fans were greeted with some expected story lines: Albert Pujols won’t sign a contract! The Phillies can pitch… even better than before! The Steinbrenners have negative things to say about their players! Carmelo Anthony got traded to the Knicks…sorry, wrong sport. They seem to show it everywhere I’ve been getting a little confused!

One story that we didn’t expect? Miguel Cabrera taking a swig of scotch in front of a police officer while behind the wheel. But really this one is on the fans. We should have seen it coming. After all, of all the Detroit Tigers to screw up, Cabrera would be “that guy”. It got me thinking, which other “that guy’s” could factor into this upcoming season.

First, our rating system. 

 1 Swig of Scotch: Not a huge deal. Can be a problem, but only if you're reaching for one.

 2 Swig of Scotch: He's done it before, but it's not exactly a habit.

 3 Swigs of Scotch: He's going to cause a problem, but how big of one?

4 Swigs of Scotch: Causes chaos in an already chaotic situation. 

 5 Swigs of Scotch: Absolutely combustible personality. He's going to cause a problem and it's going to be catastrophic.

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Now, onto our picks for the 2011 "that guy's" of MLB.

Stephen Strasburg, SP, Washington Nationals

How long until a team gets tired of hearing about nothing but one rookie pitcher? My guess would be about 6-8 months ago. Now how annoying must those questions be a second year in a row, especially when the guy isn’t even pitching? I’m guessing it was a factor in Adam Dunn running for greener pastures, along with a slew of free agents the eager Nationals missed out on (though they did give the moon to Jason Werth). Sorry Strasburg, you seem like a stand up individual, but due to no real fault of your own, you’re D.C.’s “that guy.”

Alex Rodriquez, 3B, New York Yankees

Just because he successfully maneuvered himself out of popcorn-gate, doesn’t mean he’s home free for the season. Since coming to the Yankees, this guy’s got a track record for controversy to rival Mike Tyson (or at least Ron Artest). So what could plague him this year? Perhaps he still underperforms at the plate even with a good hip and starts to criticize teammates. Maybe all that steroid talk will come back around the time of Roger Clemens’ trial. My money is on him trading in Cameron Diaz for a younger model. In the past two years he’s tried Madonna, Kate Hudson, and Diaz. Now I think he starts taking old flames of teammates. Could he break up Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey just to piss of Jeter or will he take a stab at one of Nick Swisher’s Gossip Girls? With A-Rod, anything is conceivable and that’s why he’s New York’s “that guy.”

Manny Ramirez, OF, Tampa Bay Rays

You disappoint me, Tampa. I always pegged you as a smart bunch down there because you always knew who to get and who to keep. But then you lose out on Carl Crawford, panic and trade Matt Garza. To top it all off, now you have to deal with Man-Ram. I give him two months before he starts running his mouth about how wants to be traded to a better team. Just hope he doesn’t decide he wants to play outfield. You’ll be begging for the days when Jose Canseco was “that guy.”

Carlos Zambrano, SP, Chicago Cubs

The possibilities are endless. What do you think the Vegas odds are of Zambrano getting into a fight with a teammate before the all-star break? Factor in his weekly temper tantrums and shaky pitching and I fully expect a trade midway through the season. With a new home, comes a new group of reporters to piss him off, especially in New York or Los Angeles. How long until he decks one of them? Actually I’m quite afraid for anyone who gets in the way of Zambrano this season, especially if he goes to the American League and still expects to bat. Nobody needs “that guy.”

Ozzie Guillen, Manager, Chicago White Sox

You know your team is headed for trouble when “that guy” is your manager. It’s bad enough when your team isn’t hitting well, or seems to be making a costly error on a weekly basis. You don’t need your manager telling you how much you suck on top of it. Yet, it’s what Ozzie thrives on. Heck, it’s expected. Sooner or later he is going to take it too far. There are only so many times you can curse out your players, the media, the owner, the bat boy, and the barrister at Starbucks before you take it too far. Something tells me this is that season. All it takes is one profanity-riddled, offensive tirade coupled with a lengthy losing streak, and Chicago may be calling Torre, Cox, or Piniella to see if they’re over their respective retirements. And for that reason you are the 2011 pick for Major League Baseball’s “That Guy.” Wear it well, Ozzie, wear it well.

At the helm in Chicago

EP takes to the road today for Thanksgiving vacation, but first let's talk some baseball.

Ozzie Guillen has his own blog run through MLBlogs, an official blogging website for MLB personalities. Yesterday the Chicago White Sox's manager addressed rumors that he is being mentioned in trades. Florida Marlins' GM Jeffrey Loria allegedly offered Mike Stanton for Guillen this past summer, but GM Ken Williams called the supposed trade "false." Guillen just finished his seventh season as Chicago's manager. During his tenure, the White Sox have gone 600-535 and won two AL Central Division titles (2005 and 2008), one AL Pennant (2005), and one World Series Championship (2005). He won the 2005 Manager of the Year award for winning the World Series in his second season as manager.

(Chicago has had only one losing season during Guillen's tenure.)

Prior to joining the White Sox, Guillen coached third base for the Montreal Expos in 2002 and held the same position for the Marlins in 2003.

Say what you will about Guillen, but he certainly has proved himself on a major league level. It's no surprise that other franchises would be interested in acquiring his services. The White Sox need to lock Guillen up past the 2011 season, though, because he will certainly have offers in the open market.

In the meantime, check out Ozzie Speaks for all your news about the MLB's most charismatic manager.

- Jeff Laboon