The Marlins have wanted Ozzie Guillen as their manager for years, and now it's expected to happen,
as Joe Cowley writes.
There are rival baseball executives and scouts who have been rooting for this to happen, because everybody loves a good circus. The Marlins will now have baseball's most volatile and outspoken manager working for the most reactive owner, Jeffrey Loria. The whole world has heard the stories about how Joe Girardi yelled at Loria during a game and how Loria had to be talked out of firing Girardi that day, about how Fredi Gonzalez was nearly fired about 6,832 times.
"There's no way those two guys can co-exist," said one GM. "I bet they don't make it out of spring training."
Here's a foolhardy prediction: Guillen and Loria will get along fine.
If you look back at Guillen's time with the White Sox, his seemingly random explosions were aimed at players, general manager Kenny Williams, umpires, reporters -- just everybody. Except one guy.
White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, Ozzie's boss. Guillen may seem a little crazy at times, but he's very smart, and the guess here is that he'll work it out with Loria, for at least a while.
A larger question is the overall impact on the Marlins' baseball operations department, which has been solely responsible for keeping the franchise competitive over the last eight years. While Loria slashed the team's budget to the point where the Marlins' entire roster was making about half as much money as
Alex Rodriguez -- remember how they had a payroll of
$15 million in 2006? -- GM Larry Beinfest and his staff have continually re-plowed the few resources he's been given and fielded the likes of
Hanley Ramirez,
Dan Uggla,
Josh Johnson and
Mike Stanton. Fans in South Florida may not have found the Marlins interesting, but they have never really bottomed out the way other teams have.
But now there is a perception within some corners of the Marlins' front office that Loria is going to take a more direct role in player personnel decisions, and that Beinfest and Co. will have less influence. That could be a problem.
Keep in mind, though, that for the Marlins, there are two separate challenges: (1) building a good team, and (2) building an interesting team. And there is no question that Guillen makes the Marlins more interesting, more relevant. A really smart, experienced baseball man talked recently about what he would do if he were to take over a franchise. "I'd hire Ozzie Guillen, because he puts you on the map," the smart guy said. "When he says something, he gets everyone angry, or laughing, or whatever. Talk radio will be talking about your team, the columnists will be writing about your team. Who paid attention to the White Sox in Chicago before Ozzie took over?"
The question was rhetorical, of course.
The smart guy continued: "Besides picking up a superstar player, Ozzie Guillen might have more value to the franchise than anyone."
Reinsdorf had to choose between Guillen and Williams, whose relationship seemed like an eight-year marriage that went on three years too long. If Reinsdorf's preference was to keep Williams, then he had to get rid of Guillen.
But the Marlins are making a wise choice in hiring Ozzie, who will make their new ballpark much more interesting in 2012.
Fasten your seat belts in Miami,
writes Greg Cote. The Marlins know they will need more than a stadium to draw fans,
writes Joe Capozzi.
Ozzie wants to buy a boat,
as Rick Morrissey writes. Guillen talked his way out of the job,
writes Phil Rogers. Kenny Williams is now left to look for replacements,
writes Toni Ginnetti.
A.J. Pierzynski and
Paul Konerko are grateful for their time with Guillen,
writes Toni Ginnetti.
Ozzie Guillen's time with the White Sox, from ESPN Stats & Info:
Wins -- 677 (3rd in team rankings)
Winning percent -- .523 (7th)
Winning seasons -- 5 (T-2nd)
Division Titles -- 2 (1st)
Jack McKeon is stepping aside,
writes Craig Davis.
[h3]Notables[/h3]
• If the Red Sox are going to somehow avoid historic ignominy, they will have to do the work themselves now; the Yankees will be pitching a lot of B-listers and C-listers today and tomorrow, and the Rays should have a significant advantage over the next two days. It's up to Boston to find a way, and the Red Sox couldn't do it Monday;
Josh Beckett couldn't
hold a lead, and
James Shields did, and Boston and Tampa Bay are tied.
Look, the injuries at the back end of the Boston rotation have hurt; the Red Sox have missed
Clay Buchholz, and they've missed
Daisuke Matsuzaka. But the September collapse falls on the shoulders, to a high degree, on the late-season failures of
Jon Lester and Beckett. They are supposed to be the aces of this team, in stature and in salary, and they have been lousy this month.
Lester and Beckett this month, combined:
Starts: 9
Red Sox record in their starts: 2-7
Outings in which Beckett/Lester pitched into the seventh inning: 3
ERA: 5.73
If the Red Sox complete their collapse in the next 72 hours and its history is written, Lester and Beckett will have to be placed near the top of the pyramid of blame.
After Boston's win late Sunday night in the second game of the doubleheader against the Yankees, the Red Sox players focused on the fact that they could still control their own destiny. Even today, they still can: If they win the next three days, they will make the playoffs. But the Rays can say the same thing, and unlike Boston, Tampa Bay's pitching is perfectly aligned and rested.
The Red Sox have choked,
writes Scott Lauber. Their catching situation is a mess, because both
Jason Varitek and
Jarrod Saltalamacchia are
hurt.
Red Sox lead in wild card this month:
Sept. 2 -- 9
Sept. 10 -- 4.5
Sept. 18 -- 2
Monday -- 0
Monday was the Rays' first day in the wild-card lead since May 23.
If you haven't had a chance to see Desmond Jennings' incredible catch Monday night, make a point of doing so; his teammates were in awe,
as Joe Smith writes.
James Shields was the Man for the Rays,
as Marc Topkin writes.
From ESPN Stats & Info, how Shields won:
A) He continued his season-long success with the changeup. Yankee hitters were 0-for-10 with two strikeouts in at-bats ending with Shields' changeup. This is his seventh start this season allowing no hits against his changeup, recording 10 or more outs with the pitch in five of those starts.
B) Shields had success when he kept the ball to his throwing arm side of the plate. Yankee lefties were 1-for-12 in at-bats ending with pitches away, including 0-for-7 against the changeup, and righties were 0-for-2 in at-bats ending with pitches inside.
C) Shields induced 12 ground-ball outs Monday, the second-most in one of his starts this season. Nine of the 12 outs came against lefties, including both double plays.
The Rays' impossible dream is near,
writes Martin Fennelly.
From good friend Pedro Gomez: In 10 seasons, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were 327 games under .500. In four seasons, the Tampa Bay
Rays are 86 games
over .500.
The Angels were
eliminated.
• The Cardinals
squandered a chance to tie the Braves, who lost to the Phillies.
NL No. 2 seed: The Diamondbacks lost and are behind the Brewers --
who also lost -- but their greatest concern now is the condition of
Justin Upton, who may or may not have
a concussion issue.
Jarrod Parker will make his
major league debut on Tuesday night.
It looks like
Yovani Gallardo is going to start Game 1 of the postseason for the Brewers,
writes Tom Haudricourt.
AL No. 2 seed: Doug Fister was
great for the Tigers, but Texas won again and leads in the race for the second-best AL record.
From ESPN Stats & Info, how Fister shut down the Indians:
A) Fister did not allow a baserunner until the fourth inning, and did not allow a runner to reach second base until the eighth inning due to an error. Fister also did not walk a batter, his third consecutive start without allowing a free pass.
B) He kept the ball off the middle of the plate. Fister threw 94 of his 109 pitches (86.2 percent) to either the inside or outside part of the plate, and had just one plate appearance end with a pitch down the middle vertically, an eighth-inning strikeout.
C) He got ahead in the count. Fister threw a first-pitch strike to 19 of the 27 hitters he faced, and went to 2-0 counts on just three hitters, retiring them all. Fister threw just one pitch in a three-ball count the entire game, inducing a fly out on a 3-2 count.
D) Fister got 15 swing-and-misses Monday, the highest tally of his career. Six of the swing and misses came on sliders, two more than he has generated with the pitch in any other start in his career. Five of the six were out of the strike zone. Overall, seven of Fister's nine strikeouts were swinging, and five of those were on pitches out of the zone, which ties a career high.
C.J. Wilson had
a rough outing.
Elvis Andrus is confident about
playing in the postseason.
Miguel Cabrera is on the verge of winning the batting title,
as John Lowe writes.
• The horse-trading that is going on in the labor talks is along these lines: The owners are asking for an expanded playoff format, to 10 teams, and the players want two 15-team leagues. The players would prefer a one-game winner-take-all playoff for the two wild-card teams, under the proposed format, while some owners want a best-of-three, in order to ensure at least one home game for a team that makes the playoffs. The players' primary concern about a three-game playoff is that the other teams would have to sit and wait for four or five days -- too long, in their estimation.
The owners' primary concern about the two 15-team leagues is whether they can market interleague play, which is currently bundled into a couple of short windows. An odd number of teams in each league requires interleague play to be played from the first day to the last in the season.
And keep in mind that a natural solution to that problem is something that nobody is close to being ready to talk about now, given all the problems with the franchises in Los Angeles, Tampa Bay, Oakland and Cleveland -- future expansion. Years down the road, each league could add a team and expand to two 16-team leagues, which the union would embrace, because of the added jobs. To repeat: Expansion is not being talked about by anyone now.
Negotiating over the playoff format and realignment could be done within the next couple of weeks, and the current goal remains to get the labor talks completed by the end of the World Series. It's unclear whether Major League Baseball is going to push very hard for a slotting system.
• Frank McCourt wants access to financial records of other teams,
writes Bill Shaikin.
[h3]Moves, deals and decisions[/h3]
1. Dodgers GM Ned Colletti says he'll have the money to try to sign
Matt Kemp and others,
writes T.J. Simers.
2. The Rockies will announce decisions on the coaching staff Wednesday,
writes Troy Renck.
3.
Brett Pill will get a chance to be part of the 2012 Giants,
writes Ron Kroichick.
4. It
doesn't seem likely that
Coco Crisp will be back next year.
5.
Oakland is undecided about whether to sign
Hideki Matsui.
6. The Cubs are likely to reconcile with Ryne Sandberg, and he might be the team's next manager,
writes Gordon Wittenmyer.
7. A decision on the next general manager for Baltimore is coming soon,
as Dan Connolly writes. The O's are early in the process of identifying candidates.
8.
Mark Buehrle wants to pitch another
two or three more years.
9. Aroldis Chapman's role is
undefined.
[h3]Dings and dents[/h3]
1.
Adam Wainwright is
playing catch.
[h3]Monday's games[/h3]
1. Matt Kemp moved closer to a
40-40 season.
2. The Phillies picked up their 100th victory,
as David Murphy writes.
3. As the Rays and Red Sox fight over the wild-card spot, the Yankees are following
their own agenda. As it should be; they've earned that right, by finishing with the best record in the AL. It's time for the Yankees to
get sharp for the playoffs.
By the way: There appears to be a good chance that
Raul Valdes will be part of the Yankees' postseason roster, at some point.
Phil Hughes is disappointed he's going to be working out of the New York bullpen,
as Pete Caldera writes.
4.
Vladimir Guerrero had a milestone hit, on the
same night that the Orioles clipped the Red Sox.
5.
Melky Cabrera racked up his 201st hit, in
another Kansas City victory. His hitting coach
appreciates the milestone. By the way,
Mike Moustakas' month-to-month batting average: .160 in July, .283 in August and .329 in September.
6.
Jhoulys Chacin threw well in
his final start.
7.
Ryan Vogelsong finished the year
strongly.
8.
Mat Latos was excellent in
his last start.
9. Kevin Slowey's lost season came to
a fitting end.
10.
Alex Presley sparked the Pirates.
11. Mike Morse got
a big hit.
12.
Jose Reyes had three hits, and has a shot at the organization's
first batting title.
13.
Chris Heisey gave the Reds
a lift.
14.
Ubaldo Jimenez got
pounded in his last start of the season.
15. The Astros won with a
walk-off bunt.
