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Ozzie is leaving on a jetplane


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QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Sep 20, 2011 -> 12:21 PM)
Perhaps Mr. Reinsdorf can say to the Marlins "Sure, you can have Guillen, but you have to take Rios with him. They come as a set." That could be one creative way to remove that albatross of a contract.

 

Love it. It would be like KW haunting him in his new digs.

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How about some Phil Rogers while I'm at it.

Jerry Reinsdorf is positioned to receive some form of compensation from Florida if he allows Guillen to leave with one year left on his contract. This is how it appears Guillen’s run with the White Sox will end. He wants a long-term, big-money contract and the launch of a new stadium gives the Marlins more reason to meet those demands than Reinsdorf, who has to be crushed to have one playoff win in six years since the 2005 championship.

 

But here’s a question: If Reinsdorf is positioned to orchestrate this painful transition, who is he going to get as his manager?

 

You know he’s not going to launch a truly open-minded search when he has been able to see this coming for months, if not years. The Tony La Russa/Reinsdorf connection is hard to miss, as USA Today’s Bob Nightengale recently wrote about.

 

He’s the favorite to take over for Guillen (even if he has said he won’t manage anywhere after leaving St. Louis). He seems headed for some upper-management, non-GM position with the White Sox. It would not be that much of a stretch for Reinsdorf to ask him to manage for one or two years before turning the team over to Joe McEwing, the Sox’s Triple-A manager and a La Russa favorite from Ewing's playing days in St. Louis.

 

But a lot of people around the Cardinals think La Russa is staying put for at least one more year in St. Louis. They point to last week’s Chris Carpenter contract extension as proof that management is committed to winning next year whether Albert Pujols stays or leaves.

 

And there’s one downside to a jump to Chicago that is bigger than you’d think with La Russa. He’d have to manage against his best friend, the Tigers’ Jim Leyland.

 

We saw in the 2006 World Series how painful that is. La Russa couldn’t bring himself to ask the umpires to check Detroit ace Kenny Rogers for a foreign substance even when FOX was drawing circles around a dab of something suspicious on the thumb of his glove.

 

Without La Russa, it becomes difficult to pinpoint Guillen’s successor. Here’s a look at some of the possibilities:

 

Joey Cora – Guillen’s double-play partner and bench coach has been a successor in waiting for years. He’s ready to manage, and could offer Reinsdorf the best of Guillen without the non-stop soundtrack and a family infatuation with social media. The question is whether Cora would change a complacent culture that has contributed to chronic slow starts.

McEwing – He’s young (38) and aggressive, a little like a young La Russa. It’s hard to imagine anyone’s recommendation would mean more than La Russa’s.

Bobby Valentine – He managed his first big-league game at Comiskey Park. He has taken teams to the World Series in New York and Japan, and is doing excellent work as an ESPN analyst. Like Reinsdorf, he’s very involved in community activities. He’d be a force back in a dugout, especially if he could convince broadcast partner Orel Hershiser to join him as bench coach (could one dugout be big enough for Hershiser and Don Cooper?). He’s a tough manager and a team relying on Adam Dunn, Alex Rios and Jake Peavy needs one.

Ryne Sandberg – Yes, that Ryne Sandberg. Reinsdorf wouldn’t be hiring him to stick it to the Cubs. He’d be hiring him because he’s a no-nonsense, old-school guy who has paid his dues in the minors, getting great results in each of the last three seasons in the high minors.

Jim Fregosi – Here’s a tough manager if Reinsdorf wants one. It’s been almost 20 years since he took the Phillies to the World Series, and he hasn’t been in the dugout since 2000. But at 69 he still burns to manage another team that can win. Wouldn’t it be something if it was La Russa’s successor with the White Sox who got a second chance, not La Russa?

Don Baylor – Another tough guy looking to run his own team again. He’s been part of the amazing success story in Arizona, elevating his visibility.

Carlton Fisk – Reinsdorf isn’t afraid to make bold moves. What would be bolder than Fisk in the dugout with a veteran bench coach (Fregosi?) and Frank Thomas as the hitting coach?

 

Feel free to e-mail suggestions. There’s still a little time before this starts to play out.

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QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 20, 2011 -> 01:06 PM)
This really bothers me. How the f*** is this even an option? Does the chairman and his lackeys even watch the Sox play? Ozzie is a buffoon.

 

I truly believe that Reinsdorf is a smart man. He's surely not dumb enough to actually follow the logic of that quote. It seems more like a ploy to raise (or not diminish, at minimum) the value Ozzie can bring back in a trade to Florida.

 

This quote, though:

 

Yes, I'll take the blame because I don’t make an excuse for anything.

 

Well, it's laughable. I also enjoyed how he followed that sentence up by saying that he was given a good team, though. Perhaps the Ozzie fellators will take that to heart :lol:

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QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 20, 2011 -> 01:02 PM)

 

There is about zero chance this is settled immediately after the season. Even if they end up bringing him back, they probably will explore an extention that won't take a day or two to settle. If they aren't bringing him back, they will look to get something for him, instead of letting him go to Florida for nothing.

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QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 20, 2011 -> 03:30 PM)
Weren't there rumors Fregosi is someone that KW reached out to a few months ago?

 

I sure hadn't heard them. Honestly you can throw Bobby Valentine into the crazy list as well. It will be another manager with little, or no experience. Guys like Sandberg and McEwing make the most sense to me.

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QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 20, 2011 -> 03:32 PM)
Any experience at all of managing on his part?

Via wiki:

Hershiser has served as a pitching coach for the Texas Rangers, and later in a front-office position with the same team, and as an analyst (both in print and in broadcasting) for ESPN.

 

In October 2005 Hershiser was a finalist to replace Jim Tracy as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, but instead opted to resign from his current job as the Texas Rangers pitching coach and join their front office as Executive Director. Grady Little was eventually hired by the Dodgers instead. As of October 2006 Hershiser was mentioned as a possible replacement for Ken Macha of the Oakland Athletics, however he was ultimately passed over for Bob Geren.

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Some of those names Rogers lists are awful.

 

I don't want Joey Cora managing this team. He's just more of the same and won't change the culture of the team. When Ozzie goes, Cora, Walker, and probably Baines have to leave. The rest, I don't care either way.

 

I'm on the Sandy Alomar or Dave Martinez bandwagon.

 

And as much as I don't like La Russa personally, I'd put up with him for a year or two if Joe McEwing is on the bench with him.

Edited by flavum
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