
Reports: Valentine fired, Guillen next?
On Thursday morning, just hours before the Red Sox officially relieved Valentine of his duties, ESPN’s Buster Olney Tweeted that the Marlins organization is “actively seeking a replacement” for Guillen, with the Tweet also pondering whether or not the team would simply fire him without having a replacement lined up.
It has been a whirlwind 13 months for Guillen, who last September was under contract to manage the Chicago White Sox in 2013. However, on September 26, 2012, with just three games left in the season, White Sox GM Kenny Williams, who had many personal clashes with Guillen over their years together, released the skipper from his contract; two days later, the Marlins announced Guillen's hire, giving him a four-year, $10 million contract and sending two Minor Leaguers to Chicago as compensation for waiving the final year of his deal.
With Guillen on board, team brass then spent liberally on free agents including Jose Reyes, Heath Bell, and Mark Buehrle last winter, with their $118 million total payroll ending up as baseball’s seventh-highest. However, like Valentine's Red Sox, the Marlins finished last in their division with a disappointing 69-93 record despite that spending spree - and, like Valentine himself, Guillen, who has long been one of the most outspoken men in Major League Baseball, got himself in hot water more than once this season off the field. He was suspended for five games during the season for comments made referencing Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, and feuded with Bell late in the year after the deposed closer made comments implying a lack of respect toward his manager.
If Guillen is let go, it would be the second time he went "one and done" on the Marlins' staff; back in 2003, Guillen was the third base coach for the Marlins team that won the World Series, but left to take the White Sox' managerial job that offseason.
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroYES
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