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Considering that I haven’t said much about baseball during spring training, I thought that this article would be appropriate. Opening Day for the 2012 Major League Baseball season is this week with the Cubs opening up on Thursday and the White Sox opening up on Friday. Normally I look forward to opening day. But this year not so much.
I was hoping that the Cubs would have a brighter future with Theo Epstien at the helm. I was also hoping for things to change for the better when the White Sox announced that they would be changing managers for 2012. But that was not the case on either side of town. Theo Epstein did almost little to nothing in the free agent market, and the Sox made a sentimental hire instead of grabbing either Bobby Valentine or Terry Francona when they had the chance.
While Robin Ventura is one of the most respected Sox players of all-time, but he has very little experience as a coach and no experience as a manager. This is just another one of Kenny Williams’ many questionable decisions. I was really hoping that after Ozzie Guillen left that Williams would shy away from White Sox alumni. Kenny Williams should have been fired years ago.
Not only did he not bring in a proven manager, he did not make any major moves in free agency, he built yet another questionable pitching staff, and he still holding out hope that the much older veteran leadership will carry the team again. A.J. Pierzynski and Paul Konerko are getting older and aren’t as productive anymore. Jake Peavy never seems to stay healthy, and then there’s the question of weather or not Adam Dunn will rebound from a miserable 2011 season.
There’s also the question of who the closer will be now that Sergio Santos is gone. Perhaps Dayan Viciedo, Alejandro De Aza, and Tyler Flowers will be the bright spots for the White Sox this season. The Cubs have just as many question marks if not more. They didn’t make a serious offer to Prince Fielder, they didn’t even try to get Albert Pujols, and they also failed to land a proven manager.
The Cubs already have Starlin Castro, Alfonso Soriano, and Marlon Byrd. Someone like Pujols or Fielder would have been an excellent edition to this team. The Cubs instead are building the team around Castro, Brian LaHair, Darwin Barney, and Tony Campana. Now I understand Theo Epstien’s approach to investing for the future…..
But after 100 plus years of not winning a world series, I think he was better off at least trying to win for 2012. But instead it looks like we’ll waiting for next year again. The Cubs also have questions with their pitchers as well. Ryan Dempster had his worst season as a major leaguer in 2011, can he rebound with a good 2012? Can Matt Garza rebound from a subpar 2011 season?
Is Jeff Samardzija ready for the big time? And what about the bullpen? It looks like Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol will be rotating as closers again. So unless either baseball team can prove me wrong this year, it is going to be a long season. If neither team is contending at the all-star break, expect the Cubs to unload Byrd, Soriano, and Garza’s salaries.
You can also expect the White Sox to finally pull the plug on Konerko and Pierzynski, and perhaps Jake Peavy as well. At the moment, most Chicago fans are praying that the Bulls and Blackhawks will be playing through June. And on a side note, the NFL has announced a new deal with Nike to make the 2012 NFL playing uniforms.
Reebok had the honor of doing so from 2001-2011. The Bears also had their uniforms previously made by Nike from 1997-2000. Here is how the 2012 NFL uniforms will look: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/nike-releases-nfl-uniform-designs-sehawks-major-overhaul-192520103.html;_ylt=AhfRyFgEQp400IdIKCkGcJH0Ycp_;_ylu=X3oDMTRuamFsbzljBGNjb2RlA3ZzaGFyZWFnMgRtaXQDRmVhdHVyZWQgQmxvZ3MgQ09SRQRwa2cDZjk2ZWYwMzQtZjI4OC0zNmU0LTk1ZmItZmNkMTI3YTg1ZDA0BHBvcwMyBHNlYwNNZWRpYUJMaXN0TWl4ZWRMUENBBHZlcgMxNTZjZjMzMC03ZGU1LTExZTEtYWY5Zi1iMWQ0ZDc0NDg3ODE-;_ylg=X3oDMTM3dWduaDdpBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDNzBiNWI1NDMtNDgyMi0zMGI1LWIwMTUtYWU1MmIzNjFhMWM0BHBzdGNhdANtbWF8Y2FnZXdyaXRlcgRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2UEdGVzdAM-;_ylv=3
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Kiss him goodbye. Ozzie is off to a team that had a game that drew less than 1,000 people this year. Who says money isn't everything?
“People are happy after they make money, f— it.’’-Ozzie Guillen
Wowoweewah is it gonna be quiet around this town. The Bears look DOA (hey, at least they’re under the cap to the tune of about $19 mil…Woot for the McCaskeys making 19 mil more this year!), The Cubs are deader than dead for year 103 and counting, and The Bulls look like they’ll be on the shelf til January if not for the entire season. Now this: Reminiscent of when Ditka was shown the door in ’93, The Sox are apparently parting ways with the manager who brought them their first championship in 88 years in 2005.
Come Tuesday morning, the silence on the South Side could be more deafening than golden.
Until then, Ozzie Guillen was going to spend his final days on the White Sox managerial post much like he came in to it – saying whatever he wants, wherever he wants, whenever he wants.
According to multiple sources, the Sox and Florida Marlins are in the final stages of completing a deal that will send the never-boring Guillen to South Beach, ending his eight-year stay with the organization he grew up in as a player and helped guide to a World Series in 2005 as a second-year manager.
The end is expected to become at the conclusion of Monday night’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays at U.S. Cellular Field, sources said. Sources also said Guillen told his players before the game that it would be his last as Sox manager.
As far as the coaching staff, expect mass changes there, as well, all except pitching coach Don Cooper, who according to sources, already has a deal on the table to stay with the organization.
What Guillen would talk about on the record to reporters on Monday was that he indeed met with board chairman Jerry Reinsdorf earlier in the afternoon at the United Center, and “We talked about it for maybe 30, 35 minutes. I told Jerry to do this meeting back in Mexico because no matter where we do the meeting, people are going to talk and they’re going to put me in this situation we’re in right now. Yes we talked about it. We talked about different things, my future here, how we’re going to do it, what he thinks about the ballclub, what way we’re going. I left the meeting with nothing.’’
Guillen didn’t exactly slam the door on possibly returning for next season, but it was more bob and weave, almost leaving the ball back in Reinsdorf’s court.
“I just told him how I feel,’’ Guillen said. “I feel like I should be back here for more years. If not, well, you know how I feel. I don’t want to be here if that happens. That decision doesn’t have to be made. I’m still under the White Sox’ contract and we’ll see what happens.’’
Sources have indicated, however, that privately Guillen walked away from the meeting knowing his days with the Sox are over, and the talk was more about the details of the split. It was not heated, and if anything, emotional from both sides.
General manager Ken Williams was not involved, and considering Guillen and Williams have not had any real conversations over the last month, it was probably better that Williams wasn’t there.
As far as what Guillen was looking for from the Sox all along, he pulled no punches on that.
“F— more years. I want more money,’’ Guillen said. “I don’t work here for years. No, I want more money. Years, what, I’m going to die poor with the White Sox? Hell, no. Listen this is my job. It’s the only thing I can do. I have to make money out of somewhere. I’m not a doctor or a lawyer, where you’ll have a job for the rest of your life.
“Life is about money. People don’t believe that. People are happy after they make money, f— it.’’
READ MORE HERE
Source: http://www.suntimes.com/7895136-417/ozzie-guillen-out-managing-last-sox-game-tonight-sources-say.html
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