OZZIE WAITING FOR LAST SHOT
Former Sox skipper says he would love chance to manage in majors again
OUSA Today Network zzie Guillen no longer is waiting around for the next major- league managerial opportunity that might or might not come, but he hasn’t lost hope.
He has too much love for the game. Too much belief in his abilities. Too much of a desire to leave baseball on his own terms to think someone won’t offer him a final chance to prove himself.
Last week, I asked Guillen the easiest of questions: Would he, the former World Series- winning manager of the White Sox, be interested in managing in the major leagues again?
‘‘ I would love it,’’ he said. ‘‘ There’s no doubt about that.’’
Guillen’s bags were halfpacked. He was scheduled to fly to Venezuela, where he is set to begin his second season as manager of Tiburones de La Guaira in the Venezuelan Winter League.
‘‘ I will be honest,’’ Guillen said. ‘‘ Scouts, [ general managers], I know for a fact they’re not saying, ‘ Go to Venezuela and watch Ozzie manage,’ ’’ he said. ‘‘ To me, I just give myself an opportunity to be happy and an opportunity to do what I love to do. To me, that’s very important in the game.’’
There might be no basis to Guillen’s name being mentioned as a candidate to replace Brad Ausmus as the Tigers’ manager next season. He might not be on GM Al Avila’s extensive list of candidates. But talk to him for a half- hour, and he will persuade you he deserves a cursory look.
Guillen, 53, is managing in his native Venezuela not because he needs the money or because he sees it as a bridge to another opportunity to the majors. He’s managing there, he said, because being a manager is part of who he is. ‘‘ You don’t know what you have until it’s gone,’’ he said.
Guillen has an extensive baseball background. After a 16- year career as a player, he took over the Sox in 2004 at age 40. One season later, they won the World Series. In eight seasons in with the Sox, he went 678617 and won two American League Central titles. He was released from his contract late in the 2011 season, his welcome worn out, and traded to the Marlins for prospects. He lasted one season in Miami.
Guillen has a reputation of being extremely outspoken, always sharing exactly what’s on his mind. It’s possible teams think the risk outweighs the reward of hiring a guy who once was considered among the best managers in the game.
‘‘ In the past, I was 47 years old and I was a baby,’’ he said. ‘‘ I’ve learned so much. But off the field, I have to show people that, ‘ Hey, listen, that crazy guy you thought I am? Ask my players who I am, who really I am, and just give me an opportunity to change your mind.’ ’’
Since Guillen was fired by the Marlins, he hasn’t received one interview request from a majorleague club. These days, he works as an analyst for ESPN Deportes, which he said has opened his eyes to Major League Baseball’s new approach.
‘‘ You have to engage with a new era of baseball,’’ he said. ‘‘ I think with the experience I have with TV, it’s helped me a lot because I’ve seen the way the game is now approached with the players.’’
Things have changed since Guillen’s name first came to mind as a person who couldd change the culture of a talented team. The Tigers, who hoped to o contend for the AL Central title this his season, are in no position to win next season after trading their best est assets, and they likely won’t be anytime soon.
Asked whether he could handle a young team, Guillen n pointed to his upcoming challenge. nge.
‘‘ That’s what I do in Venezuela,’’ he said. ‘‘ It’s better becauseecause you have a young team andnd mold that team the way theyey should be playing. You teach themem right away how, as a team and ann organization, to play baseball. We have to play the game right, we haveave to be proud and just leave ave it at that.’’
It’s the baseball mind, the experience in the dugout and the hunger to get back into the dugout that makes Guillen an intriguing choice to replace Ausmus, whose ose contract won’t be renewed next xt season.
‘‘ My life is good, but ut there’s something missing in n our family about the stress, the fight, the competition,’’ he said. d. ‘‘ I would love to go back to the gameme because . . . since I was 16 yearsrs old, I give everything for the game. ame.
‘‘ I don’t want to leave ave and nobody even knows why I leave. ve. I want to leave with my head d up and feel proud with what I did d in the game.’’
He should get thatt shot one day. Whether it’s with the e Tigers next season seems unlikely.y. But from this perspective, it would ould be worth hearing what Guillen n had to say.
Follow me on Twitter ter @ anthonyfenech.