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Likelihood of Ozzie's Return to Sox Dugout Fading

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Sep 14, 2011 2:40PM

As the White Sox drop yet another game to the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers and their tragic number quickly approaches zero, the chatter grows louder suggesting that Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen won't be back in 2012.

On Tuesday's "The Mully and Hanley Show" on WSCR-AM, Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal speculated Guillen's days in the Sox dugout are numbered. "There is a point of critical mass that this team is reaching, and I would expect, I’m not saying this any more than speculatively, but I would expect that Ozzie would be gone."

In the Sun-Times, Joe Cowley has been saying the same thing. He believes that Guillen's days are numbered because of the state of his relationship with GM Kenny Williams. Owner Jerry Reinsdorf has said that Williams will remain, and Williams has tired of Ozzie, his antics and the team's underachievement in recent years. It appears intervention from Reinsdorf could be the only thing that keeps Ozzie with the Sox beyond this season. Over a year ago, the team owner commented, "The biggest mistake I ever made, but I would make it again, is I let [then-GM Ken] Hawk [Harrelson] fire Tony La Russa. I would hope Kenny would never come to that conclusion [with Guillen]. But you can’t make a general manager have a manager he doesn’t want."

We'd suggest to Reinsdorf he might want to give Guillen that extension he's been clamoring for and seek a new GM instead. While Guillen's teams have missed the postseason the past two seasons despite of some of the largest payrolls in baseball, we would place most of that blame squarely on Williams.

It was the general manager who traded for former Cy Young winner Jake Peavy in 2009. Peavy came to the team injured and has pitched in only 39 games in his nearly three seasons with the team while battling a plethora of ailments. He was recently shut down for the rest of 2011. Williams was also responsible for grabbing Alex Rios off waivers from the Toronto Bluejays. We're still convinced it was purely a defensive move to keep Rios off the Tigers, but Toronto let him go for nothing and now the team pays the outfielder $12.5 million to bat .224 with 10 homers and 40 RBIs. Williams traded Daniel Hudson (currently 16-9 with a 3.41 ERA for the Diamondbacks) for Edwin Jackson in 2010, and earlier this year moved him in return for a reliever and prospect -- in fairness, he did also force them to take Mark Teahan off his hands, too, which closed the books on another ill advised Williams trade.

And Adam Dunn? That was Williams' work as well. The White Sox committed to paying the slugger $56 million over four years. In return, Dunn has hit a whopping .162 (that's no typo!) with 11 home runs and 40 RBIs. If his batting average were 100 points higher, those would be utility outfielder numbers. Dunn would also probably be chasing the all-time single season strikeout record if it weren't for the fact the hitter making $12 million has sat more than he's played the past month.

So it's been Williams' high stakes wheeling and dealing which has saddled the Sox with players who have been poor returns on the investments. This has prevented the team from being able to make other transactions or conserve cash until the right opportunity comes along. If anybody is to blame for the White Sox mediocrity, we'd point our finger at Williams. But Williams seems to still have Reinsdorf's backing, and Williams seems content to let Guillen be his fall guy.

As for Guillen, he's not too concerned if his days in Chicago are numbered. He's pretty much got an offer to manage the Florida Marlins in his back pocket, which is worth more than any extension he'd be offered by the Sox. Maybe Ozzie's antics and bluster have worn out their welcome on the South Side and it's time for him to move on. Hell, there was even a time for Ditka to leave Da Bears' sideline. Or perhaps, like Tony LaRussa going on to success in Oakland and St. Louis after departing Chicago, Reinsdorf is making a huge mistake by choosing the wrong side in a disagreement between his manager and general manager.