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Ozzie Guillen, who praised Fidel Castro in one of his first acts as manager of the Marlins, angering the many Cuban-Americans in the Miami area, and then went on to guide his much-hyped team to a last-place finish in the NL East, was fired yesterday.
The Marlins will owe Guillen the $7.5 million left on the four-year, $10 million deal he signed with the team last offseason.
Guillen, known more for his outrageous comments — both in person and on his Twitter account — than for winning the 2005 World Series as manager of the White Sox, had been handpicked by Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria over the objections of his baseball people.
“After careful consideration following the disappointment of the 2012 season, we decided to dismiss Ozzie,” Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest said in a statement. “Our managerial search begins immediately and our hope is that a new manager, along with roster improvements, will restore a winning culture.”
The Marlins, equipped with a new, downtown ballpark, were the game’s “it” team last winter when they spent $191 million to sign Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell.
Things went downhill almost from the start. Miami finished the season with a 69-93 record and a lot of empty seats in their $515 million ballpark.
Two weeks before the end of the season, Guillen said he was glad he rented a home rather than buying when he took the job.
“With the job I did this year, do you think I deserve to be back here?” Guillen said on the final day of the season. “Of course not. But I’m not the only one. … Let’s start from the top. The front office failed, Ozzie failed, the coaching staff failed, the players failed, everybody failed.”