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Florida Marlins manager Jack McKeon said Saturday he hasn't grown tired of the speculation that Ozzie Guillen will replace him in Miami at some point, and in fact McKeon thinks it could be a good fit.
Guillen was McKeon's third base coach when the Marlins won the 2003 World Series, and McKeon recommended the Chicago White Sox hire Guillen the following year to give him his first shot at managing. There is speculation Guillen could be headed back down to Florida, where he still has a home.
"He was a favorite down there, and he's a good baseball man," McKeon said on "Talkin' Baseball" on ESPN 1000. "And heck, I was one of the guys that recommended him to [Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf] and those guys when they called me and asked.
"I love the guy, and he's a good baseball man and he'd be an ideal fit."
But McKeon doesn't necessarily share the sentiment that a manager should be fired when a team struggles, as the White Sox have this season.
"The way I look at it is this, you've got a good manager and your club isn't doing well, I think it's a case where you change the players, not the manager," McKeon said. "If you have a good manager you keep the manager and change the personnel like the Dodgers did for years with Walter Austin and Tommy Lasorda. They didn't fire those guys because they had a bad year now and then. They just went out and replaced the players and this is what you have when you have a good manager."
It's been a rough first half of the season for Guillen and the White Sox, who have struggled despite adding to their payroll with a big free agent signing in Adam Dunn. Guillen told a Detroit television crew on Friday that he's not worried about his job security.
"I don't give a [expletive] if I get fired," Guillen said. "I'm the only manager in baseball that [expletive] don't care about getting fired. I don't at all. If I get fired it's I don't do the job, I don't know where or why or what I do, but no, I should get fired. Look at the team they give me and we're not playing well."
Guillen was McKeon's third base coach when the Marlins won the 2003 World Series, and McKeon recommended the Chicago White Sox hire Guillen the following year to give him his first shot at managing. There is speculation Guillen could be headed back down to Florida, where he still has a home.
"He was a favorite down there, and he's a good baseball man," McKeon said on "Talkin' Baseball" on ESPN 1000. "And heck, I was one of the guys that recommended him to [Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf] and those guys when they called me and asked.
"I love the guy, and he's a good baseball man and he'd be an ideal fit."
But McKeon doesn't necessarily share the sentiment that a manager should be fired when a team struggles, as the White Sox have this season.
"The way I look at it is this, you've got a good manager and your club isn't doing well, I think it's a case where you change the players, not the manager," McKeon said. "If you have a good manager you keep the manager and change the personnel like the Dodgers did for years with Walter Austin and Tommy Lasorda. They didn't fire those guys because they had a bad year now and then. They just went out and replaced the players and this is what you have when you have a good manager."
It's been a rough first half of the season for Guillen and the White Sox, who have struggled despite adding to their payroll with a big free agent signing in Adam Dunn. Guillen told a Detroit television crew on Friday that he's not worried about his job security.
"I don't give a [expletive] if I get fired," Guillen said. "I'm the only manager in baseball that [expletive] don't care about getting fired. I don't at all. If I get fired it's I don't do the job, I don't know where or why or what I do, but no, I should get fired. Look at the team they give me and we're not playing well."
I like the reference to "Walter Austin" when they obviously mean "Walt Alston." Do proofreaders not exist anymore?
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