Ozzie Guillen: Miami Marlins New Manager Must Get over Chicago White Sox

There are many words that are used to describe Ozzie Guillen. Some of them are flattering, most of them are vulgar, but no matter what, everyone has an opinion about him.

Well, as he prepares to start his first offseason as manager of the Miami Marlins, he is leaving a few words behind for the Chicago White Sox.

It is no secret that Guillen and White Sox general manager Kenny Williams had their problems. They often clashed about the way the team was being run. They were two strong personalities who had a vision for the team, and their ideas were often very different. 

Now that Guillen is finally free from Williams' grasp, he is making the media rounds, badmouthing anyone and everyone he can along the way. Of all the people that were attacked, pitching coach Don Cooper—who signed a contract extension with the team after Guillen left—took the brunt of it. 

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“Cooper needs to look in the mirror,’’ Guillen told the Sun-Times. “He didn’t back-stab me. I know who he is. He back-stabbed his fellow coaches, the guys he worked with for years. You got family? That’s fine. Everyone does. We all knew Coop was Kenny’s b----.

--snip--

“I told [the Sox] I want to keep my coaching staff, and I never lied to the media. I talked to Jerry Reinsdorf maybe five times [about extending the coaches’ contracts over the years]. The reason I was so comfortable with the Sox was the coaches. Let them sweat it out? Coop was Kenny’s guy, and my staff knew that. We all know what he really is.’’

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Guillen's anger and resentment towards the White Sox and Williams is fine, but he does not need to talk about it whenever there is a microphone in front of his face. 

We all love Guillen because he is going to give a quote, but to talk down to Cooper, who is regarded as one of the best pitching coaches in baseball, just proves how mean-spirited he really is. 

What does it matter if Cooper is Williams' guy, or Reinsdorf's guy, or anyone else's guy?

The fact of the matter is he is great at what he does and earned what he got. The rest of the team underachieved this year, so I see no reason why the coaching staff should have been given an extension. 

It is clear that Guillen just wants to bury the White Sox because he does not like Williams. If I am the Marlins, I am wondering why he isn't spending more time talking about us, and what we are going to do in 2012. 

It would be in Guillen's best interest to finally bury his grudge, or at least have someone close to him hide it in a place he will never look, and focus on the future instead of the past.

Keep your eyes on the road, not in the rear-view mirror just so you can keep giving the White Sox the middle finger.