It's probably safe to assume most Marlins fans aren't happy with Heath Bell or Ozzie Guillen. Apparently, things aren't so rosy between the two, either.
Guillen, of course, has been and likely always will be a rather opinionated manager, and Bell isn't too thrilled with how the Miami skipper has been operating during a disappointing season for the Fish.
"It's hard to respect a guy that doesn't tell you the truth or doesn't tell you face-to-face," Bell said Monday during a radio appearance on The Dan Sileo Show on 560 WQAM in Miami. "There's probably reasons why."
Bell, like Guillen, arrived in Miami last offseason with some lofty expectations. The Marlins have struggled mightily this season, though, and Bell feels that he never really had an opportunity to reclaim the closer's role that he lost following some early-season woes.
"I stunk in April, plain and simple," Bell said. "I said I stunk, I worked hard, I busted my butt. I think I've had a tremendous second half. I'm not closing — I know that. But I just kept my mouth shut because I want to regain what I had, and I feel like I can't do that."
Bell described his first season under Guillen as "interesting," and he's probably not the only one in the Sunshine State who feels that way.
"It's just one of those things that — what you see is what you get," Bell said. "I'm not going to be two-faced. I'm not going to sneak around your back and say this and that."
Clearly, Bell wasn't sneaking behind anyone's backs in opening up during the radio appearance. Guillen is hardly one to sneak behind people's backs, either, as he's as candid as managers come.
Bell's comments come just days after Guillen had some interesting things to say himself. In many ways, it was just Ozzie being Ozzie.
"If [Marlins owner] Jeffrey [Loria] doesn't think I'm doing the job I should do … it's not the first time he's fired a manager," Guillen told reporters Friday in New York. "Look yourself in the mirror and ask why so many [expletive] managers come through here."
Bell, who is under contract with Miami for the next two seasons, didn't specify whether or not he'd like to see Guillen return in 2013. He does, however, have an idea of what exactly the Marlins need.
"We need a guy that leads us that everybody respects and looks up to," Bell said. "That's what we need."
The Marlins also need to start winning games, because like the old saying goes, winning solves everything.
