Ozzie Guillen was supposed to be the straw that stirred the drink. Instead, the only thing Guillen stirred up in his first season in Miami was controversy, and that could have the Marlins skipper soon headed for the unemployment line.
ESPN's Buster Olney reports that the Marlins are "aggressively seeking" a replacement for Guillen, although no decision has yet been made regarding the manager's future.
Marlins are aggressively seeking a replacement for Ozzie Guillen. Will they wait to find someone before firing him? We'll see.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) October 4, 2012
Olney's report shouldn't come as much of a surprise to Fish fans, who endured another subpar year despite a huge offseason in which the Marlins really opened up the checkbook. Miami brought in Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell in addition to Guillen last offseason, indicating that the Marlins were poised to become serious contenders in the National League.
That hope amounted to nothing more than false hope, however, as the Marlins sputtered out of the gate and eventually shipped away former All-Star Hanley Ramirez, who had become more of a distraction than anything.
Guillen made headlines for reasons other than baseball success early on this year when Time Magazine published an article in which Guillen was quote as saying he "loved" and respected Fidel Castro for surviving those who have wanted to kill him for 60 years. Guillen was subsequently suspended for five games, which many Miami fans thought wasn't harsh enough.
Guillen's season hardly got less controversial from there, as he was constantly under a microscope throughout the tumultuous year, even feuding with Bell toward the end of the season after the reliever made comments that seemed to imply a lack of respect toward his manager.
Perhaps the biggest reason that Guillen could soon be looking for work: 69-93. That's Miami's record to conclude the season — two steps back when Marlins fans were expecting a giant leap forward.
