Ozzie Guillen is vacationing in Spain, awaiting his fate with the Marlins.
After a disappointing season in which the Marlins were supposed to contend and instead spent the bulk of the season at the bottom of the standings, the skipper accepted his share of the blame before bolting
overseas.
"It was disappointing for everyone," Guillen said, according to MLB.com.
"I'm disappointed in myself. I thought we were going to have a better
season. Any time I do anything in life, I want to be the best.
"Everything
in life: best father, best husband, best son, but you're not always
going to be. Was I the best this year? Obviously, no, but I think this
year I put more emphasis and more work to figure out this thing."
He
may not have the opportunity to correct the team's mistakes. Marlins
owner Jeffrey Loria is currently contemplating whether to fire Guillen
after one season or clean house in other aspects of the organization.
Since
2006 — the year after World Series-winning manager Jack McKeon left — the manager's job in Miami has been a revolving door, going from Joe
Girardi to Fredi Gonzalez to Edwin Rodriguez back to McKeon and then to Guillen.
The
losing campaign comes a season after the Marlins doled out big money to
sign Jose Reyes, Heath Bell and Mark Buehrle in free agency. But
Guillen doesn't think pursuing marquee free agents results in winning
and he pinpointed the Athletics and Orioles to back his assertion.
"They
win with good players, hungry players, and the guys who play the game
right," Guillen said. "I think there are two teams who were my
inspiration this year. I think the Oakland A's, and Baltimore."
Given the circumstances, Guillen is prepared for any decision now.
"It's
easy to manage when you're winning games and you make every move and
that move works," Guillen said. "No matter what move you make, you are
satisfied. What we did this year, we didn't see much of that. Who's
going to take the blame for the move? Myself. That's the bottom line."
Guillen's future with the organization should be determined very soon.
