Ozzie Guillen doesn’t get it.
The fiery former White Sox manager has an extensive major-league résumé that includes 16 seasons as a player and nine as a manager. Highlights include winning the World Series as a coach with the Marlins in 2003 and as manager of the Sox in 2005.
Yet Guillen, the American League Manager of the Year in 2005, hasn’t managed in the majors since 2012.
The Astros and Red Sox have vacancies that need to be filled in the next month, and Guillen, who has repeated his desire to manage in the majors numerous times over the years, hasn’t been contacted by anyone.
“It’s just funny because in the beginning I was thinking, ‘Wow, baseball’s changed. It’s different. There’s a lot of kids managing now,’ ” Guillen told the Sun-Times in a phone interview this week. “And then I see who they interview, and I say, ‘That’s my type of guy.’ I see [Buck] Showalter and [John] Gibbons, and I just don’t know. I feel, like, left out. And I don’t know why, and I wonder why.
“[Maybe] they don’t know if I want to come back and manage. Yes, I do, I want to. I want to. There’s no doubt about it.”
Guillen was embroiled in controversy for most of his managerial career. He clashed with executive vice president Ken Williams during his Sox tenure, declined to visit the White House in 2005 and served a suspension after expressing admiration for Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
But Guillen swears he has changed.
“I’m a grown man now,” said Guillen, who turned 56 on Monday. “People think my mind and my philosophy is still 2005, ’06, ’07, ’08.”
All Guillen is asking for is a chance.
“What I did in the game and nobody even grab a phone and call me,” he said. “I don’t [have to be a] manager, but at least talk to me and ask me to see what are my ideas and what I think.”
Guillen clearly wants to manage, but he said he’s not losing sleep over it. He enjoys being an analyst for NBC Sports Chicago and is relishing in the success of his son, Ozney, who won the Colombia winter league championship as a manager last week.
“It’s different when you win and when your son does it,” Guillen said. “You feel more proud and more happy, and everything was a little more exciting.”
Guillen joined the Sun-Times for this week’s Chat Room.
What are you most looking forward to at SoxFest?
Ozzie Guillen: “People are more excited about the ballclub this year than last year. Every team around this time, they’re all celebrating and they’re happy about it, they have something to talk about. I mean, baseball’s back in town.
“On the paper, I think this team is going to be exciting. You can ask me, ‘How many [games] are they gonna win? How many are they gonna lose?’ It’s not easy because in baseball, it’s not an easy game to predict. But I think right now there’s something [worth] being excited about on the South Side because I think they have the keys together to have a good season.”
What are your predictions for this season?
OG: “Last year, they were 20 [games] under .500. You have to win [10] more games to be at .500, that’s the beginning. And after that, you have to win another . . . wow, 10 to 19 games to be in the hunt and fighting for the division. So, I mean, is there gonna be a 20-game or 35-game difference between last year and this year, is that gonna happen? We hope. Do they have the talent? Yes. But I think it’s up to the talent — they have to go out there every day. You know, health is very important. We don’t know if [Tim] Anderson could have the season he had last year. I think [Yoan] Moncada has the tools to be the best player. He’s one of the top two or three best players in the American League. I think Moncada is a five-tool player. And last year, he showed that. And hopefully this year, he’ll come back and he’ll try to do it again.”
What was your reaction to the Astros using technology to steal signs?
OG: “It’s sad. Hopefully, they can clean that up before spring training starts. Hopefully, we don’t have to talk about this during the season, and that’s the goal. But in the meanwhile, I’m upset. I’m an old-school guy, and hopefully, baseball learned something from that. Like I said, I don’t think we are done [dealing with this] yet. And I think we’re going to continue to figure out [how] to clean out the system and clean up what they’re doing.”
Last week, former pitcher Jack McDowell accused ex-Sox manager Tony La Russa of using cameras to steal signs in the late 1980s with the Sox. Do you know anything about that since you played for La Russa in his last two seasons with the Sox?
OG: “It’s funny because I was in Colombia when my kid sent me the tweet. I have to respect his opinion, but the one thing I’ll say [is] Jack wasn’t here when Tony was here. [Laughs.] Jack said that, I respect that, he had a reason to it, I don’t know, you better ask him. That to me, I was shocked when [I saw it], but I’m not the person to second-guess McDowell and I’m not the person to second-guess the White Sox because I’d never seen it.
“By the way, if we had that, believe me, I ain’t hitting .240, and we don’t lose almost a hundred games in those years. In those times, when Tony was here, Tony got fired because we couldn’t play. And after that, [Jim] Fregosi got fired because we couldn’t play. If we had the help, I think we were better than a last-place team, but it wasn’t like that. I never saw it.”
