Ozzie Officially Named Marlins Manager
(CBS) The Florida Marlins officially announced Wednesday that Ozzie Guillen will be their new manager to start the 2012 season.
Guillen was released from his contract with the White Sox following Monday's game after eight seasons as manager. He now becomes the face of a franchise that will be known as the "Miami Marlins" next season and open a new stadium with a new logo and uniforms.
"Pretty good ballclub," Guillen said about his new team Tuesday. "I like it. Very young. Very talented ... I think we can put together a pretty good ballclub with the people we have here. There's no doubt in my mind."
The White Sox will receive infielder Osvaldo Martinez and minor league pitcher Jahn Marinez in the form of compensation from the Marlins. The compensation was agreed to between White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria in exchange for permission to talk to Guillen.
Martinez, 23, has 71 major league plate appearances and is hitting just .258. He came up as a shortstop, but moved to second base because of Hanley Ramirez. Martinez struck out 74 batters in 58 innings at Double-A Jacksonville. The 23-year-old was 3-8 with a 3.57 ERA in 56 games.
During a press conference before the announcement of Guillen's release, the former White Sox skipper said he would not return to the White Sox in 2012 without a new deal for more money. His current contract ran through the 2012 season.
"I want more money. I don't want to be here for a year. No, I want more money," Guillen said. "I'm going to die with the White Sox poor? Hell no. Listen, this is my job. This is the only thing I can do. I've got to make money out of it somewhere."
As far as the White Sox search for a new manager is concerned, general manager Ken Williams doesn't expect the search to take much time.
"I have definite answers on that," Williams said when asked about hiring a new manager. "I will say just very briefly that because of the warnings, we've had ample time to kind of dwindle a list to a few select candidates. We think that we can act swiftly."
