IBC

Good baseball topic (and politics topic for that matter). What do you guys think about Ozzie getting suspended five games (plus whatever MLB does) for saying that he "loves" and "respects" Fidel Castro for staying in power so long?

My two cents:

Never having lived in Miami, but having lived close, the influence of Cuban-Americans is great. I've seen many cases of people who are willing to die on a raft or cheap boat, hoping that they hit American soil because of Castro's dictatorship. Guillen's comments are essentially akin to saying someone "loves" Adolf Hitler or Saddam Hussein.

To me, there are two issues here: the right to free speech and the right to protect your product and brand.

The Marlins are in the epicenter of Cuban-American culture and that's a major part of their fan base. They have culturally themed promotions, partnerships, etc. They have a nightclub that rocks Latino music in left field. It's who they are. To have the team's leader saying he respects a dictator who has no doubt killed many of their fans' family members could derail a team trying to boost a new stadium, new brand, new everything.

On the other hand, Guillen has a right to free speech as an American citizen (he became so in 2006, I believe). And, as we all know, he has done so many times before. Unfortunately, he's the type of person who doesn't think before speaking and that gets him in trouble.

If he said this in Seattle, maybe he gets slapped on the wrist and keeps going, but I don't know if he can run from this one. If the attention gets too strong and threatens to rain on the Marlins' big season, then Ozzie could be out of a job.

The Marlins should have known what they were getting when they hired Ozzie.

I think people have lost their jobs for less, but the Marlins just came off a high spending, high publicity offseason. This is the absolute worse thing that could have happened to them. It's probably a situation where Ozzie's punishment is passed down by the PR guys. The Marlins are in a no-win situation. They're trying to build a fan base and get credability. If they don't fire Ozzie - a lot of people will be pissed off, if for no other reason, because there's not much going on in the news lately. If they do fire Ozzie, they lose all momentum they tried to build over the past 6 months, and probably flop to another mediocre season. Instead, they try to find a medium with a light suspension and hope he can keep his mouth shut for the 2 weeks it'll take to blow over.

Ozzie's most recent behavior does not surprise me ... At one point in time I admired him as a gritty player and later as the manager of the the World Champion White Sox but I really lost respect for him last season when he (IMHO) quit on the White Sox about half way through the season and did one of the worst jobs of anyone managaing this side of Don Gutteridge. He believed he was bigger then the team and the game and that menality apparently carried over to his new position in Miami. While he initially successfully and I believe consciously used his personality and mouth to "shield" his players - he eventually (and ironically it seemed to coincide with his emergence in the Twitter world) became a delusional egocentric meglomanic enthralled with the sound of his own voice and often used it without any thought.

Ozzie does have the right to say what he said - and the Marlins ownership have the right to choose whether they want him to remain their manager - and in that role, a visible part of their leadership - or not.

The thing about situations like this is that you have no constitutional right to your job. If you pop off in a way that damages your company they can't send you to prison but they have every right to discipline you. Sad situation that Ozzie is such a moron, but can't be surprising at this point.

I'd fire him if I were them. From a marketing standpoint it is a huge issue.

You can't say something that'll piss off the majority of your fan base. I haven't read his comments but it reminds me of Marge Schott praising Hitler. The point may be valid, but keep it internal

This article preceeded the "CASTRO" remarks: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012 ... ct_mcgrath

The real problem here is that shitbag owner they have

Cardinals wrote:The real problem here is that shitbag owner they have

At least in the past I've been able to like the Marlins for their manager/players. Now Loria is trying to build a latino circus, so he hired a clown to manage the team... not realizing said clown is capable of pissing off Cubans.

If there's a single asshole in baseball I would like to see get smoked by a bus. It's Loria. Thanks for fucking over Montreal, MLB and now Miami. I'm sure Miami will enjoy paying out for that ugly ass stadium while seeing no additional revenue in the area because people won't come to games after the initial interest dies.

I agree 100% Steve. After cooking the books to get the stadium funded by taxpayers, you should throw this guy in jail. Why he ever got to get the Marlins in the first place is beyond me. Plus, there's no way baseball is going to work in Miami. It ain't worked since 1993, people won't suddenly care because there is a new stadium. Maybe for a year. MAYBE. Miami's a frontrunner town, end of story.

I never realized how big baseball was in Montreal prior to the strike (I was 9 then) until I saw all the Gary Carter tributes. The place was packed, they loved baseball. The strike hurt, but Loria killed it. I still think it could work there but you need an owner that isn't a jackass. Maybe some art thief will steal a painting and put a bullet in his head

I went to Montreal a couple years ago and loved it there. Great city, very clean and easy to get around. I hopped on a train and got to the stadiums and walked around. It was amazing how many shops around the city still sell Expos gear. I think with a good program owned by a competent owner they'd do well again there. Plus their uniforms were 10x cooler than the Nationals'.

Their unis were even cooler when they had Pedro, Vlad, RJ, Walker, etc. playing for them. It sucked that the franchise was just AAA for the rich teams. At least the A's get talent back when they make trades. The Expos really never had much to show for trading all their future superstars.
It's too bad the strike happened in '94. That team was going to do well. There may never have been a Washington Nationals if the strike never happened.

What if this trade never happened:

Just prior to the 2002 trade deadline, Colón and Tim Drew were traded to the Montreal Expos in exchange for Lee Stevens, Brandon Phillips, and prospects Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee?

And that trade somehow got Omar Minaya the Mets job