Other people's managers

INDIANAPOLIS—One cool thing about the Winter Meetings is the daily little thing each manager does with the press. For some guys it's the first (and only) chance they get to catch a glimpse at someone like Don Wakamatsu or Dave Trembley and hear what they have to say.

Other times, it's nothing more than another mass media session for the popular managers of the big-market teams. For instance, this afternoon, Terry Francona of the Red Sox and Ozzie
Guillen from the White Sox held they media sessions in front of pretty large crowds. Then again, Ozzie and Tito usually gather larger than average crowds simply because they are so quotable. In the case of Ozzie Guillen sometimes he's so quotable he can't be quoted because of his choice in different types of words he likes to use.

It makes me wonder if Ozzie learned English from listening to Redd Foxx records when he came to the U.S. from Venezuela.

Nevertheless, today Francona relived the end of the 2009 season and how even though the Red Sox won 95 games, they weren't quite good enough.

"Everybody remembers how you finish," Francona said, acknowledging that despite all those wins, the Red Sox didn't even challenge the Yankees in the AL East.

With World Series title No. 27 in the bag, the secret to the Yankees success is pretty simple to hear Francona describe it.

"They have a lot of money and they have a lot of smart people running things," he said.

Lethal combo.

Meanwhile, across the ballroom here in the Indy Downtown Marriott, Guillen talked about his club, specifically how veteran Andruw Jones fits in.

Jones, of course, has been THE center fielder in the Majors over the last decade. However, now that he going into his 15th season in the league and closing in on his 33rd birthday, Jones will have to get used to playing left field for the White Sox, because, as Guillen said, "Right now he doesn't have a choice."

Five-year veteran Alex Rios is Guillen's choice to play centerfield in front of Jones.

"Rios is a better center fielder," Guillen said. "Ten years ago, Andruw Jones was the best center fielder on Earth."

He's still pretty good, but not good enough for the South Side of Chicago.

As far as the Phillies go, Charlie Manuel did not make the trip to Indy with the approximately 30 other members of the team's traveling party. Because the season lasted into the first week of November, Manuel was excused. Last year in Las Vegas, as some remember, Manuel spent the entire week in his room at the Bellagio ridden with the flu. Until the last day of the winter meetings Charlie only surfaced to sign his contract extension before going back to bed.

This year he's probably playing a little golf in Florida.

A second opinion

The Phillies didn’t announce the MRI results for Freddy Garcia’s right shoulder until the top of the ninth last night, so that left more than a few of the scribes and Phillies’ personnel scrambling for answers over what “pathology in the labrum” and a frayed rotator cuff really means.

I sat next to a former Major League manager at last night’s game and when the news was announced, I just looked at him:

“That’s not good,” he understated.

Garcia wants to investigate all of his options before deciding on a course of action, but more than likely seeking a second opinion upon hearing Dr. Michael Ciccotti’s prognosis simply delays the inevitable…

Freddy can either get cut now or he can get cut later.

Nevertheless, Garcia has the option of the second opinion. The Phillies do not. Instead, Pat Gillick and Ruben Amaro Jr. will be scrambling to find a long-term fix for the rotation with some pathology. Certainly Brett Myers doesn’t seem to be headed back to the rotation when his stint on the disabled list ends, and asking Kyle Kendrick – the pitcher called up from Double-A to make his Major League debut in Garcia’s stead tomorrow – to fill the veteran’s spot is a tall task. In four-plus professional seasons, Kendrick has just 12 appearances above Single-A.

Who is he, Mike Zagurski?

While we ponder that, the debate over whether or not Garcia is the biggest flop in recent Phillies’ history will persist as the names Andy Ashby, Lance Parrish, Floyd Youmans and Mike Jackson are conjured again.

Frankly, I say the biggest flop is Danny Tartabull, but that’s me. I’d like to say Ashby just because he was so miserable when he was here, but that deal seems to have worked out in the end. The Phillies got Bruce Chen in the short term and Adam Eaton found his way back to Philadelphia.

Perhaps Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez will too?

***
When I was a teenager I had the pleasure of sitting near the visitors’ on-deck circle for a doubleheader between the Orioles and White Sox at Memorial Stadium. The games were fairly uneventful except for the ChiSox shortstop, Ozzie Guillen, chattering away with me as he waited to come to bat.

What I appreciated the most was that Guillen didn’t talk down to me (or anyone else) and left me wondering where he learned some of the creative ways in which to curse. It was then as it is now, spellbinding.

That’s the way it was yesterday, too, when I had the pleasure of listening to Guillen’s pre-game meeting with the writers where he discussed Garcia’s predicament… let’s just say it was fascinating and refreshing.

These days everyone is so concerned over their image and what everyone else thinks. Guillen is as real as it gets.

***
In Philadelphia we already knew that the Phillies were the losingest franchise in the history of all professional sports. Even teams that are older than the Phillies – like the Cincinnati Reds, for instance – have not lost as many games.

But the Phillies phutility has gone national as the team inches ever closer to the 10,000 loss plateau. Jere Longman of The New York Times wrote about the consistent losing of the Phillies in today’s paper.

Sigh!

***
And Tony Soprano? Yeah, it didn’t end the way you thought…

“I guess you never hear it coming when it’s your turn…”

Pay attention, people!

So long, Freddy?

Has Freddy Garcia pitched his last game for the Phillies? That remains to be seen, but it's likely that the right-hander is headed under the knife.

An MRI taken Monday afternoon at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital revealed Garcia had some abnormalities in his labrum and fraying to his rotator cuff. Garcia is planning on having a second opinion to the diagnosis, which will determine how long he will be out of action and what course of action will be taken.

Regardless, it isn't good for Garcia.

Garcia, of course, was the Phillies’ key off-season acquisition and was expected to be the inning-eating monster at the top of the rotation. Unfortunately for the Phillies, that hasn’t even been close to being true. After opening the season on the disabled list with a strained right biceps, Garcia has posted a 5.90 ERA in 11 starts for just 58 innings and a 1-5 record.

Though he pitched more than 200 innings in seven of his eight seasons, Garcia has only reached the seventh once for the Phillies.

Before the game, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said his former pitcher is very frustrated.

“I’m concerned as a friend. He’s frustrated – he wants to help those guys,” Guillen said.

Part of the trouble, Guillen says, is that the Phillies or their fans haven’t gotten a chance to appreciate the big right-hander’s work.

“They don’t know him – we know Freddy. He’s a horse. He wants to pitch no matter what. He’s a winner,” Guillen said.

“If you watch Freddy pitch for the first time and you don’t know him, you think, ‘What the [expletive] is that?’ He’s walking around, looking into the stands, staring at the catcher. But he’s a winner. He knows what he’s doing.”

Garcia is eligible to become a free agent at the end of the 2007 season. Hopefully, says Guillen, the pitcher will be able to get healthy and show the Phillies who he really is.

“When Freddy is healthy he’s something special. Hopefully the 15 days will get him healthy,” Guillen said. “I think he doesn’t want anyone to take the ball away from him. He wants the ball. He wants to pitch and help those guys win.”

Fun with Ozzie

When I was in high school, I was lucky enough to be neighbors with someone who had season tickets for the Orioles games at Memorial Stadium. Better yet, the seats were in the first row by the visiting team's on-deck circle where players warmed up just inches away from your head.

Once -- I'm going to say it was 1987 -- the neighbor gave me the tickets for an Orioles-White Sox doubleheader. So before each of his 9 or 10 plate appearances that day, White Sox shortstop Ozzie Guillen chatted me up. All. Day. Long. He talked and talked and talked. He didn't hold anything back nor did he censor himself, which was fine by me. Then, like now, I was much more interested in reality than the airbrushed version. Like most people, I don't like to be told what to think or how to feel and if Ozzie Guillen wanted to speak to me frankly -- even though I wasn't old enough for a drivers' license -- I was going to enjoy it.

Twenty years later, Ozzie Guillen is still speaking frankly. Actually, his mouth has gotten him into a bit of trouble lately and some of his actions have made even his most ardent supporters scratch their heads and wonder what ol' Ozzie was thinking. In fact, there is even a funny story on The Onion spoofing the trouble Ozzie has gotten himself into.

Apparently, Ozzie was on a roll again yesterday in a little tirade when talking to writers about accusations of his team "cheating." Based on the story, Ozzie doesn't think much about the NL Central, nor does he think he can find a spot on his roster for the Cardinals' lefty Mark Mulder.

Sadly, I think Ozzie's run in Chicago is going to end badly. I'm not basing that on any inside knowledge or anything other than observations. It just seems that people who allow others to know what they are thinking never seem to have a long shelf life -- that's especially the case when the speaker isn't exactly "politically correct."

Nevertheless, it looks as if Ozzie keeps things loose with his team. Here's a video of a wrestling match with a professional wrestler during spring training. The best part is the look on Jim Thome's face. He seems to be thinking, "Geez, Bowa never did anything as crazy as this... and he was nuts!"

Finally, I would be remiss not to include one of the all-time great quotes from Guillen about making it in America as skinny kid from Venezuela. From The Washington Post:

"I'm smarter than a lot of guys who go to Harvard. When you come to this country and you can't speak any English at 16 years old, and you have to survive, you have to have something smart in your body. If you take one of those Harvard guys and drop them in the middle of Caracas, they won't survive. But if you drop me in the middle of Harvard, I'll survive."

How would Guillen do in Philadelphia? I think he'd be able to hold his own.