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MLB WINTER MEETINGSDecember 9, 2008Ozzie GuillenLAS VEGAS, NEVADA Q. How is the reunion so far? OZZIE GUILLEN: Nothing's changed. This is my fifth or sixth year, and seems like it's slower than the year before. The only thing about this is you talk about baseball, you hang around with baseball people, and I think it's a great opportunity to see guys and try to make things happen. But I don't see any difference between this year and the past. Q. Do you get the feeling from talking to Kenny that you guys are close to anything? OZZIE GUILLEN: Not really. Not really. I think Kenny is an aggressive general manager, and the reason he has not set up anything is because he's not scared to make deals and make moves without being criticized. I think we know what we want and we know what we need. I just left the room right now, and we just talked about some conversations that we had in the past. But nothing is going on right now with the White Sox. In the past, as soon as I leave town and I land in Miami, they call me and say they made this deal. Right now I'm excited about this ballclub that we have. I talked to Kenny. We went through the team, and I still think that we have a pretty good team to compete. We have a Jay, Pauly, Thome and Dye, and the Quentin, and we have to add Owens and Anderson, and hopefully Josh Fields. They will do the job they are supposed to do. The question mark is at second base, who is going to be the second baseman right now? Right now, I would like to see Katz in that position. There's a lot of things out there, but all of those guys that I mentioned, the Fields, the Owens, they are going to get a shot to make the team. That does not mean for sure that they are there. They have to go to spring training and earn their spot. We are not in that situation right now. We are rebuilding, and we just want to have a mix between the young kids and the veteran players and give more speed -- when I'm talking about speed, I'm not talking about stealing a hundred bases. I'm talking about more speed defensively. Hopefully in spring training those guys show my coaching staff and Kenny and everybody that they can play for a winning team in Chicago, and we'll see what happens. Q. The way the roster is constructed, you'll have a younger team than usual. Does this affect the way that you run things, whether it be in a ballgame or spring training, just how you handle it? Because in the past you've got veterans that have been able to police themselves at times, and you have to expect you don't have to do the same drill twice. OZZIE GUILLEN: It would be different camp, because we have to get it done from spring training, right from the beginning. Obviously having kids play, they have to show me they can do things, a lot of little things, to help the big boys around. I think it will be more fun. You have to be a better baseball team. I'm not talking about baseball players; I'm talking about a baseball team, the way they play and the way they should be playing and the way they should do stuff. The last couple of years we relied too much on home runs and power, and right now, the way baseball is going right now, we had to get better for not just this year, but 2009, 2010, 2011. That's why we have to get those kids on track and make it happen. Last year, we got Missle, Floyd. We had a lot of guys that went out there and did a tremendous job. We have to make sure that those kids out there, we have to make sure that we have a good organization and good baseball club every year for a long time. Q. It sounds like you like the mix of youngsters and veterans right now -- OZZIE GUILLEN: I would rather be too young than too old. You can work with young kids. You can make them work the way you want to. In the trade department, I don't get involved, because I don't know anything about budgets. I don't know anything about, just give me talent and I manage the talent. I think Kenny, I never ask him anything. He asks me what I need and what I like to do. I told him what we should be doing, and since I'm manager of the ballclub, we do it. Right now, we have to show the organization, too. When you bring kids from the Minor Leagues, we are showing the coaches and the scouts that we really care about the kids out there. Now we have to go, and I think baseball, right now, they are not going to spend that much money. You have to rely, really, really, really hard on your Minor League system, because your Minor League system has to be hard. Right now the way the economy is going, it's going to be hard to build teams. Q. Who is your starter, if it was right now -- OZZIE GUILLEN: Playing Kansas City, Owens, he would always be a good lead of hitter. Katz would be batting second to see how we work in spring training. I don't want to put those two kids back-to-back. Then we will find out how they are right now. We had the kid in the trade from Colorado. He's in the mix. Lillibridge is in the mix. We have a lot of kids we have got to look at, and I think it will be fun spring training for them. I love when kids are fighting for a job and an opportunity to show people that they can play in the big leagues. Q. Is this a team that you think you will enjoy managing? Does this more fit to your style that you like, on paper at least? OZZIE GUILLEN: Well, when they blame me, I want to take the blame for the right reason. I don't know. I always like differences in pitching. Always do. But we have to build the team around the ballpark we have. Our ballpark is real small in the summer. And then I think the guys that come with power, they help us a lot. We got a lot of help from those guys. But you keep the mix that you keep right now, Konerko, Thome, Dye, A.J., you still have some power in the lineup but you still have speed, and you can do more with those guys. Last year, it seemed like everybody was struggling at the same time and we couldn't do anything about it. Well, we tried to get better. Q. What's your biggest concern with Josh Fields? OZZIE GUILLEN: Healthy. If Josh is healthy, he's got to start working out with Joey and myself in Miami in January, requested by him. He's going to have his shot, and he knows he's going to have a shot at being the third baseman here. It's up to him how long he wants to be in the Major League level with us. When you have plans, all of a sudden the plans don't come through, then you have to change everything and then you have to make Kenny and Rick go crazy around looking for players. We have the thing, and that's the thing, is they have to play, and they have to show people they can play. And not just play, but play and win in the big leagues. That's the thing, we are rebuilding. Q. Without Dye, would you not have enough power in the small ballpark? Would you consider Marquez with Fields? And second base, you won't have that much power; would you be missing? OZZIE GUILLEN: I don't think I'm going to miss power. I think I'm going to miss J.D., period. That's one of my favorite players. I just want to send a message to him. J.D., I'll be the first one to call him; tell him to quit calling me. We are not hiding from the players. When Kenny makes a move, he will tell the players why they did it. But J.D. should be relaxed right now at this particular time. There's nothing out there for him -- do people talk about him? Yeah, of course. People ask about everybody. That's what these meetings are all about. They ask about every player. If we talk about J.D., if they ask about J.D., I think he's willing to hear the offer, and that one isn't bad for the ballclub and the organization, you know, that's up to Kenny to pull the trigger. Q. Because this team is going to be younger than what you've had since you've been manager, does it put more pressure on you to not only kind of be a teacher, but kind of get all of these guys going in the right direction of how you want them to play baseball? Is this a different managerial job than you've had the last four or five years? OZZIE GUILLEN: Maybe. But the guys, the kids we have, they have been in the organization for a little while. They know how I go about my business. They have been with me, for, what, four or five years? I've known those guys for a little while, and you know, as a manager, you like to be involved in the game once in a while. Those guys are going to give me the opportunity to see how good of a manager I am. I mean, I like to compete. I like to be involved with the game. We've been teaching those guys for a little while, and I don't think I see any problem why they cannot go out and perform the way they should, at least -- at least -- help those big boys every day, to get better. An Interview With: OZZIE GUILLEN Q. How is the Reunion so far? OZZIE GUILLEN: Nothing's changed. This is my fifth or sixth year, and seems like it's slower than the year before. The only thing about this is you talk about baseball, you hang around with baseball people, and I think it's a great opportunity to see guys and try to make things happen. But I don't see any difference between this year and the past. Q. Do you get the feeling from talking to Kenny that you guys are close to anything? OZZIE GUILLEN: Not really. Not really. I think Kenny is an aggressive general manager, and the reason he has not set up anything is because he's not scared to make deals and make moves without being criticized. I think we know what we want and we know what we need. I just left the room right now, and we just talked about some conversations that we had in the past. But nothing is going on right now with the White Sox. In the past, as soon as I leave town and I land in Miami, they call me and say they made this deal. Right now I'm excited about this ballclub that we have. I talked to Kenny. We went through the team, and I still think that we have a pretty good team to compete. We have a Jay, Pauly, Thome and Dye, and the Quentin, and we have to add Owens and Anderson, and hopefully Josh Fields. They will do the job they are supposed to do. The question mark is at second base, who is going to be the second baseman right now? Right now, I would like to see Katz in that position. There's a lot of things out there, but all of those guys that I mentioned, the Fields, the Owens, they are going to get a shot to make the team. That does not mean for sure that they are there. They have to go to spring training and earn their spot. We are not in that situation right now. We are rebuilding, and we just want to have a mix between the young kids and the veteran players and give more speed -- when I'm talking about speed, I'm not talking about stealing a hundred bases. I'm talking about more speed defensively. Hopefully in spring training those guys show my coaching staff and Kenny and everybody that they can play for a winning team in Chicago, and we'll see what happens. Q. The way the roster is constructed, you'll have a younger team than usual. Does this affect the way that you run things, whether it be in a ballgame or spring training, just how you handle it? Because in the past you've got veterans that have been able to police themselves at times, and you have to expect you don't have to do the same drill twice. OZZIE GUILLEN: It would be different camp, because we have to get it done from spring training, right from the beginning. Obviously having kids play, they have to show me they can do things, a lot of little things, to help the big boys around. I think it will be more fun. You have to be a better baseball team. I'm not talking about baseball players; I'm talking about a baseball team, the way they play and the way they should be playing and the way they should do stuff. The last couple of years we relied too much on home runs and power, and right now, the way baseball is going right now, we had to get better for not just this year, but 2009, 2010, 2011. That's why we have to get those kids on track and make it happen. Last year, we got Missle, Floyd. We had a lot of guys that went out there and did a tremendous job. We have to make sure that those kids out there, we have to make sure that we have a good organization and good baseball club every year for a long time. Q. It sounds like you like the mix of youngsters and veterans right now -- OZZIE GUILLEN: I would rather be too young than too old. You can work with young kids. You can make them work the way you want to. In the trade department, I don't get involved, because I don't know anything about budgets. I don't know anything about, just give me talent and I manage the talent. I think Kenny, I never ask him anything. He asks me what I need and what I like to do. I told him what we should be doing, and since I'm manager of the ballclub, we do it. Right now, we have to show the organization, too. When you bring kids from the Minor Leagues, we are showing the coaches and the scouts that we really care about the kids out there. Now we have to go, and I think baseball, right now, they are not going to spend that much money. You have to rely, really, really, really hard on your Minor League system, because your Minor League system has to be hard. Right now the way the economy is going, it's going to be hard to build teams. Q. Who is your starter, if it was right now -- OZZIE GUILLEN: Playing Kansas City, Owens, he would always be a good lead of hitter. Katz would be batting second to see how we work in spring training. I don't want to put those two kids back-to-back. Then we will find out how they are right now. We had the kid in the trade from Colorado. He's in the mix. Lillibridge is in the mix. We have a lot of kids we have got to look at, and I think it will be fun spring training for them. I love when kids are fighting for a job and an opportunity to show people that they can play in the big leagues. Q. Is this a team that you think you will enjoy managing? Does this more fit to your style that you like, on paper at least? OZZIE GUILLEN: Well, when they blame me, I want to take the blame for the right reason. I don't know. I always like differences in pitching. Always do. But we have to build the team around the ballpark we have. Our ballpark is real small in the summer. And then I think the guys that come with power, they help us a lot. We got a lot of help from those guys. But you keep the mix that you keep right now, Konerko, Thome, Dye, A.J., you still have some power in the lineup but you still have speed, and you can do more with those guys. Last year, it seemed like everybody was struggling at the same time and we couldn't do anything about it. Well, we tried to get better. Q. What's your biggest concern with Josh Fields? OZZIE GUILLEN: Healthy. If Josh is healthy, he's got to start working out with Joey and myself in Miami in January, requested by him. He's going to have his shot, and he knows he's going to have a shot at being the third baseman here. It's up to him how long he wants to be in the Major League level with us. When you have plans, all of a sudden the plans don't come through, then you have to change everything and then you have to make Kenny and Rick go crazy around looking for players. We have the thing, and that's the thing, is they have to play, and they have to show people they can play. And not just play, but play and win in the big leagues. That's the thing, we are rebuilding. Q. Without Dye, would you not have enough power in the small ballpark? Would you consider Marquez with Fields? And second base, you won't have that much power; would you be missing? OZZIE GUILLEN: I don't think I'm going to miss power. I think I'm going to miss J.D., period. That's one of my favorite players. I just want to send a message to him. J.D., I'll be the first one to call him; tell him to quit calling me. We are not hiding from the players. When Kenny makes a move, he will tell the players why they did it. But J.D. should be relaxed right now at this particular time. There's nothing out there for him -- do people talk about him? Yeah, of course. People ask about everybody. That's what these meetings are all about. They ask about every player. If we talk about J.D., if they ask about J.D., I think he's willing to hear the offer, and that one isn't bad for the ballclub and the organization, you know, that's up to Kenny to pull the trigger. Q. Because this team is going to be younger than what you've had since you've been manager, does it put more pressure on you to not only kind of be a teacher, but kind of get all of these guys going in the right direction of how you want them to play baseball? Is this a different managerial job than you've had the last four or five years? OZZIE GUILLEN: Maybe. But the guys, the kids we have, they have been in the organization for a little while. They know how I go about my business. They have been with me, for, what, four or five years? I've known those guys for a little while, and you know, as a manager, you like to be involved in the game once in a while. Those guys are going to give me the opportunity to see how good of a manager I am. I mean, I like to compete. I like to be involved with the game. We've been teaching those guys for a little while, and I don't think I see any problem why they cannot go out and perform the way they should, at least -- at least -- help those big boys every day, to get better. Q. Could you see moving the Missile up to a more run-producing spot in the order? OZZIE GUILLEN: We talk about it and we don't worry about that. To give him the load to carry this ballclub, I think he's still young. I don't want to give him the responsibility to carry this ballclub. A few of my coaches would like to see him batting third. I think Quentin should be batting third with Tommy and Konerko and Dye. But I think it's too much responsibility to give this kid. And also, I need people in the bottom of the lineup to produce. I think one of the biggest reasons we scored a lot of runs is because we have these kids in the bottom. Every time we move up in the lineup, I don't think it was doing -- I don't like the way it was in the top of the lineup. Q. How productive was your meeting yesterday with Jaime? OZZIE GUILLEN: It was great. I don't know why somebody told Jamie about, I don't want this kid and I don't know why Kenny signed this kid for. I live in Miami, and in Miami, there's not any bad Cuban players. Everybody from Cuba, they are good players. (Laughter.) It's kind of funny, because everybody from Cuba, you go: "He's a great player." I told Jaime: "He's going to have a legit shot and I want to see him play." We beat a couple of the teams that were fighting for him and the expectations were pretty high. But like I say, he's got to come in shape. Spring training is not to be in shape, to get yourself in shape. Spring training is to prepare yourself for the season and I want all my players, I don't care who it is, they make sure they show up in shape. Because they don't do anything all winter. Well, you know, make sure to try to stay in shape, because I don't like the way he looked when I saw him -- I only saw him on TV, but I talked to him about it and be honest, he has to be in spring training ready to go. Q. Part of your success last year was great infield defense. Do you think your pitching will be as good or your team will be as good unless you have the same type of offense? OZZIE GUILLEN: If we keep this ballclub the way we think right now, I think we are definitely going to be better. We are going to move the Missile to shortstop. I think a lot of the question marks is how is Josh Fields going to play third base. But we will be better in centerfield. We are going to have more range and speed -- I don't want to say better, but we are going to make the plays. I take the blame about Nick Swisher. I do take the blame, because we put Swisher in a spot that he was not a center fielder and not a lead off hitter, and this kid showed up every day and tried to do his best for us. And unfortunately it didn't work out for him and I will take that responsibility about playing this guy in the wrong position and wrong spot in the lineup. Then after that, we don't have a place for him to play. We have a DH and we have a right fielder and we have a left fielder and we have got a first baseman. Then we go back to the same situation that we had last year. Q. You had three shortstops playing second, third and short mostly; so to make up for that kind of defense, you're asking for a lot, aren't you? OZZIE GUILLEN: Well, it's funny, because the people in Chicago, all of a sudden they don't like Uribe and then Uribe is not in the lineup and then they say, why are you not playing Juan Uribe? I think Orlando Cabrera played good baseball. He is another guy out of position in the lineup, and to me, he played good enough out there to play every day. But I feel, it's my opinion, that I think Ramirez, he's going to be pretty good. You're going to see more stuff out of Ramirez in shortstop. That's his natural position and we played Ramirez out of position, too. Ramirez is not a second baseman and he played second base and he did a terrific job. I think that's why it will be better with Owens or Anderson or whoever is out there. J.D. played unbelievable defensively out there in right field. I think we should be better, because we played without Uribe for a long time, and we were lucky to keep Uribe long enough to solve that problem at third base. I think it will be better this it year than last year. Q. Have you and Kenny talked about using a bridge in the outfield, as well as the infield? OZZIE GUILLEN: I asked somebody in the Atlanta Braves organization: If you manage the White Sox, where you play this kid? And without even thinking, they say "shortstop." He is a good utility player, but I will give him a legit shot at second base and hopefully he can play there. I don't like when people say, "He's a good outfielder and he's a good infield." When you're a good infielder, you stay in the infield. And when you're a good outfielder, you stay in the outfield. I hate that; "he plays centerfield, but he's a good second baseman." Or, "he's a good second baseman, but he's a good center fielder." You going to trick somebody else out, but you're not going to trick me. If you're a good second baseman, why are they moving you? If you're a good center fielder, why are they moving you? He might be the backup shortstop just in case something happens, because my utility guy, in the infield, he has to play shortstop. That's why we don't keep Pablo last year and we keep Uribe, because if you play shortstop, you can be my utility player. He can play third base or first base one or two days but shortstop, that's a key position. Q. With Minnesota plugging in young guys and losing veterans, guys making decisions, how was that last year? OZZIE GUILLEN: Because every time Minnesota take a chance and they do the thing right, nobody said anything, and they keep playing the way they should be playing. Every time we do something, oh, why we are doing this or that. By the way Ron Gardenhire owes me dinner or something. I promote him so bad, he got a two-year contract first time in his life. Q. He was here. OZZIE GUILLEN: I was talking so much about him, finally they said -- I think he's a good manager; here's a three-year deal. Minnesota has its own way. I think baseball, they have got to show the way, because the minor league system, they put the right things in the right place and they are teaching those guys. The reason Tampa Bay -- there's a lot of reasons why Tampa wins a lot. But one of the reasons from the other side of the game, they win because they catch everything; they have speed; they never was in a slump, because they had a lot of guys that can run. You know, when we tried -- I'm not going to say we tried to do the same thing because we are a different organization. But I want some people with that style of the game playing for us. Q. Can you be a better team next year with the guys you've got? OZZIE GUILLEN: Yes. I don't know if we'll be a better team. But remember, we win the American League Central. I feel like we don't -- I was playing golf with Joey and I said, "Do you feel like you win last year"? No, nobody would say anything about it. I know we have a better team, and to improve that, we have to have a better -- I have to say, we are better in different places. Because now we know what those guys can do. If we are going to be better, we have to win the decision to go to the next level. But I think we got a better, a different ballclub. Q. Got sample of Clayton Richard last season, do you expect him to take a starting job? OZZIE GUILLEN: We got Marquez -- we have like three or four guys we have to see, whoever normally is in the team, he goes to the bullpen. Clayton, I think one of the reasons we trade Logan, just because we believe Clayton can step up and be in the club. Can he be a starter or reliever, I don't know, but I'm going to give him a shot to make the team. Right now we have a couple of guys on line to be the fourth or fifth starter, and if Clayton Richards, I'm not afraid to put that kid in the starting rotation, I'm not. I think this kid has a lot of good stuff. He's not afraid. He did it before, so, you know, I would take that chance. Q. Based on the four candidates? OZZIE GUILLEN: Depends who are the fourth and the fifth. But I think he's a candidate, and you will see him starting some games in spring training to see if we can get something better from him. Q. What do you think about A-Rod playing for the Dominican Team? OZZIE GUILLEN: I think the Dominican team is going to be better. He's the best player in baseball. Q. Is it fair? OZZIE GUILLEN: If it's fair or not, that's a Major League Baseball thing. What he did, he wants to please his people; he wants to play for the Dominican because he feels like he belongs to them. I don't see why not. That's up to Major League Baseball if they let him. One thing about it, the Dominican Team is going to be better with that kid wearing that uniform. Maybe he's got the history; the only one ever, went two uniforms, different clubs. And next year, I hope he plays for Venezuela the next one, because Venezuela will be better with him. Any team Alex Rodriguez plays for, that team is going to be better, and if that team is the Dominican Republic, they have a great chance to win because he brings a lot at the table. End of FastScripts |
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