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We'll know by later today whether Cito Gaston, six years after being fired as Blue Jays' manager with just three days left in the 1997 season, is returning to the managerial ranks. The Chicago White Sox are reportedly set to hire either Gaston or Ozzie Guillen as their field boss, but it seems that Cito is the favourite. The White Sox apparently would like to bring in Guillen to be a bench coach and manager-in-training, but the Oz likes it in Miami and isn't leaving for anything but the top job. We'll update you when the announcement is made.

The Jays have had a number of managers over the years, and the remarkable thing to me is how many are still active. Bobby Cox continues to build a Hall of Fame career in Atlanta, while Jimy Williams is still improbably employed in Houston; Gaston may be about to join them. Add in the fact that Jim Fregosi's name is being tossed around as a possibility in Boston and that even Tim Johnson is managing in the independent leagues, and we may see a situation where five of the six Jays managers who preceded Carlos Tosca are all gainfully re-employed. The exception? Some analyst for ESPN.
Chicago Cito? | 5 comments | Create New Account
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Coach - Monday, November 03 2003 @ 09:21 AM EST (#86789) #
I wonder what Cito ever did to Jay Mariotti? In his Sun-Times column, he calls Gaston "a respected but mannequin-like presence who struck me as a grumpy version of the sleepy, Gandhi-loving Manuel," and gushes over the alternative:

Ozzie Guillen is the smart, cool choice anyway. He's the right man for the right job at the right time, emotion in motion, a motivator and a salesman in the same package. Behold the Blizzard of Oz, by all indications the new manager of the White Sox.

Reinsdorf and Williams are keeping everyone guessing, but if they choose Cito, it looks like he's in for a rough ride.
Craig B - Monday, November 03 2003 @ 09:35 AM EST (#86790) #
Ever since Bill James (in homage to the supremely awesome Ozzie Smith) christened the supremely underwhelming Ozzie Guillen as "The Ozzard of Whizz", I have known no other name by which to call him.

Guillen was one of the worst regulars of his time, massively overrated with the bat due to middling batting averages and (to my memory at least) not nearly as good with the glove as his reputation. It'll be interesting to see what sort of manager he would make... as a player, he took rashness and overaggressiveness to a new level.
Pistol - Monday, November 03 2003 @ 10:03 AM EST (#86791) #
FWIW - I heard Gammons last Friday on the radio say that Gaston was Williams' choice and Guillen was Reinsdorf choice.
_coliver - Monday, November 03 2003 @ 12:23 PM EST (#86792) #
Let's hope that "Satan"(according to Jim Rome)Reinsdorf does not win in this case. Cito deserves this opportunity.
_Steve Z - Monday, November 03 2003 @ 02:14 PM EST (#86793) #
And the winner (according to published reports) is... Ozzie!
Chicago Cito? | 5 comments | Create New Account
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