If Ozzie Guillen winds up keeping his job in Miami next season, Heath Bell may have to be traded. It has become evident this week that there is little to no respect between the manager and closer. During a radio appearance on Monday, Bell said it is hard to respect Guillen since Ozzie lied to him and led him to believe he would have a chance to win back the closer’s job. On Tuesday, Guillen told reporters the lack of respect is mutual.
More specifically, Guillen said Bell has blamed his struggles on others all season long.
“It was my turn this week,” he said. “Last week it was the pitching coach. The week before it was his teammates. Every week it’s something. That’s why I don’t respect him as a person. You have to have principles.”
Before Tuesday’s game against the Braves, Bell backtracked and insisted his words were “taken out of context” and that he never intended to badmouth Ozzie.
“I’m not retracting anything, but I never meant to criticize Ozzie,” Bell said. “Everything gets twisted. I’m not talking anymore. I didn’t mean anything toward Ozzie. I wasn’t talking about Ozzie.”
Bell also said that he has likely lost the respect of his teammates after making the comments about Guillen. He tried to call Ozzie on Monday night to apologize and Ozzie said he didn’t answer because he didn’t recognize the number, adding that it’s “not going to resolve anything anyway.”
Somebody should probably learn to not say things when they’re frustrated, because Bell was clearly talking about Ozzie. Everyone — including Ozzie — knows he was talking about Ozzie. If both are going to be Marlins next season, they will have to smooth things over without microphones in their faces.
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