Ozzie Guillen says he loves Castro and respects and likes Hugo Chavez. Marlins denounce Castro.

[PaulFolk]

Ozzie has been suspended five games by the Marlins, with an MLB investigation now underway after a Congressman with roots Cuban roots started bellyaching. Really amazing the power of that lobby.

What are they investigating?

[Dipper9]

What are they investigating?

A trifecta perhaps?

Ozzie fired. Bud Selig forced to step down. Peter Angelos forced to sell the Orioles. This is Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!

[Moose Milligan]

Always hated Ozzie since he stole Cal's Gold Glove in 1990.

[playbaltimorecom]

A trifecta perhaps?

Ozzie fired. Bud Selig forced to step down. Peter Angelos forced to sell the Orioles. This is Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!

Wow that would definitely be the trifecta

Most people think before they speak, Ozzie does not. I was trying to find out if he graduated high school. I know he started playing at a young age, not sure either way.

Regardless, he sounds like a moron when he talks. Regardless of how he feels or individuals feel politically, the fact is Castro has separated families and many of those residents in Miami want to see their families. No wonder they are angry, Guillen's comments are ignorant and insensitive. Like it or not, he represents their baseball team and should know better. They won't fire him and if they did that would probably just translate into him getting a job as an analyst which would be even worse!

[ShaneDawg85]

Quick, how many postseason appearances have Guillen teams made since 2005? The answer, one. Just one, and they promptly lost. Despite playing in one of the weakest divisions in baseball and going up against continuous next year's teams like the Indians, and underachievers like Detroit, the White Sox were continuously one of the great underachievers in baseball. Guillen has gotten by because of the ring and a lot of bluster, but when you roll everything back, there really is nothing there to suggest that on a good day he's even an average major league manager from a tactical and skill standpoint, let alone his constant picking fights with everyone on his team, opponents, the media, and everyone in between. He was brought in for novelty sake because of the population in Miami, the new ballpark, and the hope that they could keep him closer to the vest than Chicago did. If they don't win, and if they do it will be in spite of him, the team, and the city will turn on Guillen even harder than this will.

[Gurgi]

Might just be easier for the Marlins to fire him now. Who would protest that?

The Marlins have just spent a great deal of capitalist money to win and need to redistribute some butts into a great deal of seats in their stadium.

[blid]

What are they investigating?

No idea.
http://twitter.com/#!/Buster_ESPN/st...87775543570432

[Frobby]

What are they investigating?

It is preposterous. There is nothing to investigate; he said what he said. I do understand that Guillen offended a huge part of the Marlins' potential fan base with his remarks, so if the Marlins have suspended him, I get the logic of that. But there's literally nothing to iinvestigate here - we already know what there is to know.

[Can_of_corn]

They are not investigating anything. There is nothing to investigate. Ozzie used his right to free speech foolishly. End of story. MLB is just going to putz around until the anger simmers down then file away a two paragraph report.

[BaltimoreTerp]

Quick, how many postseason appearances have Guillen teams made since 2005? The answer, one. Just one, and they promptly lost. Despite playing in one of the weakest divisions in baseball and going up against continuous next year's teams like the Indians, and underachievers like Detroit, the White Sox were continuously one of the great underachievers in baseball. Guillen has gotten by because of the ring and a lot of bluster, but when you roll everything back, there really is nothing there to suggest that on a good day he's even an average major league manager from a tactical and skill standpoint, let alone his constant picking fights with everyone on his team, opponents, the media, and everyone in between. He was brought in for novelty sake because of the population in Miami, the new ballpark, and the hope that they could keep him closer to the vest than Chicago did. If they don't win, and if they do it will be in spite of him, the team, and the city will turn on Guillen even harder than this will.

To be fair, he had a GM who thinks that "sabermetrics" is measuring the number of fans at a hockey game in Buffalo, and wasn't exactly giving Guillen fourteen All-Stars in the line up and rotation to work with. Also, only in 2009 did they not at least equal their expected record.

I don't have any strong opinion about his managing. I don't think he's bad, though.

[Barnaby Graves]

Quick, how many postseason appearances have Guillen teams made since 2005? The answer, one. Just one, and they promptly lost. Despite playing in one of the weakest divisions in baseball and going up against continuous next year's teams like the Indians, and underachievers like Detroit, the White Sox were continuously one of the great underachievers in baseball. Guillen has gotten by because of the ring and a lot of bluster, but when you roll everything back, there really is nothing there to suggest that on a good day he's even an average major league manager from a tactical and skill standpoint, let alone his constant picking fights with everyone on his team, opponents, the media, and everyone in between. He was brought in for novelty sake because of the population in Miami, the new ballpark, and the hope that they could keep him closer to the vest than Chicago did. If they don't win, and if they do it will be in spite of him, the team, and the city will turn on Guillen even harder than this will.

I'm not really a Guillen fan but I hate when people do that thing where they say "X has always been X except when it was Y." His teams haven't done all that well except for the time they won the World Series.

Also, it's 2012 and we're actually having this conversation about Cuba and actually having Congresscritters getting out their pitchforks?

[dorfmac]

Wow this all seems so "Cold War". So the dude supports communism or socialism or a dictator? Is he not entitled to his own political opinions? So what if the people of Miami disagree - that's why they have their opinions.

Sure - many may view these guys as dictators that have done terrible things, but there are also positive things that they've contributed to their societies as well. Maybe Ozzie acknowledges those things and hasn't felt many negative effects?

Just pisses me off when people disagree with an opinion and then start crying about t as though it makes a difference.

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/sport...astro-comments

[byrdz]

Meanwhile, is the entire "South Florida Cuban-American community" 80+ in age?

[Dr. FLK]

Wow this all seems so "Cold War". So the dude supports communism or socialism or a dictator? Is he not entitled to his own political opinions? So what if the people of Miami disagree - that's why they have their opinions.

Sure - many may view these guys as dictators that have done terrible things, but there are also positive things that they've contributed to their societies as well. Maybe Ozzie acknowledges those things and hasn't felt many negative effects?

Just pisses me off when people disagree with an opinion and then start crying about t as though it makes a difference.

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/sport...astro-comments

So what if the people of Miami disagree? Well umm...maybe the guy who owns the team who benefits when the people of Miami like his team? You know...the guy who signs Ozzie's checks. No one said Ozzie can't have his opinion. But, when you voice an opinion that it so out of touch with the "company line" that it offends the entire fan base, you open yourself up to the consequences. This isn't some overly political decision. It's a business decision. Offending customers is bad for business.

[Tony-OH]

While I understand the local public angst about this, getting suspended for this is a bit ridiculous. An apology should have been plenty, and he likely could make some joke about it and move on.

The suspension is nothing more than to appease the large Cuban-American population the Marlins are trying to cultivate into fans. They can not afford a boycott or lack of momentum with the new stadium,