Monday evening, word got out in a damn hurry that Ozzie Guillen was managing his final game with the Chicago White Sox, and that he'd be leaving to assume the same job with the Florida/Miami Marlins. Such a move was long suspected, but the timing left the White Sox in need of an interim skipper for the final two games. The obvious choice: bench coach Joey Cora, right?
Chicago White Sox Effectively Dismiss Joey Cora
Wrong. Joe Cowley:
The strange end to the White Sox’ 2011 season took another odd twist this morning when general manager Ken Williams essentially fired interim manager Joey Cora and replaced him with pitching coach Don Cooper.
Cora was told by text message to just go ahead and take the days off, as Cooper will pretty much do everything. The expectation is that Cora will join Guillen with the Marlins, and the White Sox presumably didn’t see the point in handing the temporary reins over to a guy with one foot out the door.
Guillen will be officially introduced as a Marlin on Wednesday. As compensation, the White Sox are expected to receive two players: Ozzie Martinez, and Jhan Marinez. Not only do the White Sox get an Ozzie for an Ozzie - they get a Martinez and a Marinez, the latter of which I didn’t even know was a last name. Martinez is a glove-first shortstop, while Marinez is a 23-year-old righty reliever big on strikeouts and walks.
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