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White Sox Release Ozzie Guillen From Contract

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The worst-kept secret in Major League Baseball has now become official. Ozzie Guillen will no longer manage the White Sox and it appears that he'll sign a new deal with the Marlins, who would send compensation to Chicago if a deal with Guillen becomes official.

The White Sox announced tonight that they have released Guillen from his contract at his request. He won't be in uniform for the season's final two games, according to the team, which retains rights to compensation if another club hires Guillen to manage in 2012. White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf says he appreciates Guillen's work and wishes him the best.

“We certainly cannot thank Ozzie enough for all he has done during his eight seasons as manager of the Chicago White Sox, highlighted by an unforgettable 2005 World Series championship,” he said. 

The next time Guillen dons a Major League uniform, it will likely be for the Marlins. His deal with Florida is expected to be for three years, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Guillen had one year remaining on his deal in Chicago, where he had managed since 2004.

The White Sox will obtain two minor leaguers as compensation, according to Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com. They were hoping for a "decent prospect" from the Marlins, but weren't expecting anyone on Florida's 40-man roster, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (on Twitter).

Current manager Jack McKeon won't be back in Florida next year and the Marlins started a complete search for his replacement, even though they already appear to have decided on Guillen. The Marlins interviewed third base coach Joe Espada, hitting coach Eduardo Perez and Nationals coach Bo Porter today for the vacancy.

Guillen leaves the Windy City with a record of 678-617. The White Sox made two playoff appearances under Guillen: they won the World Series in 2005, Guillen's second season, and lost to the Rays in the 2008 ALDS.

Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, who first reported that Guillen was out as manager, says there will likely be substantive changes to Chicago’s coaching staff. Pitching coach Don Cooper already has a deal on the table to stay in the organization, according to Cowley. Bench coach Joey Cora is expected to join Guillen with the Marlins, according to Morosi (on Twitter). First, Cora will manage Chicago's last two regular season games, according to MLB.com's Scott Merkin (on Twitter).  Tony La Russa and Buddy Bell are expected to be considered for Chicago's managing gig, tweets Morosi.

The White Sox and Marlins discussed a Guillen for Mike Stanton trade last offseason (don't expect a substantive return for the White Sox if the deal goes through). Though they're rare, there is some precedent for player-manager swaps. Following the 2002 season, the Rays sent Randy Winn to Seattle for minor leaguer Antonio Perez to compensate the Mariners for losing Lou Piniella.

Marlins Notes: Infante, Hanley, Morrison, Ozzie

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A few items about the soon-to-be Miami Marlins…

Logan Morrison Files Grievance Against Marlins

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Logan Morrison filed a grievance against the Marlins after they demoted him last month, Amy K. Nelson of ESPN.com reports. Though the Marlins have maintained that they demoted the 24-year-old left fielder for baseball reasons, Morrison and agent Fred Wray are arguing that the demotion was a form of discipline without just cause.

"I'm doing this because I'm standing up for what's right," Morrison told Nelson. "If I thought it was because of my performance on the field, then I wouldn't be filing a grievance."

Morrison missed an event with Marlins season ticket holders before his demotion and not long afterwards Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest said that the outspoken Morrison needed to learn more about "being a Major Leaguer." Morrison, who spent ten days in the minors, filed the grievance on August 25th, according to Nelson.

Morrison wants big league pay for the time he spent in the minors, according to Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post (on Twitter). He can still obtain a full year of service time in 2011, so the demotion didn't affect his path to arbitration or free agency.

NL East Notes: Braves, Morrison, Rodriguez

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Jason Heyward hit his first MLB grand slam at Wrigley Field tonight, helping the Braves in their attempt to strengthen their hold on the NL Wild Card. Here are the rest of today’s links from Heyward’s division… 

NL East Notes: Nationals, Morrison, Thome

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Top Nationals prospect Bryce Harper had to leave last night's Double-A contest with a hamstring injury and Washington's medical staff will re-evaluate the 18-year-old outfielder today. In the meantime, here are some links from the Nationals' division…

  • Former Nationals president Stan Kasten told Bill Ladson of MLB.com that the Nationals had an "awesome, fantastic" draft this year. Kasten found out that Nats pick Matt Purke looks up to Tom Glavine and was able to set up a talk between the two left-handers.
  • Scott Miller of CBSSports.com understands why the Marlins' decision to demote Logan Morrison has drawn so much criticism, but he isn't ready to criticize Florida's move himself. One Marlin told Miller that Morrison was behaving like a superstar before he had even become a star.
  • Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News wonders if Jim Thome could end up returning to Philadelphia this season and says there's probably a way to make it happen. "Now it's up to the Phillies to decide whether it makes sense from a competitive standpoint," Hagen writes.

Heyman On Cubs, Marlins, Cole, Posada

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Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano could use a change of scenery, as Jon Heyman explains at SI.com. One rival GM considers the right-hander a fourth starter, which matches Tim Dierkes’ assessment of Zambrano from yesterday. Here are the rest of Heyman’s rumors, starting with another note on the Cubs… 

  • Cubs owner Tom Ricketts has had good things to say about GM Jim Hendry, but Heyman hears that Hendry is still “at risk” of losing his job. Despite a weekend report to the contrary, Hendry doesn't have any guarantees. 
  • The Marlins demoted Logan Morrison to the minors because Marlins officials, including manager Jack McKeon, believe the outfielder needs to show more maturity and be less outspoken. It doesn't appear that Morrison will file a grievance.
  • One GM called first overall pick Gerrit Cole a “slam dunk” number one starter, Heyman reports. The Pirates signed the former UCLA right-hander to an $8MM deal on Monday.
  • The Yankees won’t release Jorge Posada, but it appears that he’ll have to earn a spot on their playoff roster.

Marlins Notes: Choate, Morrison, Fernandez

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The latest on the Marlins, who are taking on their expansion cousins in Denver tonight…

  • The Marlins placed left-hander Randy Choate on waivers today, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (on Twitter). Other teams now have two days to place a claim on Choate, who earns $1MM this year and $1.5MM next year. Assuming he does get claimed, Florida will have two business days to consider possible moves with the team that makes the winning claim.
  • Logan Morrison, who is now in Triple-A, doesn't appear to plan to file a grievance against the Marlins for demoting him, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). It appeared over the weekend that Morrison would consider a grievance after the Marlins' surprising decision to send him to the minor leagues.
  • The Marlins plan to get 14th overall selection Jose Fernandez into games before the minor league season ends, according to Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. Florida will assign the right-hander to the Gulf Coast League this week. The Marlins signed him for $2MM last night.

Morrison Could File Grievance Against Marlins

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After a shocking demotion to Triple-A New Orleans last night, Marlins outfielder Logan Morrison will speak with the Players Union to see if there are grounds for filing a grievance, according to Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post.

Shortly after a game in which he batted third for the Fish, Morrison was given the news of his demotion, along with the notice that clubhouse leader Wes Helms had been released. The Marlins cited Morrison's .249 batting average as their reason for the demotion, but Morrison told reporters he thought the move was related to an off-the-field issue.

Capozzi's article shines some light on the situation, as he informs readers that Helms had advised Morrison that he didn't have to attend a meet-and-greet that day with Marlins season ticket holders. Morrison had recently finished an autograph session and was upset with the Marlins' handling of a charity bowling event that had to be canceled due to lack of interest. He spoke about the issues to Helms, the team's union representative. While Helms did attend the event, Morrison ultimately did not, and hours later neither were with the big league club.

Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Capozzi had some reactions from Morrison, who told reporters he was "heartbroken," and said that manager Jack McKeon, President of Baseball Operations Larry Beinfest, and GM Mike Hill neglected to discuss his 17 home runs or 60 RBI on the season, but focused solely on the batting average. For what it's worth, Morrison's .791 OPS also ranks third on the team behind Mike Stanton and Gaby Sanchez.

In this special piece for MLB.com, Danny Villavicencio has quotes from Beinfest on the club's decision:

"I never thought we'd see Logan hitting in the .240s, ever," Beinfest said. "Obviously, he's a much better hitter than he's shown. I'm not going to pin that on it as a specific, but he needs to work on all aspects of being a Major Leaguer, and then he'll come back here."

Beinfest pointed to Jose Lopez's big Triple-A numbers and a desire to improve the bench as a reason for the release of Helms, who was batting just .191 after last night's game.

In addition to being second on the team in home runs and third in OPS, Morrison and agent Fred Wray can also point out that this move could hamper his service time, potentially costing him money in the long run and prolonging his journey to free agency. This isn't the first time this year that Morrison has clashed with the Marlins organization, either. He was asked to tone down his Twitter account earlier this season, and has been said to be too candid with the media.

Based on Beinfest's repetition that Morrison "needs to focus on all aspects of being a Major Leaguer," it certainly seems like there could be more to the situation than just his on-field performance. That will be up to the Players Union to decide, however.

Guillen Discusses Future In Chicago

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White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that he knows his bosses will consider firing him if the team doesn’t perform. And though he says he wants to stay in the White Sox organization for the rest of his life, Guillen says GM Kenny Williams and owner Jerry Reinsdorf don’t owe him anything.

“If Kenny or Jerry doesn’t think I’m doing my job . . . they’re going to fire me because my players don’t produce,” Guillen told Rosenthal. “I respect that. I don’t mind getting fired. If I get fired, it’s for a reason. What reason? Me.”

Though several rival executives believe the White Sox would be better off without Guillen, at least one team covets the former shortstop as a future skipper. The 15-8 Marlins expressed interest in obtaining the rights to Guillen in the offseason are not currently discussing an extension for manager Edwin Rodriguez, who is on a one-year contract, according to Rosenthal.

Rosenthal notes that the White Sox asked for Logan Morrison in exchange for the right to hire Guillen last offseason, not Mike Stanton. Last fall, many reports indicated that Stanton was at the center of the discussions between the White Sox and Marlins.

NL East Notes: Zimmermann, Marlins, Heyward

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Players with zero to three years of service time are under team control and don't have the power to negotiate their salaries. Most of these players agree to terms with their clubs on deals worth $400-500K, but some don't agree to terms and their clubs renew their contracts instead (it doesn't affect the player's timeline for arbitration or free agency). Here's the latest on the NL East, including news on some contract renewals:

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