Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
September 27, 2004
Temper Suspension

Jose Guillen has been suspended without pay by the Angels. He'll miss the rest of the regular season, and will not play in the post season if the Angels can win the AL West.


Guillen has drawn the ire of his teammates, coaches and the front office for a number of incidents this season, but Saturday's apparently was the last straw.

After being removed from the game for a pinch runner in the eighth inning, Guillen threw his hands into the air, walked slowly off the field and threw his helmet toward the end of the dugout occupied by manager Mike Scioscia. Upon reaching the dugout, Guillen threw his glove against the dugout wall.

Scioscia downplayed the incident immediately after Saturday's game, but after a meeting Sunday afternoon, Guillen was told to pack his bags.

"It was a tough decision, I didn't sleep at all last night thinking about it,' Scioscia said. "We had to do something with Jose, I think it was becoming a distraction. Anything that gets in the way of winning, you have to put to the side.


What an amazing event. You're in the last week of the season with the division title on the line and you suspend your 2nd best player. As of Sept. 23rd, Guillen had 21 win shares, 2nd most on the team behind Vlad Guerrero. I don't know whether to applaud Sciocia and Moreno for putting a poor teammate in his place, or criticize them for handicapping their team at a critical juncture.

Mostly, I'm struck at the difference in the way the Angels handled this from the way the Red Sox handled the Carl Everett situation a few years ago. In that case, the front office undermined the manager's authority. So the Angels front office gets major points for sticking up for Scioscia (as did Cleveland with Bradley and Wedge).

Guillen put himself in gold last year with a superb season. It's too bad he's let his temper eat away at his success. Unfortunately, it's a lose-lose situation for both the player and the team.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:55 AM | Baseball Jerks | TrackBack (0)
Comments

In all fairness to the Red Sox, that was a different regime in place during the Carl episodes.

Posted by: Dave at September 27, 2004 09:22 AM

While the situation is certainly different I'm struck by the difference in suspensions between Guillen and Frank Francisco. Nothing Guillen did could possible compare to what Francisco did. He just did it to the wrong people. If the Rangers make the playoffs Francisco should be suspended for that too. Bill Stoneman should work for MLB.

Posted by: Gaelan Murphy at September 27, 2004 01:26 PM

So the Angels front office gets major points for sticking up for Scioscia (as did Cleveland with Bradley and Wedge).

Assuming that Scioscia was asking for the suspension. It's possible that Scioscia was planning on sitting him for a game or two, then Stoneman and/or Moreno stepped in and made this a little more permanent. We don't really know.

I've watched probably 125+ Angels games this season, and I honestly don't think this is going to hurt them on the field. Guillen hasn't done a thing all month, and it's pretty clear that despite what Bartolo's personal trianer (man, those are three words I never thought I'd put together) did for him, he's still playing hurt. I don't think they'll lose much at the plate over what they were getting and would likely get, and they probably get better defensively. Guillen's excellent arm is gone, but it's replaced by Davanon's superior range.

I'd actually much rather they put Erstad in center, moved Anderson to left, and played Kotchman at first down the stretch, but they won't.

So it's lose for Guillen, but I don't really think it's lose for the Angels.

Posted by: Bill Seitz at September 27, 2004 01:47 PM

Presumably Guillen's been warned about this; why can't he get his emotions under control? And he should be focused on winning games right now; if that means the team needs more speed on the base path, fine.

You're right about Francisco, Gaelan, he shouldn't be near the ballpark until the end of next April.

Posted by: Robert at September 27, 2004 05:09 PM

Guillen must have done something that goes far beyond throwing his helmet. I'm guessing there's an ongoing pattern of really objectionable behavior here.

I applaud the Angels for taking a stand and demanding a little maturity. These million dollar players too (in all sports) feel entitled to act like adolescents. Make them accountable, it will really end up helping them in life.

Posted by: Steve at September 28, 2004 01:38 PM