MLB Fans Had Comical Reactions To The Padres Possibly Hiring Ozzie Guillen As Their New Manager

• According to a new report, the San Diego Padres are considering hiring Ozzie Guillen as their new manager.
• Guillen hasn’t managed in the big leagues since 2012 when his Marlins team finished dead last in the National League East.
• More MLB news here.

The hiring of Tony La Russa by the Chicago White Sox after not managing in baseball at any level since 2011 was looked upon by many fans (me) as a strange choice that was probably going to be a mistake.

Somewhat surprisingly, the 76-year-old was able to guide the young White Sox to a stellar 93-69 record, a AL Central Division title, making the playoffs for just the 11th time in the team’s 121 year history.

The San Diego Padres recently fired their manager Jayce Tingler, who finished second in the 2020 National League Manager of the Year voting, after a disappointing 79-83 record.

Now rumor has it that the Padres are looking to pull a LaRussa and are interested in hiring the 2005 American League Manager of the Year Ozzie Guillen.

Guillen, like La Russa, got his managerial start in Chicago with the White Sox. Also, like La Russa prior to this season, Guillen hasn’t managed a Major League Baseball team in nine years.

There’s just one really big difference though.

Tony La Russa has now won 2,821 Major League Baseball games as a MLB manager. Ozzie Guillen has won just 747 after going just 69-93 with the Marlins in 2012 before being fired after one season with three more years still left on his contract (and also after making some rather inflammatory remarks about Fidel Castro).

So not really the same thing. That, however, isn’t stopping the Padres, according to Dennis Lin of The Athletic.

In fact, the Padres are so serious about possibly hiring Guillen they reportedly interviewed him last week. San Diego has also reportedly given interviews to recently fired St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Shildt as well recently fired New York Mets manager Luis Rojas. It’s quite the Murderer’s Row of managerial candidates.

Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller and chairman Peter Seidler declined to comment when asked about Guillen and any other managerial candidates, but, as usual, the fans were in no way silent in response to this unusual news regarding the current White Sox studio analyst.

He’s not wrong.