Just minutes prior to taking the podium in front of a room jam-packed with members of the Miami media on Tuesday morning, the Miami Marlins announced that manager Ozzie Guillen had been suspended by their front office for five games following comments that he made earlier in the week regarding Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

“I feel like I betrayed my Latin community,” was the English translation of one of Guillen’s opening statements. Guillen spoke in his native Spanish for most of the press conference. “I am here to say I am sorry with my heart in my hands and I want to say I’m sorry to all those people who are hurt indirectly or directly.”

“I’m sorry for what I said and for putting people in a position they don’t need to be in. And for all the Cuban families, I’m sorry,” said Guillen. “I hope that when I get out of here, they will understand who Ozzie Guillen is. How I feel for them. And how I feel about the Fidel Castro dictatorship. I’m here to face you, person to person. It’s going to be a very difficult time for me.”

Bench coach Joey Cora will manage the club until Guillen’s return next week.

In what has become an infamous interview with Time Magazine a few days ago, Guillen stated, “I love Fidel Castro.” His immediate reason for the remark was Castro’s ability to remain in power after several decades despite the overwhelming hatred that Cuban citizens have for him.

This sparked immediate outrage from Cubans in Miami, who compose the city’s majority population, especially where the Marlins new ballpark is located, Little Havana. The last thing they ever want to hear is someone supporting the man whose tyrant communist practices have caused them and their families relentless suffering for years on end, forcing them to flee their homeland with zero intent of ever returning.

“Guillen’s remarks, which were offensive to an important part of the Miami community and others throughout the world, have no place in our game,” said MLB commissioner Bud Selig.

With an off-day in Philadelphia during the Marlins series against the Phillies, Guillen decided that it would be best to take a flight back to South Florida on Tuesday and apologize for his insensitive comments.

Along with multiple apologies to those he offended, Guillen repeated numerous times during the press conference that he does not have any admiration for Castro.

“The interpretation didn’t come out as I wanted,” Guillen said in defense of his controversial words. “I was thinking in Spanish and I said the wrong thing in English.”

No prepared statement in front of him, Guillen spoke directly from the heart.

“Everybody in the world hates Fidel Castro, including myself,” said Guillen. “I was surprised that he’s still in power. That’s what I was trying to say to the journalist. And that’s the first thing that came out of my mouth. I admit it. It was the wrong words.”

Much of the Miami community did not believe that Guillen’s apology sufficed, and a series of boycotts and protests outside of the stadium will take place once the Marlins return this Friday for the first of a three game series against the Houston Astros.

Despite many of these people wanting Guillen fired, Marlins president David Samson assured that the team never considered it.

Positive comments about Castro were also made by Guillen back in a 2008 interview with the Chicago Sun Times, but it was essentially a non-story because of the paper’s location.

“I will do everything to try to make things be better,” said Guillen. “I’m willing to do everything in my power, in the Marlins power, to do everything I can to help this community.”

“This is the biggest mistake of my life. When you make a mistake this big … I will learn from this,” he said.

Image Courtesy of  Keith Allison

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If you’re going to upgrade to a beautiful new home you might as well get some fresh furniture to put in it. That’s the exact philosophy that Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria has lived by this off season. Last month he moved his newly named Miami Marlins into a brand new stadium and this week he added considerable depth with the big free agent acquisitions of shortstop Jose Reyes, starter Mark Buehrle, and closer Heath Bell.

“Outstanding week,” said Marlins new manager Ozzie Guillen. “I’d never thought we were going to do it so fast, so quick. They [the front office] were very aggressive.”

The Marlins initially received most of their buzz for their strong interest in Albert Pujols, but their most recent signing of Buehrle late on December 7^th, was quickly followed by an end to those rumors. Pujols then agreed to a mega deal with the Angels the next day – ten years, $254 million.

Miami also lost out to the Angels for the top pitcher available, C.J. Wilson. Wilson also signed with them on December 8^th, agreeing to a five year, $77.5 million deal.

Yet although the Angels came out of the fair with the nicest prizes the Marlins still feel that they emerged as the Winter Meetings’ biggest winners. They came to Dallas known as a losing team that was never active when it came to highly sought after free agents – but they left with $191 million worth of prizes.

Loria’s desires to build a contending team that will bring this starving fan base hope began on December 5^th with the official signing of Bell to a three year, $27 million contract.

“It’s going to be totally different,” said Bell. “We’re now the Miami Marlins. People are going to be in the seats. It’s going to be loud and exciting. There’s going to be a buzz.”

When fans think of today’s best closers the list usually includes obvious names like Mariano Rivera, Jonathan Papelbon, and Jose Valverde. But Bell has become one of the top closers himself over the last few years. Playing in the small market of San Diego since 2006 has made him somewhat of a hidden gem, as he is the only closer in all of baseball with at least 40 saves each of the last three seasons.

“We know firsthand how tough he is coming out to close in the ninth inning,” said Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest. With the all-important closer role taken care of, the front office then began focusing on acquiring a big-time position player.

And they did not waste any time in doing so. An appointment to meet with Reyes and his agent was scheduled the minute the free agent signing period began on November 3^rd – just one past midnight. The two sides agreed to a six year $106 million deal by November 7^th.

If anyone understood how much of a superstar Reyes was, it was the Marlins. Playing in the N.L. East had only made them firsthand victims of Reyes’ antics for the past decade. They knew the Mets could not afford to keep one of the game’s most dynamic players so they swooped in.

“We now have at the top of our lineup a four-time All-Star, a batting champion and one of the fastest men in the game,” said Beinfest. The signing has sparked a lot of controversy, however. The Marlins already have an elite shortstop in Hanley Ramirez. The plan was to move Ramirez to third base if Reyes was signed, but many are unsure whether or not he would be willing to do so.

Rumor now has it that front office may be shopping him if he does not cooperate with the team’s desires. Just hours after Reyes became a Marlin the team bolstered its weak starting pitching by adding Buehrle to the staff. The veteran lefty signed a four year, $58 million contract. No one was happier about this than Ozzie Guillen, who managed him for years during their time with the White Sox. Buehrle is 161-119 with a 3.83 ERA over his career.

“The Marlins know how much I love him,” said Guillen. “I know how much he can help us. If we have Buehrle, it can make my life a little easier.” This organization couldn’t be any happier with the new toys they just bought. “When we drew up our off season plan, and how we wanted our team look, we are in the A box right now,” said team president David Samson.

Matt Trommer / Shutterstock.com

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