What follows is, without a doubt, the dumbest storyline I can remember -- an utterly predictable, mind-numbing drama borne from a volatile mix of filterless technology, impulsive personalities and family ties.
An inessential member of the White Sox resigned on Friday...
...AND IT'S TEARING THE ORGANIZATION APART!!!
Oney Guillen, who surely received his job in the scouting department due to his aptitude for breaking down tape and for no other reason, nosirree, was pulled aside for the second time in less than a year for criticizing his employer through Twitter.
He took his phone and went home -- where he later took greater shots at the Sox. This one says it all (asterisks mine):
I hope the dorksaren't running the organization or else were f***ed. 3 geeks who neverplayed baseball a day in there life telling experts what to do
He buried himself deeper with tantrums until he became impossible to defend from any objective circumstances -- especially since it had happened before.
Last year, he and Joey Cora had an interesting back-and-forth about a flyball that dropped between Alexei Ramirez and Carlos Quentin. If memory serves, Oney said Ramirez didn't get out of the way in time, while Cora defended his infielder and said it was Quentin's ball to get.
Soon, it was over. Both Oney and Cora had their Twitter accounts taken away, but the actions and reactions were both understandable. They were having a conversation any two baseball people might have, and it wasn't particularly offensive. But ... they were talking about family business outside of the house. Lessons learned, right?
(Correction: Oney and Cora's Twitter termination dates might be separate.)
So when Oney resurfaced on Feb. 24 with a Twitter account, I didn't think much of it. His father had started one the day before, so it looked like the son rejoined to help and keep an eye on things.
Nope. He rejoined to push the envelope, and when the Sox told him to stop once again, he pushed it further. And now he feels that pushing the envelope is more important than keeping his job, because he's still tweeting about it at this very moment.
Hey, that's his choice. Still, if he's the guiding hand in building the Ozzie Guillen brand, then the White Sox made the right choice in quashing the Web site, a decision that, Mark Gonzales says, cost the Guillen family several thousand dollars.
The lack of awareness is stunning. Not just the idea that criticizing an employer publicly is an inalienable right, but that the son of one of a high-profile manager is claiming to be unimportant and irrelevant, even though he began his second Twitter account by hyping his return. He's managing his own image so poorly that I'd hate to see what he'd do with Ozzie's.
I guess we're getting a taste of that now, though. Ozzie was so disturbed by the series of events that he didn't talk to reporters, instead tweeting to apologize to the media, reaffirm his support of his kids and offer a vague statement in Spanish, possibly foreshadowing further conflict, translating to:
"They touched me where it hurts most and I have to be ready for whatevercomes as I always do."
Have I mentioned how stupid this whole thing is?
I don't think this is going to be the singular tipping point in the Ozzie Guillen-Kenny Williams relationship, because Ozzie, Oney and Williams have one uniting characteristic -- an undying respect for Jerry Reinsdorf. This situation is so trivial and, once again, stupid, that you'd think Reinsdorf could slap everybody upside the back of the head and be done with it.
Yet with each passing incident, one question becomes more pressing to me:
Is Kenny Williams getting too old for this?
Williams is 55, but when it comes to his opinion of the Internet, he's at least 50 years older than that. It's the greatest opposition to his primary goal of running the tightest ship in baseball. He loathes chatter -- remember the J.J. Putz deal? -- and despises bloggers, who often get the blame for rumors started in the mainstream. His business cards probably say "Stay out of White Sox business."
At the same time, the White Sox's business side has been making efforts to be more welcoming. Just last week, for instance, we reviled bloggers were invited to talk to Rick Hahn.
Maybe these are unrelated operations, but it strikes me as possible that departments inside the White Sox organization are pulling on different ends of the rope. Right now, Williams now finds himself dealing with a medium he doesn't care to understand. If dreck like this consumes more of his job, is it a job he'd actually want?
It's been widely assumed that Hahn is the heir apparent to the GM position, and Williams rejects anybody inquiring about his own contract status. The groundwork is there for a premature escape. Obviously, I'm engaging in some conclusion-jumping and logic-leaping, but it's not like I can make this situation much dumber.
