There have been a lot of rumors lately involving Ozzie Guillen being on the hot seat. The White Sox are off to an awful start and currently rank last in the AL Central (11-21) and are already 11 games behind the Indians.

Guillen was asked on Wednesday if he had spoken to chairman Jerry Reinsdorf about his immediate future. “At this point, I don’t trust anyone,” he said. “You think Jerry [would] come to me and say, ‘We might fire you?’” (via Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times).

According to Cowley, Guillen seems worn down, and quoting his own words “he sounded like an old-time prisoner from a Sly Stallone movie”. Guillen has said in other opportunities that he’s not afraid of being fired and that he would find another job right away, but he can’t hide his frustration right now.

Williams said that the team has no plans of firing Guillen or anybody on the coaching staff at the moment. Cowley said that there were rumors Thursday morning that not everyone would be making the trip home from a West Coast trip, but apparently that’s not true.

The White Sox are the third worst offensive team in the American League, just above the Mariners and the Twins. They rank ninth in pitching in the American League including a league high six blown saves, and rank eight in fielding in the American League.

It is hard to blame the slow start entirely on Guillen or the coaching staff. But as I always say in cases like this, the chain always breaks at the weakest link and in this case Guillen may be the weakest. It is easier to fire a manager than to trade six or seven players, not that anybody deserves being fired or traded. I’m sure all the players, Guillen, coaches and management are trying their best to get things going.

Before the season started, I picked the White Sox to win the AL Central division. I liked the additions of Adam Dunn and Jesse Crain, and how they got rid of Bobby Jenks, to name a few moves. They looked like a solid, balanced team that could top the Tigers to win the division (yes, I thought the biggest threat for the White Sox were the Tigers).

The other day I heard an interview that Omar Vizquel did on a radio show here in Venezuela. There, Vizquel mentioned how the team remains supportive of Guillen, and how he always gathers the team to talk to them.

We will have to wait and see what’s going to happen with Guillen, Williams and the entire coaching staff. As a big fan of Guillen, I really hope he gets through this and bring the team back to the top of the AL Central.

Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons license.