Guillen's postseason status uncertain as parties reach settlement
By wire services
Published October 2, 2004
ANAHEIM, Calif. - Outfielder Jose Guillen and the Angels reached a financial settlement to resolve the grievance filed after the team suspended him without pay. The terms were not disclosed in a statement by Major League Baseball. The sides agreed that Guillen will not rejoin the Angels for the remainder of the regular season.
Guillen, a former Ray, was suspended Sept. 26 following his outburst after being removed for a pinch-runner. The players' union filed a grievance Sept. 27.
Should Anaheim win the AL West, it will have until the day of their playoff opener to decide whether to put Guillen on the roster. When the Angels suspended Guillen, they said the penalty would continue into the postseason if they made it that far. Guillen hit .294 with 27 homers and a career-high 104 RBIs.
Guillen was pulled for a pinch-runner against Oakland. After he walked off the field as the A's changed pitchers, Guillen tossed his helmet toward the side of the dugout where manager Mike Scioscia was standing and walked to other side. He then slammed his glove on the wall.
BRAVES: For the seventh year in a row, attendance dropped at Turner Field. The Braves played their final regular-season home game Wednesday, drawing an afternoon crowd of 22,000. Overall, Atlanta drew 2,322,565 fans, a dip of 79,519 (3 percent) from the previous season and an extension of a trend going back to 1997. The Braves attracted more than 3.4-million for their debut year at Turner.
CUBS: WGN-TV analyst Steve Stone met with team president Andy MacPhail, GM Jim Hendry and manager Dusty Baker after the broadcaster questioned managerial strategy. During a postgame TV show Thursday, Stone wondered about Baker's moves in the 12th inning of a 2-1 loss to the Reds. Later that night, he went on a talk show on WGN radio and criticized the team for making excuses. WGN and the Cubs are both owned by the same company, Tribune Co.
Stone is a former major league pitcher with the Cubs who won the Cy Young Award for Baltimore in 1980. He didn't spare his opinion when he was interviewed by WGN radio Thursday.
"You want the truth. You can't handle the truth," Stone said. "The truth of this situation is an extremely talented bunch of guys who want to look at all directions except where they should really look and kind of make excuses for what happened. At the end of the day, boys, don't tell me how rough the water is, you bring in the ship."
EXPOS: The group that buys the organization will get to keep all concession, advertising and parking money generated in the 41,000-seat ballpark that Washington plans to build, along with revenue from the sale of naming rights. The documents outlining Washington's $435.2-million agreement with the Expos were made public. The city agreed to build the ballpark for $300-million and spend $65-million to acquire the land.
YANKEES: Designated hitter Jason Giambi likely will make the postseason roster. "Even though he's not totally there, I still watch other teams pitch to him and they still seem to be careful with him," manager Joe Torre said. Giambi, who has fought to overcome a benign tumor, is 3-for-22 since coming off the disabled list.
