The soap opera divorce between Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen and right-hander Bobby Jenks — in which there seem to be only children and no parents — keeps deteriorating.
Guillen responded with a threat after Jenks recently made comments about one of Guillen's sons, along with the troubled relationship the manager has had with White Sox GM Ken Williams.
From the Chicago Tribune:
"I respect his wife. I respect his kids. I'm not even mad. I wish I was mad about it because I will rip his throat (out)," Guillen said.
OK, Dalton.
After the allusion to violence, Ozzie made a charge:
"Too bad that all the stuff we had between me and Kenny interrupted his career because he did a lot of bad things last year," Guillen quipped. "We lied for him, we protected him."
OK, let's refresh everyone on how this started.
Jenks saved 173 games for the White Sox from 2005-2010, but the club did not tender him a contract during the offseason. After he signed with the Red Sox, Jenks was critical of how the White Sox let him go. He also said, "I'm looking forward to playing for a manager who knows how to run a bullpen."
Oh, no, he di'n't.
The middle of Guillen's three sons — 25-year-old Oney — responded by using his Twitter account to blast Jenks personally. Jenks, not exactly known for his maturity at age 30, actually took the high road at first. But it didn't last.
Jenks told the Tribune on Thursday: "A lot of the stuff with Ozzie and the front office gets old. It has been a problem for a long time. It was a problem before last year. … It's going to be nice for me to see how things are done here."
Mild stuff. Until.
"Middle child syndrome,'' Jenks said [about Oney]. "I guess he needs attention."
Yeah, that makes three of you sometimes.
Of course, Ozzie couldn't let it go after Jenks implied the magic word: "Family."
"I'm the first manager in the history of baseball to give a guy a week off to take care of his kids when his father-in-law was sick. It wasn't even his wife, it even wasn't a (family) member. But it was out of respect I have for his family. I sent him home because he had to babysit his kids because his father-in-law was sick. I don't think any manager is doing that. But coming from him, I expect that."
Bottom of bus, meet Bobby.
"We don't miss him," Guillen said. "You ask 30 guys in there. By the way, I was asking for his phone number to talk him to about it, and nobody had his phone number. None of his (former) teammates had his phone number."
Possible hyperbole. Ozzie went back to imagining he was in a martial arts movie:
"Thank God he wasn't talking about the club. If Bobby was taking about the club, I would have been everywhere on ESPN because I will rip his guts. But he was talking about me. I can take that. Just be careful of what you say about Oney because Oney will say stuff he's not supposed to be saying. That's just a warning for him just in case somebody don't call him. Just stay away and don't name Oney for this because it will be pretty ugly."
Will be? You guys are acting like you were raised by wolves. As amusing, even hilarious, as Guillen can be, he tends to veer off into emotionally raw rants that serve no useful purpose.
The good news is, there's really not anything more to say. For the relationship to devolve any further, Ozzie will have to do as he threatens and rip out Jenks' throat.
OK, Motal Kombatants, FINISH HIM!
Follow Dave throughout spring training on Twitter — @AnswerDave — and check out the Stew on Facebook for more coverage.
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