Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen looks into the stands during a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Monday, Sept. 26, 2011, in Chicago. Guillen met with owner Jerry Reinsdorf on Monday to discuss his future with the team. No decision was made on whether he will return in 2012. Guillen said he met with Reinsdorf for about 30 minutes. The manager said he made it clear that he would like to come back, but only for a contract extension for more money. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen looks into the stands during a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Monday, Sept. 26, 2011, in Chicago. Guillen met with owner Jerry Reinsdorf on Monday to discuss his future with the team. No decision was made on whether he will return in 2012. Guillen said he met with Reinsdorf for about 30 minutes. The manager said he made it clear that he would like to come back, but only for a contract extension for more money. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, left, talks with European Ryder Cup golf captain Jose Maria Olazabal, before Olazabal threw out the ceremonial first pitch before a baseball game between the White Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays, Monday, Sept. 26, 2011, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
CHICAGO (AP) ? Unable to get a contract extension, Ozzie Guillen walked away from the Chicago White Sox.
Guillen's quest for a new deal was denied, so the talkative, sometimes outrageous and always colorful manager asked to be released from his current contract Monday.
That request was granted.
After Guillen met with owner Jerry Reinsdorf, the team agreed to release him from his current deal and his eight-year managerial run that included a World Series title in 2005 was over. He managed his final game Monday night as the White Sox beat the Blue Jays 4-3.
"It was a great talk, very nice," Guillen said. "Jerry knows it was a decision I had to make. He respects my decision.
"It was my call and I appreciated the White Sox organization letting me do what I like to do and what is best. ... Maybe not the best, maybe it's the worst. You don't know what is out there. Maybe I'm dreaming. I might not appreciate what I got here. You don't know. You have to close the page and move on. That's life. Hopefully the next book treats me the way this book treated me."
Guillen, whose contract option for 2012 was picked up at the team's winter convention in January, began talking late last month about an extension, even with the team going through a disappointing season.
"We certainly cannot thank Ozzie enough for all he has done during his eight seasons as manager of the Chicago White Sox, highlighted by an unforgettable 2005 World Series championship," Reinsdorf said in a release issued by the team.
"I personally appreciate everything he has done for this organization, our fans and the city of Chicago. We shared the greatest moments together and wish him nothing but future success in baseball and in life."
The White Sox said in the release they retain the right to compensation should Guillen accept a managerial position with another major league team for the 2012 season. Guillen, who had a 678-617 record with the White Sox, will not be in uniform for the remaining two games this year.
The Florida Marlins talked to Chicago last year about acquiring Guillen, but the deal never materialized. They could bring him in now to lead the club into a new ballpark next season.
"It could be anybody. They sound like they are interested," Guillen said.
Guillen is the only manager in franchise history to lead the White Sox to more than one division or league title. Chicago also made the playoffs under Guillen in 2008. But they floundered this season.
"No regrets, no regrets," Guillen said. "Very disappointed in this year, yes."
In the 2005 championship year, the White Sox nearly let a 15-game lead evaporate before rebounding in the final week of the regular season. Then they went 11-1 in the postseason, clinching all three of their series against the Red Sox, the Angels and the Astros on the road. It was their first title since 1917.
But after teaming with general manager Ken Williams to end the 88-tear drought, their relationship has become strained over the last two years.
The White Sox (78-82) were built to win this year but middle-of-the-order players like Adam Dunn and Alex Rios slumped all season and bogged down the offense.
Chicago had early losing streaks of seven and five games and by May 1, Guillen's club was 10 games out of first. It pulled within 3? games of the lead on Aug. 17 but that was as close as it would get the rest of the way.
Guillen was a managerial trend setter with a Twitter account and a website. And social media, like his opinions expressed in other forums, got him in trouble at times.
After he was ejected this season at Yankee Stadium by umpire Todd Tichenoran, the manager went on Twitter and called his ejection pathetic. That got him a two-game suspension and fine, and it was the first time baseball has penalized a player, coach or manager for using the social networking site during a game.
Social media played a role in the creating tension between Williams and Guillen in 2010. Guillen's son, Oney, left the team's scouting department after posting some comments on Twitter that were critical of the team's front office.
Guillen said he spoke Monday with Reinsdorf to get an idea about his future. He leaves on a vacation in Spain later this week.
He and Reinsdorf have been close since Guillen's playing days as a slick-fielding shortstop when he was the 1985 AL Rookie of the Year with the White Sox. He played 13 of his 16 big league seasons with the White Sox.
"Was it time for a change? I don't think so," Williams said. "I guess things were accelerated. We had no intention of firing him. This was kind of acquiescing to some of his desires more than anything. It is what it is. I don't wish to expound on any of the peripherals to the degree that they become more of a story than they really are.
"This is a case of a man making a business decision for himself and his family. And we respected it, we respected it enough to allow this to happen. Obviously we didn't agree to the request for an extension."
Since he took over in 2004, there has been a long list of Ozzie blowups and tirades and opinionated rants.
In 2006, Guillen was fined and ordered by Commissioner Bud Selig to undergo sensitivity training after he described then Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti with a derogatory term.
In 2008 he went on a rant, saying Williams needed to make some changes. His comments also miffed batting coach Greg Walker before everything was patched up. He once lambasted former White Sox star and countryman Magglio Ordonez with a four-letter verbal surge after Ordonez joined the Tigers and said Guillen was now the enemy.
As he was riding to Wrigley Field for a game against the Cubs, Guillen called into a radio station and went on another profanity-filled tirade after a host questioned why he wasn't starting A.J. Pierzynski that day.
There were many more incidents, some of them raising eyebrows. Guillen once told reporters that "no comment" was not part of his vocabulary.
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