CHICAGO -- When Ozzie Guillen leaves baseball, he doesn't see himself taking the Jim Riggleman route.
Riggleman, formerly the manager of the Washington Nationals, abruptly resigned Thursday with his team among the hottest in baseball. The reported reasoning behind Riggleman's decision was his lack of faith that Washington would pick up his contract option for the 2012 season.
Guillen, candidly, said he's more likely to get fired than to quit.
"Sometimes you're not happy, sometimes you believe [the front office is] not pleased with what you're doing, so you make those types of decisions, drastic decisions," Guillen said. "But I will think about my players before I think about anybody else. The only reason I will quit, [is if] my family has some problems, other than that, I don't leave my players. I respect Mr. Riggleman's decision, but to me, number one priority -- besides my family -- is my players. To make me resign, they have to fire me. Because resign, it's like you don't care about the players."
With the Nats winning 10 of 11 games, Riggleman's resignation came as a shock. Riggleman, reportedly, made the decision after being denied his request for a meeting with Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo to discuss the possibility of his 2012 option being picked up.
While it may not be the path for Guillen, he said resigning couldn't have been an easy thing for Riggleman to do.
"Whatever the reason is, when you resign from a job -- especially this job -- it takes a lot of guts and thinking," Guillen said. "I think it's easier to get fired than to resign ... you resign, you have a lot of explanation, a lot of talking, you get fired, you say people don't like me, that's it."
Guillen admitted that it can be frustrating because managers don't have the leverage that players do when trying to renegotiate a contract, especially during the season. But of course, there's a reason for that.
"Managers [don't] have the power to make that decision, [the front office can say], 'You don't want to be here, then we'll get rid of you and we'll sign somebody cheaper,'" Guillen said. "It's not the same with the players, players win games, that's the reason they make all the money. The only thing a manager does is lose games."
Guillen avoided being in a Riggleman-like lame-duck situation when White Sox GM Kenny Williams decided to pick up Guillen's 2012 option in January.