CHICAGO, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Ozzie Guillen said Monday he will return to manage the Chicago White Sox next year, quashing speculation his tenure was coming to an end.
Guillen told the Chicago Tribune he received a commitment after separate meetings with team owner Jerry Reinsdorf and General Manager Kenny Williams.
The popular 46-year-old manager indicated all of his coaches would return next year as well.
Guillen is working under a contract deal to keep him behind the bench through the 2012 season but rumors were rampant the Sox were reconsidering, after a well-publicized feud with Williams and a disappointing end to the 2010 season that saw the team fall out of contention for an American League Central title.
"I never did worry about the contract situation," Williams told the Tribune. "He's under contract. The question was whether or not it was a contract he could live with and that we were all going to be on the same page, pulling from the same rope. That was the question. The question has been answered."
"All the rumors out there, I appreciate that, but I'll never take those rumors to make a strong statement whether I want to be here or not," Guillen said.
