Where There's Smoke . . .

. . . who knows whether there's fire. But there are certainly plenty of rumors about Joe Girardi, and his potential departure from Miami/arrival in Chicago. As an aside, can you think of a flight more likely to get delayed than Miami to O'Hare. Seriously, you'd be lucky if you arrived within a decade of schedule. Anyway, the Sun-Times is reporting that rumors about Dusty's eventual firing in Chicago are putting pressure on Girardi in Florida, where he's vehemently denying that he has an out clause, explicit or otherwise, in his contract. Perhaps that's why his relationship with Marlins ownership is deteriorating. A team spokesman felt it necessary to "report" that Girardi would be managing the team on it's current road trip, after Girardi and owner Jeffrey Loria played the feud. The fight started because Loria was yelling at the umps from his seats behind the Marlins' dugout. At one point Sunday, the Marlins scheduled a press conference for that afternoon, but that was cancelled after Girardi met with Loria behind closed doors. The two things might or might not be related. At this point it would be a surprise to no one if Girardi does end up managing the Cubs next year. Now, if Prior or Wood makes more than 20 starts for the team next season, that would be a surprise.