MIAMI — Marlins reliever Heath Bell, demoted from the closer role this season, said Monday in a radio interview that "it's hard to respect" manager Ozzie Guillen.
Bell talked on 560-AM in Miami.
"It's hard to respect a guy that doesn't tell you the truth or doesn't tell you face-to-face," Bell said on "The Dan Sileo Show." "There's probably reasons why."
Bell signed a three-year, $27 million contract in the offseason but struggled early and has blown seven of 26 save chances this season.
"I stunk in April, plain and simple," Bell said. "I said I stunk, I worked hard, I busted my butt. I think I've had a tremendous second half. I'm not closing — I know that. But I just kept my mouth shut because I want to regain what I had, and I feel like I can't do that."
Nationals to rest regulars
WASHINGTON — Nationals manager Davey Johnson plans to rest his regular players if Washington clinches the NL East — and he doesn't care what anyone else thinks.
The rest of Washington's opponents are still in the chase for wild-card berths, including the Cardinals.
And if other clubs hope the Nationals will put their best lineup on the field against the Cardinals?
"I'm resting my regulars. End of conversation," Johnson said. "… My responsibility is to getting my club ready for the next day. But it's happened in the past. I've had criticism, and I've said, 'Fine. I'm not worried.' "
Johnson made clear he's not thrilled about the way this season's format. If the Nationals own the top seed — and they have the league's best record — they will wait until the wild-card playoff to find out their foe for the capital's first postseason game since 1933.
ORTIZ UNDECIDED: David Ortiz, a Red Sox star for nearly a decade who has been out for all but one game in the past two months with a strained right Achilles, will be a free agent in the offseason. And though a return to Boston is quite possible, he says you never know. "What makes it hard here is how the team is doing," the DH said of a franchise missing the postseason for the third straight year. "If the team's doing okay and everybody's fine and you don't see stupid things popping up, everything's fine. But when everything's going badly — like it has the past couple of years for us — people are going to try and make some noise."
TWINS: Reliever Matt Capps was activated from the disabled list. He has gone on the DL twice this summer with throwing shoulder irritation.
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