Walker on hot seat again?

Is Greg Walker on the hot seat again? Seems like whenever the White Sox struggle at the plate, the hitting coach becomes the focal point of rumors. Ozzie Guillen gives Walker the vote of confidence, which is not always good news.Rumors are building that former Sox hitting coach Gary Ward may get promoted from AAA. The White Sox also just signed Ward’s son Darryl to a minor league deal.

”Never, nope,” Guillen said when asked if rumors concerning Walker’s firing were valid. ”That’s my decision. That’s a decision I have to make, and my coaches are fine. They work hard. I’m behind them 100 percent.

”Obviously when the team is not hitting, not pitching, not playing defense, they all want to blame the coaching staff, but right now, no, that’s not true.”

Guillen’s message was simple: If Sox fans want to blame someone, blame the 25 guys on the roster.

”Everything’s out there, the information to help, the opportunity is there [for the players],” Guillen said. ”I’ve fired a couple of coaches because I didn’t think we were on the same page. I didn’t think they were doing the job they should have. The coaching staff I have right now, they should be here as long as I will be here.”

Guillen admitted that he and Walker had some icy moments last season after Guillen blew up following a dismal series at Tampa Bay and insisted that general manager Ken Williams needed to make changes, mentioning Walker by name. But after a cooling-off period, the two cleared the air.

”Last year, Walker and I had a little thing going on, and that happens,” Guillen said. ”That will happen again — hopefully it doesn’t happen the way it did. But, no, that’s a guy I like. That’s the one I think is doing the job.”

Ward already had one crack at being the Sox’ hitting coach from 2001 to ‘03, and it was just short of disastrous. By the time he was fired, more than a handful of players couldn’t stand Ward, including former outfielder Aaron Rowand, who felt Ward set him back more than helped.

”Did we hire [Ward] to be a big-league coach in case something happened?” Guillen said. ”Well, a lot of people will think he’s more than a Triple-A hitting coach, but, no, Walker is OK here.

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