(La Russa signals to a certain “New York organization” that he’s staying in St. Louis.)
Wow, nothing motivates a guy to make up his mind to stay on the job when there’s someone else “suddenly available.” The AP’s Jim Salter reports that Tony La Russa returns for a 13th Season as ‘Tards manager, and The Sporting News curiously headlines its story that La Genius is taking a three-year deal but then notes, on the authority of an unnamed source, “The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because an announcement had not been made, did not know details of the contract. An afternoon news conference was scheduled at Busch Stadium.”
Tony La Russa will return for his 13th season as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals after a difficult year in which his team failed to play .500 ball, a team official told The Associated Press on Monday.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because an announcement had not been made, did not know details of the contract. An afternoon news conference was scheduled at Busch Stadium.
The 63-year-old La Russa had weighed leaving after a trying season in which the defending World Series champions finished 78-84.
The year got off to a rocky start before the season even began when La Russa was arrested for drunken driving in March near the team’s spring training complex in Jupiter, Fla. Cardinals reliever Josh Hancock died in May after a drunken-driving accident, and several players were lost for long stretches of the season because injuries, including Chris Carpenter, the staff ace who pitched only in the season-opener.
Speculation that La Russa would leave was fueled further when the Cardinals fired general manager Walt Jocketty this month. Jocketty and La Russa have been close since the days when both were with Oakland. The Cardinals have not hired Jocketty’s replacement.
Despite what everyone thinks, or has written, La Russa was never interested in the Yankee$ job, and in fact, told them so. The contract is for two years, with an option for a third, which incidentally, coincides with the end of Albert Pujols’ contract. It probably means that John Mozeliak will be the new GM, although Bernie Miklasz feels the list has narrowed to 2-3 candidates that TLR would be comfortable working with(maybe Chris Antonetti or Kim Ng).
Hey Bruce,
I’m not concerned in any way who takes over the pinstripes so much as who might move into St. Louis if La Russa had left. I post from a Cubs-centric seat, so my thought was more about Torre returning to St. Louis as possibly a worse headache than La Russa, who is already a menace at Wrigley. I like La Russa, tho, and have ever since he managed Oakland.
Ben