Tampa Tribune
Early last November, Piniella was invited to Cincinnati to meet with new Reds owner Bob Castellini, who offered him a job as special adviser. That's the official version, anyway. Truth is, Castellini wants Piniella to join the Reds so much, Lou could have been named manager if he had wanted to.
He didn't.
"I could have gone to a few places," Piniella said. "I just wasn't ready though. I need to get the cobwebs out, get hungry again. I won't manage again just for the sake of managing, and I'll tell you right now, the only teams interested in hiring me in the future will be those interested in winning."