Report: Tony La Russa will return as manager of St. Louis Cardinals
Tony La Russa will return as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, sources told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Saturday night.
La Russa told the Post-Dispatch he had not discussed a contract with team chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. But he expects to have a decision soon.
"I'm coming to an understanding of what I'm doing and intend to get it settled one way or the other shortly," La Russa told the Post-Dispatch.
La Russa, whose current two-year deal expires Oct. 31, was scheduled to arrive in St. Louis for a Bruce Springsteen concert on Sunday night.
La Russa is the Cardinals' winningest manager (1,232 games). He ranks third all-time with 2,552 managerial wins behind Connie Mack and John McGraw. He led the Cardinals to a World Series title in 2006.
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Re: Report: Tony La Russa will return as manager of St. Louis Cardinals
Well, if he wants to keep on managing, it's his best option. None of the teams seeking managers are in good shape.
Re: Report: Tony La Russa will return as manager of St. Louis Cardinals
McGuire got the hitting coach job
http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2009/10/25/m...hitting-coach/
Mark McGwire will end his baseball exile and accept a position with the St. Louis Cardinals as their hitting coach, a Cardinals source confirmed to FanHouse's Ed Price Sunday afternoon. He'll replace Hal McRae, who's held the position for five years. The story initially appeared on Brian McRae's Twitter account, though it's since been deleted.
McGwire played 4 1/2 seasons with St. Louis, in which he hit 220 home runs and briefly set the single-season MLB record with his 70 homers in 1998. Of course, since then he's been surrounded by steroid rumors and has more or less dropped entirely off of the baseball radar after his Congressional testimony in 2005.
This news seems to make it pretty clear that Tony La Russa, who's been close with McGwire after managing him both in Oakland and St. Louis, should be back in 2010 as the Cardinals manager. There was initially some question about that, but a report by Joe Strauss Sunday morning pointed pretty strongly towards La Russa's return. It's hard to imagine any way McGwire accepts this job without La Russa in St. Louis.
What will be interesting is how the private McGwire handles his return to the baseball spotlight. He must know that by accepting this position, he's going to have to do some talking about the past, so to speak. Though, by announcing the hiring early, the Cardinals are probably hoping most of that dies down by the time the team is ready for spring training next February.
Re: Report: Tony La Russa will return as manager of St. Louis Cardinals
This also probably means the Cards are going to make a big time run at keeping Holliday, as BigMac and Holliday are best friends forever. Tony coming back means he must have gotten some type of sign from Cardinal management that they were gonna bring back Matt, or at least give it their all.
Not good news for other teams in the Central.
A team built around Pujols, Holliday, Carpenter and Wainwright over the next 5 years looks tough. I could see multiple 95+ win seasons out of that group. And it would essentially slam the door on the reds competing anytime soon.
Re: Report: Tony La Russa will return as manager of St. Louis Cardinals
Quote:
Originally Posted by
NeilHamburger
This also probably means the Cards are going to make a big time run at keeping Holliday, as BigMac and Holliday are best friends forever. Tony coming back means he must have gotten some type of sign from Cardinal management that they were gonna bring back Matt, or at least give it their all.
Not good news for other teams in the Central.
A team built around Pujols, Holliday, Carpenter and Wainwright over the next 5 years looks tough. I could see multiple 95+ win seasons out of that group. And it would essentially slam the door on the reds competing anytime soon.
Reds are younger and have emerging talent.
Alot of times, when guys get the big bucks, they lose their desire and focus. And the littliest of injuries gives them reason to sit.
I wouldn't concede anything just yet. Not to mention the Reds played the Cards tough all season. And typically, a mid-market team like the Cards will have to let some of the other guys go to pay for the Hollidays and Pujols type players. I'd look for the Cards to have a few superstars and then a whole bunch of fill-ins. They aren't going to raise payroll to $100M. So several key players will probably not get raises and get traded to make payroll room.
