LaRussa on moving on
USA Today's cover story today in about the Cardinals and all they've dealt with this season. There's a sidebar with it in which Tony LaRussa addresses his future. LaRussa says he'll consider moving on. "I'm not going to think about it until the offseason," he's quoted as saying. "To think beyond this season is counterproductive and dangerous."
LaRussa has been angered by the coverage he's received in St. Louis, particularly what was written after Josh Hancock's death. "At some point you say, 'It ain't worth it. It's not fun,'" he said.
If LaRussa's available, I'd be stunned if Bob Castellini doesn't make a run at him.
posted by John Fay at 11:03 AM
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Post a Comment*I live in SW MO & everyone here is a Cardinals fan. Since I heard the report in late June, I've asked at least 40 different people. All but 3 or 4 are hoping that LaRussa leaves. They feel he is overrated & should have at least been to 2 or 3 World Series in the early part of this decade & won more than last year's fluke. I don't think LaRussa will help us win any more games than Mackanin. What we really need to do is fix our pitching. I hope we don't hire LaRussa unless the Cards GM Jocketty comes as part of the package. I think Wayne has done an above average job but Jocketty seems to continually find steals & he knows how to build up & maintain a minor league system.
I mean this question respectfully as I simply don't know - why is everyone so high on Jocketty. I'm only slightly more than a casual fan so I don't know the details, but looking at the Cardinals talent, nothing jumps out to me as "wow, we've got to get that guy." Their pitching is worse than ours, their moves at the deadline were underwhelming (and they are in contention) and I feel as if our minor league system has more talent and fared better than the Cards organization.
I admit I am probably missing something but right now, I don't get the uproar for Jocketty (or frankly, LaRussa for that matter (unless you wanted to turn every game into a four hour affair.))
It's a freak of nature that the Cards happen to be in a very weak division where their sub-500 season allows them a run at a playoff position. And the playoffs are random chance as much as skill. Ask Billy Beane.
But LaRussa as consistently delivered high caliber teams over the years, both with Oakland and St. Louis. I think he's a stern task master, but also a shrewed judge of talent. That must have something to do with his success.
I hope we get a shot at him. Can't hurt.
Money should be spent on a pitching and not an over rated manager. Get rid of Dunn and Griffey and free up $20+ million for pitching.
I'm not the biggest fan of LaRussa but I find it laughable how ungrateful and greedy Cardinal fans are. Most fans would kill to know that their team contends every year with overachieving talent. Yet Cardinal fans take it for granted.
There are a number of teams that "should have won a WS" over the last decade. Cardinal swine should be grateful you did win one.
Rick in Chicago
if nothing else, getting larussa should help boost steroid sales locally...
i'd like to have jocketty. larussa i'll pass on. i can't see how he would do that well here if he thinks the st louis media is hard to put up with. i mean, our local radio guys apparently make the players' mothers cry.
as we don't end up with dusty baker. anything but that.
I'm hoping for someone other than LaRussa. The MO rans are correct, he should have won more championships over the years with the talent he's been given. Also, I wonder when the steroid/HGH stain is going to rub off on him? Oakland had Canseco/McGuire, St. Louis had McGuire, and now Ankiel. I've always thought that LaRussa was a win-at-all-costs kind of guy and wouldn't be surprised if he turned a blind eye. Let's spend the money on pitching.
WOW! He just won you a World Series last year. Give the guy some credit. He can't help injuries to the pitching staff. Tell Tony to come one over to the Reds. We'd love to have him here.
Maybe he can bring Pujols with him, like he did Mcguire.
Cubs Suck Rick
C-note from st louis
I don't think Larussa and Pujols have the greatest relationship since the All-Star game fiasco...
Few things...
1. With all the complaining about line-ups people do, do you really think you won't complain when La Russa does even more insane things?
2. Getting rid of Dunn and Griffey is an awful idea. They both add up to a total of 170 runs(out of 703).That's almost one fourth of the total runs the Reds have scored this year. They both make up a bit over 1/4 of the total runs batted in.
3. Part of number 2 would be....what free agent pitcher are you gonna get in the off season? Kyle Lohse? Yes you can free up money but the market is dry for anything worth that kind of money.
I'm not sure how I'd feel about La Russa as a Reds Manager. I mean I'm not against it but I don't believe throwing money to a big name just for the sake of it.
Pujols to Cincy! Now that's the stuff good dreams are made of, and that alone, just the chance, would be an excellent reason to hire LaRussa.
That said, this team needs pitching! Shearn is not the answer for 2008. Livingson and Dumatrait may at some point in their careers be serviceable 5th starters, but we already have Arroyo for that role. Beyond Harangue and the hope of Homer Bailey, they have to hit free agency. Cuerto (and all others at Double A or lower) is (are) at least two years from being able to help.
The problem is that everyone wants pitching and since Zambrano signed an extension, there is no one out there worth throwing money at. I read that Loshe and Milton will get multi millions per year in this market. Do you want them back or someone like them? NO!
Sign Dunn for next year, let him help you. Work with him on an extension and get him as many AB's as he can get this winter to cut down strike-outs. Pitching help will come via trade in the near future and Jocketty can pull that trigger. I honestly think 2008 will be a wash as we develop our own pitching, then we need Dunn for 2009 and beyond. Without Griffey (he's done by 2010 or 11) you got Dunn, Votto, Bruce, etc...
As a huge Cardinals fan, my heart drops anytime I hear a rumor of Larussa leaving STL. However, if he did leave, my bet would be that he would go back to the west coast. I couldn't see him going to another NLDS team at this point in his career.
He's getting older and his wife probably wants their marriage back.
Cincinnati, you don't need Larussa. You need someone younger, like Joe Girardi to give you guys a reason to sell-out your stadium and restore the Big Red Machine!
Tony LaRussa is a pompous jerk! I don't think I could stand to watch another game if I had to see him on tv every night. Give Krivsky a couple more years and for God's sake, give Mackanin a chance. The players play hard for him, he's good to the fans and the media, and he's got years of baseball experience! The Reds are better than their record shows right now and we all know that. The truth is though, unless they can straighten up their pitching they are a .500 team! Dan O'Briens drafts are starting to show something and Krivsky seems to know what he's doing. Any new manager or GM you bring in will win more games than this year and then everyone will sing their praises. This was just one of those weird years where nothing went right!
Yes...Tony LaRussa is better suited somewhere else. Joe Girardi would be a much better fit, or even Joe Torre for that matter. Not LaRussa.
As for the Dunn, Griffey comments I'd trade Griffey to the Yankee's or Mets (he'd probably go either place) for a starting pitcher, and pitching prospects. Doesn't have to be an ace, but someone who can eat more than 2 or 3 inings and give up 5 or 6 runs in the process.
I'd also trade Hatteberg, Gonzalez and Freel for some relief help, and I'd renegotiate Dunns contract if I could.
The lineup would look like this:
1b- Joey Votto, Jorge Cantu
2b- Brandon Phillips
ss- Jeff Keppinger
3b- Encarnacion
of- Dunn, Hamilton, Hopper, Jay Bruce
c- Ross, Valentin
If he'd go for it, you could even flip-flop Phillips and Keppinger and we'd be infintely better up th middle than we are now, with a young, solid, agressive team.
Please no LaRussa I tghink his act is in the twilight stages. We need someone who is younger, can handle both young players (Bailey,Cueto,Hamilton,Phillips) as well as the vets. How that is, is a good question.
Cardinals minor league system-empty
Cardinals SP to begin year-Carpenter, Kip Wells, Braden Looper, Anthony Reyes, and Wellemyer I think.
Aaron Miles and Brendan Ryan at second, always injured Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen, a 30 year old left fielder who plays defense just as bad if not worse than Dunn, and whoever they decide to throw in right.
Jocketty looks real good when you examine it. They got some Albert Pujols guy, maybe he's what makes em so good, just maybe.
Will the pitching coach be comming too?
Better Question...will Pujols come to? How about Carpenter and Izzy, the only reason they play there is LaRussa anyway.
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