New Yankees Manager - Tony La Russa?

George Steinbrenner may clean house, hire Tony La Russa

After 12 playoff appearances, four World Championships and some heartbreaking disappointments, it looks like Joe Torre has managed his last game as a Yankee - and his successor may well be Tony La Russa.

Torre looked done-for in midseason when no one thought the Yanks would make the playoffs - and then looked good when the Yanks made a second-half surge.

But with last night's crushing 6-4 loss to Cleveland, he just looked gone, and in an emotional postgame press conference all the signs pointed to his exit.

The normally calm Yankee skipper choked up as he talked about his bond with his team and he spoke fondly of his years at the helm.

Asked if he wanted to stay with the Yankees, Torre, sipping water, said, "I'm not going there. It's been a great 12 years ... I look back on these 12 years with great, great pleasure."

Significantly, he talked candidly about facing whatever the future may bring, even if that was not as Yankee manager.

Minutes earlier, when Jorge Posada waved his bat at Strike 3 for the last out in the ninth, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who was visibly agitated as his team trailed 6-0 in the early innings, had likely made up his mind that it had gone from Torre Time to Tony Time.

Steinbrenner left Yankee Stadium last night without uttering a single word after his team was booted from the playoffs.

At 12:15 a.m., The Boss emerged from the Yankee office lobby, gingerly walked down the steps and was helped into his waiting limo by son-in-law Felix Lopez.

Despite shouted questions from the media assembled to his right, the 77-year-old Boss neither acknowledged the pack of reporters and photographers nor made any statements about manager Joe Torre's status.

Yankee insiders say La Russa, who managed the St. Louis Cardinals to a World Series title last year, is a Steinbrenner pal. They also say he'll likely bring Dave Duncan, considered by many the best pitching coach in baseball.

He'll also likely clean out all of Torre's coaches with the possible exception of Don Mattingly, Torre's bench coach and the man insiders see as the Yankee manager of the future.

The Yanks haven't reached out to the feisty La Russa yet, but insiders say the 63-year-old skipper wants the job and is holding off committing to the Cardinals until the Yankee situation plays out.

La Russa's "a short-timer who wants to win more championships," is the way one insider put it. These insiders say they believe Mattingly is not quite ready for the top job, but would be in two years, after he's had two years of mentoring under Torre and another two under La Russa, two likely Hall of Fame skippers.

Torre's tenure with the Yanks has had its share of dizzying highs and dubious lows.

Hired in November 1995, he made his first season a championship season, taking the Yanks to the World series title by beating Atlanta in six games in 1996. It was the team's first title since 1978.

His Bombers won 125 games in 1998 and swept the San Diego Padres for his second World Series win. Torre's Yanks followed suit in 1999 and 2000, when they beat the Mets in a five-game Subway Series.

After failing to win the Series title the next two years, Steinbrenner warned that Torre and his staff had better get on the stick, and The Boss also took a swipe at Derek Jeter for his after-hours escapades.

Then came the fiasco of 2004, when the Yanks suffered a historic collapse and let the hated Red Sox claw back from a 3-0 series deficit to win the American League Championship - and then go on to wipe out The Curse of the Bambino by winning the World Series.

The Angels ousted the Yanks in the first playoff round in 2005 and Steinbrenner appeared ready to fire Torre last October after the Detroit Tigers also sent the Yanks packing in the first round.

Torre, who had a year left on his contract, was able to hang on to his job. But somebody had to take the fall - and that somebody turned out to be bench coach Lee Mazzilli.

Meanwhile, Yanks honcho Brian Cashman moved Mattingly into Mazzilli's spot amid whispers the popular Yankee was being groomed to replace Torre.

The Yankees started off the 2007 on the wrong foot and stumbled quickly.

As the team faltered and Steinbrenner fumed, Torre noticed the players were "walking on eggshells" whenever he entered the clubhouse.

Around the All-Star break, Torre summoned the team for a closed-door meeting and somehow found the right words to spark a remarkable turnabout.

Alex Rodriguez started getting clutch hits. The Yanks wooed Roger Clemens out of retirement, and rookies Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes stepped up. The Yanks posted the best second-half record in baseball to win the wild card.

"He found a way to get people out there in the right situations and gave them a chance to work out of slumps," pitcher Mike Mussina said.

For Torre, it was the 12th straight time he'd taken the team to the playoffs and renewed success muted Steinbrenner's criticism of both him and team.

Going into the playoffs, Torre waxed philosophical about what he had called his most difficult season - and about the Steinbrenner sword perpetually dangling over his head.

"I knew if there was any kind of hiccup, that it was all going to be about, am I going to keep my job?" Torre said. "After a while, because I've been here so long, I think the players sort of allowed me to do my job in spite of the unsure nature of everything."With Christian Red

god i hope not

no way!! anyone but but drunk Tony..

boto69 wrote:

no way!! anyone but but drunk Tony..

LOL!

....would not surprise me one bit!!

Nope.

La Russa remains Cardinals manager
Skipper signs two-year deal; will enter 13th season with club
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com

ST. LOUIS -- Tony La Russa needed some time to recuperate and collect his thoughts, but he never seriously doubted that he would return for a 13th season as manager of the Cardinals. La Russa made it official on Monday when he agreed to a new two-year contract.

La Russa had left his status somewhat open-ended, though the club made it clear all along that it wanted him back. He is the winningest manager in franchise history.

St. Louis finished with a 78-84 record in 2007, its worst mark since 1999. The season was a struggle from the start, as the Cardinals dealt with the death of teammate Josh Hancock, the loss of Chris Carpenter to reconstructive elbow surgery and Scott Spiezio's battle with substance abuse.

By the end, La Russa was wiped out.

"I think we were all toast," he said at a news conference at Busch Stadium on Monday afternoon. "So I had to get away from it. And then you start understanding the strength of the relationships in the clubhouse and in the organization. And if people still want you to be a part of it, then you're excited to be part of it."

La Russa said he expects and hopes to have his entire coaching staff back for 2008. The Cardinals continue to search for a general manager following the removal of Walt Jocketty.

Jocketty had been the only general manager for whom he had worked in St. Louis, but La Russa made it clear during the season that his future in St. Louis was not tied to Jocketty's. He expressed a willingness to mesh the various points of view within the organization -- an issue that was problematic for Jocketty at times.

"To be successful, the organization has to be very coordinated and very together," La Russa said. "And there's going to be an emphasis on making sure that each piece -- whether it's scouting, whether it's training, whether it's Major League or Minor League coaching, or the information and analysis department -- that everybody's integrated into making us a top-flight organization. So I think that's been an issue. It's part of Walt's demise. And that's something that's going to be addressed very aggressively, as far as making sure we get it right."

La Russa had initially said he would wait for the club to hire a new general manager before deciding whether to come back to St. Louis. But regular contact with board chairman William DeWitt left him confident that whoever takes that post, La Russa will be welcome and the club will not go into a rebuilding process.

"I felt then, and I still do, that when the guy that you're going to report to is still not official, that's an uncomfortable place for him and for me," La Russa said. "But in conversation with Bill, I feel a couple things. No. 1, I think the guys that he's talking to are OK with me. And secondly, the more you wait -- this is an important time and I think as a staff we're used to giving our input -- and every day that passes that we're not in there saying, 'We like you and we don't like you,' [that's problematic]."

DeWitt said that all of the candidates for the GM job had been apprised that he hoped to have La Russa back as the manager for 2008, and that all were receptive to that situation. La Russa apparently will not have any say on the hire of a GM, but he is being kept abreast of the process.

"We talked regularly," DeWitt said. "I understood his need after a tough season to have a little time off. I was thrilled. That's the outcome we were looking for."

In 12 years as the Cardinals' manager, La Russa has posted 1,055 wins against 887 losses for a .543 winning percentage. La Russa has guided the Redbirds to seven postseason appearances, two National League pennants and the 2006 World Series championship.