The New York Daily News is reporting that the man on the top of the short list to replace Joe Torre is not Don Mattingly, but Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa:
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.
(…)
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.
If you’re Don Mattingly, how can you not take something like that as an insult ? And why is it that he would need two years mentoring under LaRussa instead of two more with the most successful coach the Yankees have had in a generation ?
This much is true, Steinbrenner may be getting old, but he hasn’t stopped his meddling ways. Part of me thinks that if Billy Martin were still alive he’d be making a comeback.
October 11th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
i think that tony larussa would be an excellent choice for the possible successor to joe torre. he is one of the winningest managers of all time. if he keeps winning games at the pace he is at, he will be the all time wins leader by the time he is through. check this out…
tony larussa stats.