WSU vs. Milwaukee
Badin Spirit Olympics
Adventure Summit
Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy has retired from the Dayton Daily News after covering the Cincinnati Reds for 37 years. Hal's blog, though, will continue to be a must-read for Reds fans. He'll share his thoughts on the team this season and will file updates from Great American Ball Park. You also can catch Hal in print every Sunday in his popular Ask Hal columnHome > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2009 > October > 13 > Entry
La Russa? No. Duncan? No.
For those with their fingers crossed, hoping that the Cincinnati Reds can land Tony La Russa as manager and Dave Duncan as pitching coach, well, uncross them.
To use the vernacular, it ain’t gonna happen.
If La Russa continues, he’ll continue in St. Louis - a much better situation than he’d have in Cincinnati. The Reds’ situation involves massive rebuilding and La Russa doesn’t want that. He is 65 and wants to win NOW.
Staying in St. Louis is his best option and it would not surprise me if he is offered - and accepts - a two-year extension for a raise above the $4 million he made this year.
And if La Russa is available, the Reds would have to fire current manager Dusty Baker and eat his $3.5 million contract for 2010. Do you really think the cash-strapped Reds could invest about $9 million to pay a manager and a fired manager next year?
Doubt it.
AND DAVE DUNCAN?
Pretty much the same argument. Duncan is 64 and probably doesn’t want to spend time learning an entire new pitching staff and working with pitching prospects. And he makes more than $1 million with the Cardinals.
Yes, he was upset that he learned about the trade of his son, Chris Duncan, from the media this year instead of from the Cardinals front office. And, yes, he had issues with the team’s farm director over how pitchers were handled in the Cardinals minor-league system. Are those enough to drive him away from a winning organization that pays him handsomely?
I doubt that, too. And he has been with La Russa since 1983 at Oakland, the Chicago White Sox and the Cardinals. If La Russa re-ups in St. Louis, so will Duncan.
THE TOP candidate in Cincinnati should be Class AAA Louisville pitching coach Ted Power, who has been interviewed for the vacant spot with the Reds. All the pitchers handled by Power love the guy. And here’s a warning: If the Reds don’t make him their pitching coach, Power will be gone. He’ll seek opportunities elsewhere.
MEANWHILE, look for some shakeups in the Reds front office - and soon. When Walt Jocketty took over, he kept pretty much everybody who was in place. But he also started bringing in his own people, such as former Seattle general manager Bill Bavasi, former Pittsburgh general manager Cam Bonifay and super scout Jerry Walker.
They’ve been observing and working in Jocketty’s inner sanctum, but changes are coming and that’s natural. People brought in by former GM Wayne Krivsky are vulnerable, especially with the team in financial straits and fat needing to be trimmed.
People like farm director Terry Reynolds, assistant general manager Bob Miller, scouting director Chris Buckley and others could be re-assigned to lesser roles and could be leaving for other teams.
Front office people like J. Harrison and Scott Nethery, guys brought in by Krivsky, were once highly visible but were nearly invisible this season.
Yep. changes are a-comin’.
Permalink | Comments (7) | Post your comment |
Tweet
Comments
By BrarHopper
October 14, 2009 12:52 PM | Link to this
Okay, Dr. Jim T, I took my meds. Let me see now. Yep, LaRussa* got a DUI in his 60s…yep, he’s a drunk. Check! And Baker’s lineup cards all year and Corey Patterson and Willy T as leadoff batters for two years. Yep, most on this blog agree that Baker is an idiot. Check! So perhaps Jim T (commenting on my post) is the one who needs the psyche meds since my posts are at least accurate unlike his. Touche’, jimbo! * http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2807935 Mar 22, 2007 JUPITER, Fla. — St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa was arrested Thursday on a drunken driving charge after police said they found him asleep inside his running sport utility vehicle at a stop light.
By ready for a change
October 14, 2009 11:52 AM | Link to this
Changes are coming and the best happens at the end of the year.
By jim t
October 14, 2009 9:56 AM | Link to this
brarHopper, it is more than apparent that your post, over the course of the baseball season have been a little less than informative. But you calling Mr.LaRussa a drunk and Mr. Baker a idiot is like the pot calling the kettle black. Have a nice day and don’t, I repeat, “DON’T” forget to take the meds.
By Scott
October 14, 2009 8:00 AM | Link to this
Ted Power should be the pitching coach for the Reds next year. He has worked his way through the minors, and (imho from a fan standpoint) has proven himself as a pitching coach. If the pitchers enjoy working with him, then he should be their coach.
By BrarHopper
October 14, 2009 2:37 AM | Link to this
What ever happened to big mouth Albert always on here and slobbering about his mighty Cardinals (swept by the mighty Dodgers)? Yeah, he shut up and vanished real quick, didn’t he? And LaRussa? Just what the Reds need, an expensive drunken manager to replace an expensive idiot manager.
By Kevin
October 13, 2009 10:55 PM | Link to this
Should Reds fans be worried about failed GMs like Bavasi and Bonifay having so much influence over the construction of the team? Didn’t Bob Miller play a role in the building of Arizona’s farm system? Shouldn’t his voice be listened to in the continuing development of Cincinnati’s minor leagues?
By Bud Wizer
October 13, 2009 10:31 PM | Link to this
Go Reds! To hell with the Cardinals.