The Cardinals announced that manager Tony La Russa signed a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2012, writes Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The 66-year-old has been managing the Cards since 1996 and has led the club to a .543 winning percentage, eight playoff appearances, two pennants, and one World Series ring. La Russa also has another World Series ring earned in 1989 while managing Oakland, and is a four-time winner of the Manager Of The Year award (twice with the A's, and once each with the Cardinals and White Sox).
La Russa is the third-winningest manager in baseball history, with 2638 victories (and 2293 losses) to his name. Should he manage through 2012, he is a virtual lock to pass John McGraw (2763 wins) for second on the all-time wins list.
In other news, Colby Rasmus gets traded. (in before Cardinal fans)
Yeah, your witty, nobody seen that one coming.
Don’t get all defensive. Every fan is going to hear their players in trade rumors, especially players who you really don’t want to trade. Ex. Jesus Montero(I’m no comparing the tow)how many times now has Brian Cashman tried to trade him? Pretty much every Yankee prospect is in danger of being traded.
I’m not defensive, it was obvious someone was going to say it. But since Larussa has said that he wants to keep Rasmus because he is a future star, Mozeliak has said that Rasmus will not be traded, and Rasmus has said that he hopes TLR will return and he wants to play for him. I think we have beat it enough, yes there will be proposals and it would be MO’s job to listen, but he is not any more likely to be traded this offseason than last offseason.
The Cardinal organization needs fresh blood running the team. Tony is a Hall of Fame manager, but the team clearly does not respond to him any longer. I feel this extension is justified by what he did five years ago, not what he has done since October of 2006.
He actually has 2 World Series Rings, but still am not all that happy to hear that he will be back. Maybe I am just being pessimistic.
I think they’re just talking about his time with the Cardinals, because his Cardinals winning percentage is .543, but his overall is .535…plus he has 3 MOY awards and has won 4 pennants overall.
I am not too thrilled he is returning, but in no way does this mean Rasmus is getting traded. A couple weeks ago he actually said he hopes that Larussa returns and everything is good. Let’s hope this terrible season is behind us and he can turn things around next season.
Well, that pretty much kills my dream that Pujols will explore free agency.
Actually it worries me more that he will. If TLR wouldn’t of returned we could of made sure we brought in someone that Albert approves of and is comfortable playing for, for the next 8 plus years. Now we go into his final season under contract still not really knowing who is going to be the manager of the future.
Eh, maybe. Still odds are LaRussa’s decision will have very little if any to do with Pujols signing an extension. That said, odds are very high that both Pujols and Rasmus will be in Cardinal uniforms in 2012.
and the Rasmus for 2 b prospects and a bench player begin in 3…2….1….
Julio Teheran, Craig Kimbrel.
Kyle Drabek, Travis D’Arnaud.
Hardly B prospects but funny posts coming from a guy with Halladay in a STL hat.
U wish the Braves included Teheran
would be nice, but i don’t want pitching. i want freaking middle infield help that can make a immediate/semi-immediate impact NOW and the braves don’t have any that are available.
@hullo
when did i say those were b prospects? i’ve heard plenty of times where rasmus is only worth guys like Arencibia, Jimenez, and Alveraz. that was an exact proposal i remember and the guy was very adamant. i’ve heard Chris Young straight up for Rasmus. i’ve heard Nate McClouth and a prospect for Rasmus. I’ve heard Ellsbury or Kemp straight up for Rasmus. none of those are enticing. getting a little old, but hey, what can ya do?
There are crazy Jays fans just like there are crazy fans for every other fan base. It’s nothing new.
I don’t know if you guys would be interested in Bautista but it would give you guys a bat back, a solid bat that is. Maybe something like Bautista + Jenkins + D’Arnaud for Rasmus?
Or Bautista + Stewart?
Bautista is a rental. Rasmus is for 4 years. no thanks.
You do know that’s why I included the prospects?
And it’s not like Bautista doesn’t want to sign and go right to FA. If you offer him a decent amount of money, he’ll sign.
yes but 1yr of a still unproven bautista+1 top 100 prospect doesn’t seem enough. I would also like some proof where it states bautista will sign if he is offered enough money to forgo free agency. I doubt you can supply this simply because it is his personal decision and we have no crystal ball to predict it.
No one overmanages better than TLR.
bout time. TLR brings the winning mentality that Cardinal fans demand, which rubs off on the rest of the organization. In my opinion, that is a huge reason for the success that the Cards have had over the last decade. Agree or disagree with Tony’s mid-game micromanagement, his value comes from his desire to win.
Eventually he will leave/retire, but 2011 is a year we need him around if only because the Cards need clubhouse stability when Mozeliak starts negotiations with Pujols for his new contract.
P.S. – Slim chance that Rasmus gets traded.
I too fear for the future of the Cardinals with LaRussa at the helm for potentially two more years. I guess this means they clean house on the player side and get rid of the cheap kids and bring in more established team players like Randy Winn and Felipe Lopez instead of giving the kids in AAA a decent shot at a stable position.
Someone puts something like this on every Cardinals thread. Please name me one “kid” who deserved all this playing time you guys always talk about. Besides Rasmus, even though the whole thing about him being benched is pretty much made up. He got less AB’s in the 2nd half of the season when he was battling injury and he didn’t get the start against some lefties. There is no one in the minors ready to fill the Cardinals positions of need. I am not a Larussa apologist, because honestly I was ready to move on, but it gets so old reading the same made up garbage that people say just because they read someone else say it on here.
I can think of two off the top of my head.
Lets start with Dan Haren who never got a fair shake and then proceeded to turn in top of the league performances with bottom of the barrel teams after getting traded for Mark Mulder. Maybe we’ll go next to Chris Perez who would be FANTASTIC to have as a closer next year, oh wait he got in the doghouse pretty quickly and then got shipped out for (ugh) MarkDerosa.
There have been others. Who will we get for Rasmus now that it’s clear he’s on the way out? If Jamie Garcia starts off 0-7 with a 5+ ERA next year, will it be okay if he gets shipped out and we start Westbrook every day at 9m/year along with Loshe and probably Brad Penny?
I’ll give you Haren, but Perez was traded for a clear need at 3rd base, which would’ve been a very good trade for us if DeRosa hadn’t gotten injured right afterwards. It was actually Dave Duncan’s decision to pick Perez over Motte, as he believed Motte would develop into a better pitcher, and Motte likely will be a great closer for us after Franklin, the great closer we already have in spite of his low K rate (take that, stubborn, strikeout loving, preseason predictors) either retires, moves on, or is no longer good enough to be the closer.
I’ll give you Haren, but Perez was traded for a clear need at 3rd base, which would’ve been a very good trade for us if DeRosa hadn’t gotten injured right afterwards. It was actually Dave Duncan’s decision to pick Perez over Motte, as he believed Motte would develop into a better pitcher, and Motte likely will be a great closer for us after Franklin, the great closer we already have in spite of his low K rate (take that, stubborn, strikeout loving, preseason predictors) either retires, moves on, or is no longer good enough to be the closer.
Please TLR, look at what went wrong last season. Look at why the Cards team quit on u. Look at how u handled the team quitting and how they didn’t respond to what u did or didn’t do. Please make this your iast season managing the club if u allow the fans to again be embarrassed by a team quitting on the manager in the middle of a playoff run. Return to your H.O.F ways or return to Cali with hat in hand.
That’s pretty bold to just declare that the team quit on La Russa. You have no idea what went on in that clubhouse. In fact, their strange ability to dominate the good teams despite being so terrible against the bad teams (as well as finishing up so strongly) is a big argument against them quitting. Such a extremely large and bizzare split against good and bad teams is likely unprecedented in ML history, so it’s a complete mystery to the public as to how it could have happened.
That’s pretty bold to just declare that the team quit on La Russa. You have no idea what went on in that clubhouse. In fact, their strange ability to dominate the good teams despite being so terrible against the bad teams (as well as finishing up so strongly) is a big argument against them quitting. Such a extremely large and bizzare split against good and bad teams is likely unprecedented in ML history, so it’s a complete mystery to the public as to how it could have happened.
I think Rasmus will get traded. Call me crazy but Ima laugh at every Cards fan out there who denies Rasmus will get traded, if my dream of Heyward-Rasmus outfield comes true
Yeah, me too.
your gonna have to pay a king’s ransom. Cards have no substitute in the outfield for rasmus(NO JON JAY IS NOT A STARTER) so i don’t see why they would move him.
some cardinal fans are really bullish about not wanting to trade Rasmus, but me personally, i don’t care if it makes the team better. They can trade Albert Pujols and Adam Wainwright and it wouldn’t matter to me as long as the team is improving.
You mean the Braves… I’m just a Yanks fan. But a king’s ransom for a 2-year CF? i don’t think so… don’t get me wrong his upside is tremendous, however no Gm would be willing to pay that much for a young player who wants out of st. louis. I’ts kind of a sticky situation.
Weak post. You say above you’re going to laugh at every Cards fan who denies that Rasmus will be traded and then you say the Cards won’t get much….that means he’s not traded, buddy
Anyone who has followed the Cardinals over the last 5 years KNOWS Rasmus will be traded (Rolen, Kennedy, Ludwick, Edmonds). You don’t challenge LaRussa … it doesn’t matter how bad the trade will be for the team. The party line was ‘everything is fine, we are all happy, we can all get along,’ and then Mo, DeWitt, and LaRussa meet. The next day the ‘Rasmus could get traded’ talk began in the Post-Dispatch.
Tony will be here for two more season to make it to #2 in the all-time wins list … which is also where he is on the loss list as well. He will tank this team.
Anyone who has followed the Cardinals over the last 5 years KNOWS Rasmus will be traded (Rolen, Kennedy, Ludwick, Edmonds). You don’t challenge LaRussa … it doesn’t matter how bad the trade will be for the team. The party line was ‘everything is fine, we are all happy, we can all get along,’ and then Mo, DeWitt, and LaRussa meet. The next day the ‘Rasmus could get traded’ talk began in the Post-Dispatch.
Tony will be here for two more season to make it to #2 in the all-time wins list … which is also where he is on the loss list as well. He will tank this team.
actually, the Edmonds deal helped the team, a lot. Rolen trade helped us a ton for that 1 season until Glaus’ health started catching up with him(he had almost a 6WAR season in 08). Ludwick trade, meh, it didn’t hurt or help. Kennedy was just outright released because he sucked.
Your opinion on the result of the trades is irrelevant … the point is you don’t question LaRussa and play for his team again.
yeah thats true, but im also making the point that the GM doesn’t just move players because TLR has a problem with them, he wants to get good value for them in return. Which, in the end, who really cares who gets traded if the team is still improving.
what did ludwick do? just because a player gets traded, does that mean that LaRussa hates him?
Players stop performing, tony benches them, the players get mad at lack of playing time and bring a negative attitude to the clubhouse, then they get traded (Rolen).
Rasmus wasn’t doing that great for a stretch so he was getting less playing time, so he got mad, but he started performing again, Tony started playing him more and now everything is fine. The other guys you mentioned were guys that looked to me like they were on the downpath so I’m glad the Cards got rid of them and moved on. Rasmus is young and on the uppath and will play full-time as long as he doesn’t suck it up.
Thats how I see it anyhow.
I will concede that Kennedy wasn’t traded … because we couldn’t find a trade partner … we instead threw an OF to play 2B rather than a play a guy LaRussa didn’t like, making 4 million a year. Best interest of the team … I think not.
Smart move by Tony, the way his team rejected him and they collapsed down the stretch this was likely his only real option.
Ludwick confronted LaRussa about being treated as a platoon player after driving in around 100 RBIs for two seasons in a row … he was promptly dealt … helping our anemic offense to tank even worse. The spin was that we HAD to deal Ludwick to get Westbrook, as if that was our only option … but anyone paying attention knows better. Ludwick was an inexpensive option to fill a huge need; a #5 hitter.
Ultimately, improving the team is a secondary concern … the primary concern is catering to LaRussa. Though Mo is technically LaRussa’s boss, our GM is simply a puppet for our manager. It is no coincidence that every time a player has a feud with LaRussa, Mo has to make a move to accommodate. Sometimes it may work out, but this year in dealing Ludwick, it didn’t. It’s truly sad that he doesn’t have the stones to stand up to a guy who works for him.
Anyone ever notice that La Russa hates black people? (Randy Winn doesn’t count)
LaRussa do not hate black people. What you think Rickey Henderson and Dave Stewert are? Caucasian? Blacks are not playing as much baseball then they use to play. The sports they are playing more now days are football and basketball. We are seeing a lot more Hispanics in Baseball then we have seen in the past.
Ozzie and Larussa scuffle, Ozzie gets the boot. Rolen and Laruss scuffle, Rolen is out. Ludwick and Larussa knock heads, later Ludwick. Rasmus? We will wait and see.
Rolen is the only one who left for not getting along with La Russa (which also happened to him in Philedalphia). Ozzie was over 40 and ready to retire no matter who the manager was. Kennedy was released, because he sucked. Edmonds was traded, because he wasn’t willing to be a platoon player, not anything specific with La Russa. Trading Ludwick was our only way to get a decent starting pitcher (and likely would’ve been traded this offseason anyway to help with payroll), and despite the offensive problems (which Ludwick likely wouldn’t have helped very much with), the Cardinals would’ve finished even worse without Westbrook stabalizing the even worse starting rotation problem we had before the deadline. On top of that, Rasmus and La Russa have consistently denied having a problem with each other to begin with.
Rolen is the only one who left for not getting along with La Russa (which also happened to him in Philedalphia). Ozzie was over 40 and ready to retire no matter who the manager was. Kennedy was released, because he sucked. Edmonds was traded, because he wasn’t willing to be a platoon player, not anything specific with La Russa. Trading Ludwick was our only way to get a decent starting pitcher (and likely would’ve been traded this offseason anyway to help with payroll), and despite the offensive problems (which Ludwick likely wouldn’t have helped very much with), the Cardinals would’ve finished even worse without Westbrook stabalizing the even worse starting rotation problem we had before the deadline. On top of that, Rasmus and La Russa have consistently denied having a problem with each other to begin with.