White Sox manager Tony La Russa issued a statement today, saying that he will not return to his role for 2023. His contract runs for another year but he has been dealing with health issues that have kept him away from the team since late August. Reports emerged over the weekend that an announcement of this nature would be coming today.
“This February, I had a pacemaker installed and was cleared by my doctors to begin spring training as scheduled,” La Russa’s statement reads. “A periodic check of the device later identified a problem. During batting practice on August 30, I was informed of the issue, taken out of uniform and tested by doctors the next day.The solution was to update the pacemaker in Arizona and for me not to return as manager without medical clearance.”
La Russa goes on to outline a second, unspecified health issue that was diagnosed earlier in the year and that he intended to address in the coming offseason. “While I was inactive with the pacemaker, the second issue was analyzed. The result is that a corrective plan has been developed by my medical team and implementation has begun. I informed the White Sox of this second issue while I was out of uniform dealing with the pacemaker. At no time this season did either issue negatively affect my responsibilities as White Sox manager. However, it has become obvious that the length of the treatment and recovery process for this second health issue makes it impossible for me to be the White Sox manager in 2023. The timing of this announcement now enables the front office to include filling the manager position with their other off-season priorities.”
He then goes on to express his disappointment in his performance this year but makes clear he is not upset with the fans, even those who jeered him, as he understands their desire for the club to win. The White Sox are currently 79-80, eliminated from postseason contention after qualifying in the previous two seasons. In a press conference following the release of the statement, La Russa said he has not yet discussed a different role with the organization as his health is his focus right now, per Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times.
General manager Rick Hahn also participated in the press conference, saying that discussions about the next manager have already begun, per Van Schouwen (Twitter links). As for what they will be looking for in their next skipper, Hahn says they would like someone with recent managerial experience and success. A pre-existing relationship with the organization is not a prerequisite, though acting manager Miguel Cairo will receive an interview.
The Sox will be competing with a handful of other clubs who will also be looking for new field bosses for 2023. The Marlins and Don Mattingly announced that he won’t be back for next year, while the Blue Jays, Phillies, Angels and Rangers have all fired their managers midseason here in 2022. Some of those clubs will potentially retain their interim managers, with the Blue Jays seeming like a candidate to do so.
Whoever the White Sox grab to helm the dugout next season, they will have a very similar roster as La Russa had this year. Much of the club’s core performers are still under club control next year, with the most notable exception being first baseman Jose Abreu. However, the last time Abreu was approaching free agency, he was re-signed to stick around Chicago and could perhaps do the same again.
Of course, the organization could always make changes to the roster through the offseason, though they may be hamstrung financially. The club set a franchise record last year with an Opening Day payroll of $129MM but then shattered that here in 2022 by going up to $193MM, according to numbers from Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Next year’s outlay is at $121MM so far, in the estimation of Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. However, that number doesn’t include raises for arbitration eligible players like Lucas Giolito or options for players like Tim Anderson, not to mention a potential new contract for Abreu. As such, Hahn tells Van Schouwen that the club is likely to be more active on the trade market than in free agency this winter.
Neato!
Marky – I know what you’re insinuating, and I agree. This is the second time in a couple weeks that a newbie writer has announced a retirement, only to retract it a short time later. Hopefully they will someday realize being first is not as important as being accurate.
I wish Tony all the best in whatever he decides to do. I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes back to a consultant role with some team, maybe even the Red Sox.
@fpg i also wish tlr the best and was even pulling for the cws to win it all and i’m not even a fan. although i think tlr is done with bb, tbh i don’t think his heart is in it anymore (no pun intended) and now the health issues are starting to pile up, and tbh what more does tlr have left to prove. in all honesty i think tlr came out of retirement to make his buddy feel better about canning him so early in his career as a manager and his buddy trying to renig what he thought was the biggest mistake he made. anyways i wish tlr the best and here in redbird nation we will always remember 06 & 11
Well… that’s that. It sucks that he couldn’t go out by going into the postseason like 2011 but he leaves behind a very successful managerial career. Congrats, Tony
First of all, he shares heavily in the blame why they are not in the playoffs.
And also, I guess they are avoiding stating just how much of his 2023 salary, LaRussa will pocket.
It’s baseball. You get all your money, that’s just how it is.
Shade – If a manager retires, he’s not legally entitled to it. However teams do often voluntarily pay out some or all of the remaining contract depending on the individual situation.
No manager ever has been the difference of 11 games.
Key injuries, poor performances ended up detailing their season.
“I don’t believe a manager ever won a pennant. Casey Stengel won all those pennants with the Yankees. How many did he win with the Boston Braves and Mets? I’ve never seen a team win a pennant without players. I think the only thing the manager has to do is keep things within certain boundaries.” Source: Los Angeles Times (August 8, 1974) Sparky Anderson
Sparky may have been the best manager of all time. Top 5 for sure!
Another favourite line of mine from Sparky … I’m paraphrasing for sure but something like “my idea of great managing … is to give the ball to Tom Seaver “ lol
@imp love the sparky reference to this day only him and tlr have won a ws in both leagues.
The older someone gets the higher the physical toll of alcoholism.
Oohhhh, the poor poor filthy rich ownership might have to miss a meal.
If I was falsely sold being manager of a WS contender, I too wouldn’t want to be part of a long rebuild.
Kayrall, I think Tony was a little too shrewd and seasoned to be duped on the prospect of managing a “WS contender.” He knows how to size up and assess a team and it’s potential at the very least.
@trumbo. What you are overlooking, is Tony’s oversized ego.
There are those people, Me included, Who say LaRussa wasn’t here this year either.
Dogbone, So was he duped or did he bite off more than he could chew? One or the other…Can’t be both..
Tony did not solicit the position. The owner went out and brought in Tony because he knew the Sox were an undisciplined team and hoped a veteran, established manager could unlock all the “talent” he was led to believe the team members had.
The owner should have been around long enough by now to understand that a one-dimensional ego-filled collection of players were not going to do the little things and stay disciplined to compete at a high level with the better teams each year in MLB.
The Sox have been running out the same sort of team since Ozzie left, with 3 full-time mangers (and an interim or two) having the same problems on the field – not being able to play consistent fundamental baseball, i.e. not beating themselves. Maybe Mr. Reinsdorf thought he could re-create the ‘Winning Ugly’ season – ignoring the fact that it was one season and the team started regressing the following year.
@samual spot on with your post, it’s hard to win with me first players, that’s why i’m amazed with what joe t did with the nyy, (bleep) it’s hard to mange people in everyday jobs today and he was able to get that team to put ego’s aside and win. tlr was able to do that (at least from what i saw when managing the cards and he basically had a life long contract here) with the cws i feel like he just wasn’t really into and took the job because his buddy twisted his arm enough to do so.
They could have had AJ Hinch
Yeah that’s working out great in Detroit.
Maybe the Astros can sign him next.
No one will win with that mediocre roster
Hinch’s Tigers are garbage cans. I mean garbage.
The Tigers improved when AJ Hinch took over last season.
Maybe you don’t follow the Tigers but they lost their entire SP rotation then lost their entire replacement rotation to injury this season.
Maybe he’s angling for the job in Houston. That would be hilarious on multiple levels: LaRussa and Dusty can’t stand each other, and LaRussa is also about the only candidate Houston could hire who wouldn’t be less experienced.
I’d like to see how Dusty fares managing a roster that isn’t completely stacked.
If you were at all familiar with baseball reference, you could check Dusty’s managerial record in SF, Cincy, Cubs, Nationals. Pretty solid. Won everywhere.
Won but not in the postseason.
@apuuli You missed the “roster that isn’t completely stacked” part.
harambe, exactly.
All the best to him; Long career. I still remember him as the Sox manager in 1979…young pup then!
Robin – Disco Demolition Night!!
Hoping they actually make a real search this time, but I doubt it. As long as Reinsdorf has any unemployed friends who know what a baseball actually is, he’ll choose them over someone experienced, qualified, and capable.
Joe Maddon. Lol
I’ll have a toast to this news
Hasta la vista.
NOBODY in Chicago wanted La Russa except for Reinsdorf and shows all the money in the world is no substitute for baseball sense. He doesn’t have it. His constant hiring before this of managers with 0 experience because they were very good players only worked with Ozzie Guillen.
If Jerry wants 1 more title before he dies he’ll leave the baseball operations to Rick Hahn & Kenny Williams.
And hopefully before he goes he’ll sell the team because nobody on the SSide wants it to just be a family member of his with even less baseball knowledge than him.
The problem with Reinsdorf is that he refuses to move on from Williams and Hahn. Leaving the baseball decisions to them is a great part of the problem. They know their budget, but refuse to spread it out to cover all the needs. The White Sox are an unfinished product that has run out of money. If this seems familiar, it should. Same thing happened when they had Sale, Quintana, and Eaton. How’s all those trades looking today?
JScottG;
He has left “the baseball operations to Rick Hahn & Kenny Williams.”
That’s been the problem since they ran out Ozzie. Not saying Ozzie was perfect or could have continued there. It’s that no manager can win with teams of undisciplined players that can’t field their positions, do the little things, and think HR’s cure all ills.
After so many years Mr. Reinsdorf finally has a truly competitive NBA team. It’s basically made up of young, dedicated guys playing team basketball. His MLB team is the anthesis of that.
Word on the street in Bridgeport is that Ron Kittle or Larry Bowa will get the job
Pharma – The only thing you’re guaranteed to get on the streets of Bridgeport is meth and crack.
It’s actually funny that some people actually still want to blame the conditioning staff. Lol, really?? Do these people actually think that guys who get hurt every year and don’t appear to ever be motivated to get in better shape, or baseball shape – that those guys are driven to still work hard after they sign their big contracts? I’m looking at you: Moncada, Grandal, Eloy and Lynn.
While LaRussa was not the sole issue with the Sox, he was part of the problem. The first domino has fallen, and many more have to still. I would like to see the Sox axe the entire health and conditioning staff next. Time to see how serious the White Sox Org really are about winning, or are the fans just going to see more of the same….
Perhaps stayed on year too long. Infamously walked Trey Turner on a 1-2 count to get the lefty Max Muncy whose OPS career was well over .800 against lefties. You wouldn’t be soon forgotten, Tony!
jeff, so he failed to notice that that was one of the very rare situations where there was no advantage to bringing in the lefty. Anyway, Turner’s an elite hitter.
It was a mistake from the beginning for owner Jerry Reinsdorf to bring his old buddy Tony back for one last run. From looking like he was falling asleep in the dugout to inexplicably walking guys with a one ball and two strike count on them things were never right in 2022
Hahn said he will be spearheading the manager search and will be looking for managerial experience with success. Well, Bochy, Washington, Girardi, maybe Mattingly. Can’t imagine Guillen will be part of the mix and please not Joe Maddon. Hahn also said they will more active in the trade market than free agency. That just sounds like he knows he’s coming back.
Good news for the Guardians!
Rearranging the deck chairs…….
Being a huge Cardinals fan it was always painful to watch him manage games. What made it worse though were all of the other cardinals fans praising his very questionable moves. The guy loved to over manage every single game, and more often than not the moves would “work”. Of course if he just didn’t make a move at all that would have “worked” just as well. With the 3 batter minimum a lot of his “greatness” as a manager was removed from the game. Double switches and defensive replacements were the other half of his repertoire and almost never made a difference, except when it didn’t work and we had to watch the defensive replacement try to swing a bat. All in all his biggest contribution to the game was always making it take 15 minutes longer than it needed to.
So as a huge Cardinals fan, a guy who ran a mid market team for a while, in a period that they were competitive and usually a playoff caliber team, that won two World Series, is just some loser because some sh#t didn’t go how you thought it would if you were pressing the Start and X buttons.
Got it. Must be a Cardinals fan. Good to know you enjoyed a wonderful time in your team’s history. Learn to love your ignorant opinions less. I’m telling you this as a friend, people are getting tired of you.
That sounds like a lot of conjecture, mr diddlez.
It sounds like something but conjecture isn’t the word.
Thanks Mr diddlez but I’ll choose the words I use…it’s Conjecture.
It’s obvious, bring back Ozzie!
Ozzie, Ozzie, Ozzie
Bochy should be their number one guy to go after if he wants back into the game. It’s a no brainer.
Hands down Bochy would be my first phone call. I like Ozzie but he burned that bridge quite awhile ago. Reinsdorf stated 5 years ago that he liked Ozzie but wouldn’t hire him back. Maybe he’ll change his mind but I kind of doubt it.
Amen to that. Bochy would be a fantastic hire. I only wish that Hahn would have hired him before as it was pretty obvious that he didn’t want to hire TLR but only did so because Reinsdorf forced his hand.
2nd issue is Def alcoholism
As a Cleveland fan, I would have loved to see him back for one more year….. maybe 5 years from now they’ll dye his hair Elvis black and rehire him. This organization isn’t smart enough to hire Bochy in the meantime….. just wait for the stupid
5 more years he probably won’t have enough hair to color. I actually feel bad for the man since he was doing his thing when Reinsdorf called. Yes, he could have said no but I get it. I’m glad he’s retiring and Hahn pretty much said they’re stepping out of the box for a manager. I don’t think they’re stupid enough NOT to hire Bochy but I don’t know how bad Bochy wants to get back in it. Reinsdorf is 86+ so I’m hoping they get it right.
What disappointed me, was that Tony didn’t continue to wear those tight pants like he did in St Louis.
But that’s not retiring
If they want someone with recent managerial experience they will hire Girardi.
Kenny Williams LMFAO. He’s there due to having the goods on Reinsdorf. Just a charity job.
Thanks for the great memories in St Louis. Good luck going forward
I’ll always remember him trying to fight a Pirates broadcaster midgame.
Whether you like Tony LaRussa (the man) or hate him you have to recognize him as one of the games best managers. LaRussa managed his teams to 22 winning seasons, 15 playoff appearances and 6 World Series, including 3 championships, while managing in 4 completely different eras of Baseball. It’s very unlikely in the current landscape of front office micro-management that we will see a manager with Tony’s level of both longevity and success.
Not me. I recognize Dave Duncan for letting him take all the bows all those years.
Girardi would be a solid choice. Mattingly would be a joke. I’ve always thought David Cone would make a good Manager.
Ran into a very reliable source at cork and Kerry’s who knows the ins and outs of the whitesox. Word is that Bucky Dent is the front runner to replace LaRussa . Adam Dunn is a close second.
And Hahn won’t be fired. He will be forced upstairs to work for Kenny so Jerry can bring back Hawk as GM.
Pierzynski or Bust – I’m just saying
Pierzynski is Ozzie without the flamboyant personality and i wonder if he may be better staying in the broadcast booth. Dave Martinez would probably be a good choice if he leaves Washington after the season is over
Gullien too – LOOK OUT
Davey Martinez – he has a ring but remember he was an inch away from being fired. Man that team was loaded
Soto, Turner, Scherzer, w Eaton, Strasburg and Rendon having career years. No to Davey. He was a Cub. No way Jerry does that.
Pierzynski is my guy.
Ozzie has a ring on his finger too.
You never know w them. Ventura and TL made no sense. Seems to be a pattern. Take the field if you are betting. Konerko might happen knowing them.
I’m just sayin…
Nick Swisher or Gavin Floyd are the front runners. Just spoke to Kenny Williams who said the organization wants to make right with these two guys who were sent packing way too quick.
pharm, would that mean we could get Swisher’s wife on camera a lot?! Then I’m in.
I heard, word on the street in Bridgeport, just saying’, Reinsdorf wants to resurrect John McGraw’s corpse and see if he can get this team to run out ground balls.
If McGraw doesn’t take, we will try the Revivifier on Casey Stengel. The only problem with this team is the manager, just have to find the right one who won’t demand much because he is dead or near to it.
Thanks for 2020 and especially the 2021 legit Title, That said, your health is more important, so take care of yourself and enjoy your retirement – which also sends a message to this team. The Sox need a hard-nosed coach that believes in fundamentals, discipline at the plate and a brain on the base paths, who can catch and throw the stupid ball. I’ve never seen a team decline so fast – injuries or not, and who beat themselves, constantly. It was like watching a little league team play at times, and don’t remind me of that stupid TRIPLE PLAY. How dumb was that? Abreu should be brought back, but there needs to be some trades made, DO NOT bring in AJ, WIllie Harris, etc.. because we are not rebuilding. Go get a REAL coach who is ready for the NEW MLB rules and who will whip these losers into shape. LOL
The White Sox had four designated hitters playing in the field and others playing out of natural positions. Situational baseball and baserunning is non-existent. TLR better not be the only one leaving. Start the trade-off. That’s the only way the Sox improve.
He’s going to Bhagwan walk into the Arizona sunset.
Mike Caruso who was a bust out as a player is in the running . Heard he owns a hotdog stand on 35th street that is about to go under. Brian Anderson is set to be the hitting coach with John Danks the pitching coach
Rudy Law is gonna be the base running coach
Something in the back of my mind is always itching when it comes to LaRussa. Just seems to come off so clean , yet he’s right there with the ped, all the way back to Dave McKay and the A’s.
I’m sure he didn’t know a thing.