Take a good look St. Louis, this is the man that will steer the ship for the Cardinals in the 2012 season.Sure, I have heard plenty of rumors regarding Terry Francona and what he may do next season. There has been rumblings about Tito joining Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer in Chicago. There has been talk about Tito taking a year off. There has been talk of Tito doing T.V. for a year. I don't think that any of those options are realistic. When it comes down to it, Terry Francona is the perfect candidate to take over for Tony LaRussa.
No matter what, replacing Tony LaRussa is going to be very difficult. I have heard the rumors that third base coach Jose Oquendo is primed to take over for LaRussa. Rumor has it that Pujols will only return to St. Louis if Oquendo is the coach. Guess what? Pujols will return to St. Louis if they give him the best deal.
Period.
Other names that have been floated to take over for LaRussa: batting coach Mark "Big Mac" McGwire as well as Chicago Cubs legend and current AAA coach for the Phillies, Ryne Sandberg. Here is the deal with McGwire, the guy was a hell of a baseball player, albeit with steroids later in his career, but overall, he was a great player. He came out, apologized for taking banned substances and has quietly been trying to gain a positive reputation back in Major League Baseball. I respect that. I just don't see him being ready to take over for a Major League Club yet.
Ryne Sandberg on the other hands, as you know if you've read any of my posts before, I would love to see in Boston. With my Boston argument, I have the same reasoning why he will not be coaching in St. Louis - the Cubs would be foolish NOT to hire him to be the coach in 2012.
Sure, there are other names out there that could replace LaRussa, but not many have as good of a record as Francona posts. While LaRussa coached for 2,728 wins and 2,365 losses over a 35 year career that saw him coach just 3 different teams, the Chicago White Sox, Oakland A's and St. Louis Cardinals. LaRussa chalked up 6 pennants and 3 World Series Titles with his .536 winning percentage.
In his 12 years coaching just 2 Major League clubs (The Phillies and Red Sox), Terry Francona has coached 1,029 wins and 915 losses, or a .529 winning percentage. It is worth noting that while in Boston, Francona had a .574 winning percentage and in that same time frame, LaRussa's Cardinals posted a .554 winning percentage.
Terry Francona will be loved in St. Louis, both by the players (as he is very much a players manager to the end) and by the fans/media. Tito is always very candid and open about his coaching, and in a baseball town like St. Louis, they will love having a guy like Francona whose life IS baseball leading the charge.
If St. Louis manages to bring back Pujols and sign Terry Francona on as their manager in 2012, this team has a legitimate chance of repeating as World Series Champions.
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