D-Backs Appoint Tony La Russa as Chief Baseball Officer

[AZ Native]

http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com...ri_20140517_24129984&vkey=pr_ari&ymd=20140517

MLB Network said Towers will report to him.

WOW

 

[Lefty]

Kevin Towers supporters should be a little nervous.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Great move and speaks volumes about the organizations' desire to improve and win.
And yes, if I were KT, I would be sure the resume is polished up!

 

[JerkFace]

This seemed to come out of nowhere... Awesome hire.

 

[JS22]

Wow. That's pretty awesome. Shows that the Dbacks are still an extremely respected organization, despite Towers destroying the team.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

And the Diamondbacks season has officially jumped the shark. I guess there's only so mqny head beatings you can take from the Dodgers before calling in the big guns.

Kudos to Ken Kendrick, Derrick Hall, and the entire organization. Bad years and runs will happen but when you have good ownership/leadership they will react and be proactive about it. I have no idea how impactful or if this is a good move but I applaud them for doing it.

But the biggest shock of this thread. There are still KT supporters???

 

[BC867]

This seemed to come out of nowhere... Awesome hire.

Y’never know what’s going on behind the scenes. I wonder if this makes LaRussa the de facto GM or will he be guiding the overall direction of the team.

And I wonder if they’ve picked our next Manager yet (currently sitting in the TV booth?) or how much Tony will be involved in that.

BTW, he will be inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame on July 27.

 

[aznando]

So excited about this move. Something had to be done. Who knows what's going down but the one question a lot of people had about who would run things if and when KT got the Ax, has now been answered. Time to clean house!

Aznando

 

[WildBB]

And the Diamondbacks season has officially jumped the shark. I guess there's only so mqny head beatings you can take from the Dodgers before calling in the big guns.

Kudos to Ken Kendrick, Derrick Hall, and the entire organization. Bad years and runs will happen but when you have good ownership/leadership they will react and be proactive about it. I have no idea how impactful or if this is a good move but I applaud them for doing it.

When I first read this I thought I saw Tommy LaSorda, and was thinking what the.... Then upon further glance saw it was LaRussa. Yeah that's a real great hire.

Just his contacts alone make it awsome. He's still a great strategist and will work with Duncan to cure our rotation and bullpen ills, I'm sure.

I'm also sure he'll want to develop from within as a theme going forward. Fixing the scouting/farm system will be a priority for sure.

There will be a legitimate 5-7 year plan instead of going off the cuff year to year trading away young arms that haven't been fully developed and reached maximum output. Max Shurzer, Bauer and Skaggs don't get traded under such watchful eyes until they truely had to for contract purposes only, AND for a good haul in young arms in return. Let the Yankees and Red Sox and so on pay the premium prices...

 

[Gee!]

I think the Dbacks are trying to make me hate them more and more with every move they make..

 

[Phrazbit]

Nice!

Bringing in a proven winner, I love it. Hopefully he sweeps clean our proven loser.

 

[Dback Jon]

Excited

 

[Gee!]

Nice!

Bringing in a proven winner, I love it. Hopefully he sweeps clean our proven loser.

What has he ever won at in this position we hired him for?
its like Phil Jackson to the Knicks.. Who cares? Kirk Gibson was a winner at being a player.. What has he done as a manager?

 

[82CardsGrad]

What has he ever won at in this position we hired him for?

its like Phil Jackson to the Knicks.. Who cares? Kirk Gibson was a winner at being a player.. What has he done as a manager?

Gee, there are very few men alive today that have accomplished as much as LaRussa. And nobody is as respected as LaRussa.
Give him some time to sort things out... This is a tremendous move...

And no coincidence the Dbacks are pounding Kershaw today!!


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[az jam]

I like the move. There will be change for sure.

 

[Phrazbit]

What has he ever won at in this position we hired him for?
its like Phil Jackson to the Knicks.. Who cares? Kirk Gibson was a winner at being a player.. What has he done as a manager?

I think its one thing to succeed as a jock and not have it carry over, but guys like Phil Jackson and La Russa are legends as coach/managers and clearly know a TON about identifying and developing talent.

 

[27Veer]

A big step in the right direction.

 

[Gee!]

Gee, there are very few men alive today that have accomplished as much as LaRussa. And nobody is as respected as LaRussa.
Give him some time to sort things out... This is a tremendous move...

And no coincidence the Dbacks are pounding Kershaw today!!


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It's just hard for me to get excited about a guy I used to hate so much.. All the brawls the DBacks and Cardinals had I felt were 90% because of him..

 

[BC867]

It's just hard for me to get excited about a guy I used to hate so much.. All the brawls the DBacks and Cardinals had I felt were 90% because of him..

The D-backs have had their brawls. What we need is someone who is not a flake running the basketball operations.

Just as the Suns welcomed arch enemy Danny Ainge once upon a time, I hope you do get excited about the D-backs being pro-active.

Would you really rather the same-old-same-old that has made us cellar dwellars? I don't think you would.

Getting Tony LaRussa to slide in as COO -- Chief Operating Officer -- is indeed a coup for the D-backs future.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

La Russa? Seriously? Can't stand that douche. Hope he hires a driver so he isn't out driving drunk on our roads.

#asleepatthewheel

 

[82CardsGrad]

It's just hard for me to get excited about a guy I used to hate so much.. All the brawls the DBacks and Cardinals had I felt were 90% because of him..

Yep. And this team desperately needs that type of influence!
LaRussa is regarded as one of the best, if not THE best mind in baseball today. He knows what it takes to build a winning organization, from the farm all the way thru the bigs. He also knows how to handle players, how to lead them and teach them the game...
It doesn't hurt that we already had Dave Duncan and Dave McKay on the team as well, both of whom were with LaRuss during his great runs in St Louis.


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[BC867]

It doesn't hurt that we already had Dave Duncan and Dave McKay on the team as well, both of whom were with LaRuss during his great runs in St Louis.

We hadn't heard a word about Duncan since Spring Training. I wondered if his participation ended.

It's good to hear that he is still involved. I wonder to what degree. Is he influencing the pitching decisions and training our inexperienced Pitching Coach?

If so, it is interesting that the D'backs have now pioneered the concept of intermediate overseers for baseball operations and the pitching staff.

It actually turns our GM and Pitching Coach into assistants. Of course if they were doing their jobs well, it wouldn't have become necessary.

Two retirement age pro's calling the shots, but not executing the day-to-day operations. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[BC867]

Who regards him as the best mind in baseball, besides you?

Whether one believes he is or not is irrelevant.

All Tony LaRussa has to be is better than the people who have been running the baseball operation under Ken Kendrick and Derrick Hall . . . and have run it into the ground. And now, they have done something about it. Good for them!

 

[Mulli]

Whether one believes he is or not is irrelevant.

All Tony LaRussa has to be is better than the people who have been running the baseball operation under Ken Kendrick and Derrick Hall . . . and have run it into the ground. And now, they have done something about it. Good for them!

Yes, I agree. Not sure what point I was making.

 

[82CardsGrad]

We hadn't heard a word about Duncan since Spring Training. I wondered if his participation ended.

It's good to hear that he is still involved. I wonder to what degree. Is he influencing the pitching decisions and training our inexperienced Pitching Coach?

If so, it is interesting that the D'backs have now pioneered the concept of intermediate overseers for baseball operations and the pitching staff.

It actually turns our GM and Pitching Coach into assistants. Of course if they were doing their jobs well, it wouldn't have become necessary.

Two retirement age pro's calling the shots, but not executing the day-to-day operations. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Who knows how LaRussa will involve or not involve Duncan. All I know is that the pluses far outweigh any negatives with this move.
It may take a while, like a year or two, before any changes can be realized in the form of more W's... But, I like LaRussa's chances for success!


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