Lou Piniella said so many nice things about the Devil Rays in his farewell address Friday that the irony even struck him.
"I know the question is going to be if everybody is so happy with each other: Why?" Piniella said. "And the reason is simple."
Basically, he negotiated a deal to get out of the last year of his contract, and gave up half of his US$4.4-million salary, as a matter of timing:
PHOTO: AP
Stuart Sternberg is expected to take control of the team from managing general partner Vince Naimoli in the next week or so and outline a plan to build the Rays into contenders over the next few years; Piniella, at 62, wants to win sooner, and more often, and after three 90-loss seasons with the Rays was not interested in going through another extended construction process.
"You've got a new ownership group taking over and they need to bring in their own manager that they can grow with," Piniella said, his eyes moist at times but otherwise composed. "At the same time it will give me time to go home and relax and fish and play some golf. I'm tired. I need some time off."
Piniella, a Tampa native and resident, said he may sit out the season but definitely is interested in managing again, though -- despite rumors already linking him to potential openings with the Orioles, Marlins and Yankees -- insists he has nothing lined up. "It's got to be the right situation, obviously," he said.
The Rays' next step is even less clear.
When Sternberg takes control from Naimoli, general manager Chuck LaMar and other front office officials are expected to be fired. The Rays likely would want to replace them first and let the new staff have input on the decision on the new manager, so a hire may not be made until after the World Series and possibly into November.
That makes it even harder to say exactly what they will be looking for, though it likely will be someone who is a good communicator, open to new ideas, willing to incorporate statistical data and front office input into his decisionmaking and accept being part of the management team.
Names likely to surface include Mets third-base coach Manny Acta, Yankees bench coach Joe Girardi, A's third-base coach Ron Washington and former Mets and Rangers manager Bobby Valentine.
LaMar said he was "not in a position" to comment on potential replacements but joined Piniella in saying he hopes some members of the current coaching staff are considered. Possibilities include Triple-A manager Bill Evers, third-base coach Tom Foley, first-base coach Billy Hatcher and bench coach John McLaren, though his long association with Piniella could be an issue.
Rays players had some interesting ideas of their own, including some who suggested a change from Piniella's intense style.
"I think it should be somebody who's a little laid-back and less intense but firm at the same time," leftfielder Carl Crawford said. "Someone who's patient and can work well with and relate and talk to young kids because that's what we're dealing with here.
"I'm not saying I don't like Lou Piniella's style but I just think a lot of people were more nervous when they played. I think a lot of the young players were playing not to make mistakes because they didn't want to get hollered at or fussed at instead of just going out and playing their way."
But Jorge Cantu said the Rays need someone similar to Piniella to maintain their second-half success. "We need the same Lou approach and attitude," he said. "His point of view, that's the most important part. He brought confidence and consistency, and that's a big part of the game."
Aubrey Huff said a positive attitude and patience were the most important traits and that Evers would be a good fit.
Piniella stayed away from sharing his views. "I'm sure they'll make a good decision and I'm sure they'll hire the right person," he said.
For Piniella, the hardest part of the day was an emotional meeting with the players, most of whom have known for weeks he was leaving but were hearing it from him for the first time.
"It wasn't easy," he said. "That was the toughest part. You care. I've been here three years, and a lot of these kids you get attached to. So yeah, it hurts."
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier