"Holiday in right?"

ATLANTA • After originally extending the offer two months ago, left fielder Matt Holliday has notified the Cardinals of his willingness to transfer to right field if the club believes it can improve itself by acquiring another left field talent.

Holliday told manager Tony La Russa and general manager John Mozeliak of his willingness after the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, but said Saturday it was not directly tied to the availability of Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Manny Ramirez.

Ramirez eventually landed with the Chicago White Sox after the deadline.

"It would take some adjustment but I don't think it would be that big a deal," Holliday said Saturday.

Holliday has played exclusively in left field since his rookie 2004 season with the Colorado Rockies. He did appear in right field in the 2008 All-Star Game.

La Russa noted the offer before Saturday's game against Atlanta while voicing confidence in Holliday's ability to work the position.

"I didn't look at as a big thing, just a way to help," Holliday said.

The Cardinals traded right fielder Ryan Ludwick on July 31 and have projected Jon Jay and Allen Craig as a potential platoon at the position next season. However, the team's ongoing offensive struggles have left open the possibility of revisiting the position this winter.

"It came up as soon as we traded Ryan," La Russa recalled. "(Holliday) said, 'If there's somebody that just plays that one spot, I'll move.' He's an athlete. That would not be a problem at all."

Jay, 25, is hitting .315 with four home runs and 26 RBIs in 238 at-bats. Craig remains at Class AAA Memphis. Craig, 26, hit .202 with three home runs and 19 RBI in 99 at-bats with the parent club.

Lynn strikes out 16

Triple-A Memphis reached the Pacific Coast League championship series Thursday by defeating Oklahoma City 6-2 behind a dominant performance by starting pitcher Lance Lynn. He struck out 16 while allowing one run and three hits in seven innings. Lynn retired 18 consecutive hitters in one stretch.

His is the public face of a franchise rooted in class. Yet there are numerous nights when Cardinals manager Tony La Russa can't hide the deep burn following a loss, his impatience with the obvious or what he perceives as disrespectful questions. It's on those occasions that the post-game segment Fox Sports Midwest teases as "Tony TV" offers an uncomfortable edge.


Tony Leaving?
Some may see condescension while others may observe a justified reaction to a superficial process.

Others, looking deeper, believe they see a manager uncomfortable after 15 years in one place, a man looking toward his next opportunity or perhaps the end of a Hall of Fame career.

La Russa knows those perceptions exist. He knows because his wife Elaine reminds him after viewing Tony TV from the couple's Danville, Calif., home.

"She tells me, 'You don't do that well. You act like you're going to the dentist or something.'"

Entering the late stages of a one-year contract that includes no club or mutual options, La Russa understands that what he says and what he does invite heavy scrutiny.

Dugout incidents with several players also have fed a perception that he is weary of the job, or the job is weary of him.

The manager's on-camera scolds of reporters asking "big-picture" questions or his refusal to answer pertinent questions because the moment is "too raw" may bring some entertainment value, but they also feed the public's uncertainty about where he stands.

"It has nothing to do with the decision," he says. "I think it's an opinion shared by anyone who's been around for a while: the job is challenging enough. The highs are enjoyable but you can't enjoy them for long. The disappointments are painful and you carry them for much longer. It's part of the competition. What's made the job not as much fun is the combination of distractions of players due to money and security ... and the proliferation of media."

Two weeks ago, La Russa held his own introducing Albert Pujols before tens of thousands on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. However, dissecting a loss moments after the fact poses a larger challenge to someone who began managing in the major leagues during the Carter Administration.

"I think it's virtually impossible, if you care, to go out there and turn it off immediately," La Russa says of the fire he demands be brought into every game.

Yet he knows the perception of those nights when Jerry Springer meets Abner Doubleday, and it bothers him.

"When comments are made about 'condescending' and 'rude' I know I've got better human value than that. I don't like coming across that way. It's not the way I was taught," La Russa says.

Still, a season laced with disappointment has challenged La Russa perhaps as much as any in recent memory.

A lineup perceived as dangerous has been exposed as thin. A team once 16 games over .500 and five games up in the NL Central entered Sunday 73-67 and seven games behind the upstart Cincinnati Reds. There have been dugout dust-ups with several key players, isolated incidents that fed a dire perception.

"It's irritating. It's unfair," La Russa says. "This job is challenging enough without having to deal with that perception when it involves a one-time thing."

La Russa and general manager John Mozeliak maintain a solid working relationship, yet at times they've debated whether this team fits the description of an underachiever.

Recent social media correspondence by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Buzz Bissinger has described La Russa as tired and fed up with managing and this team. The relationship between La Russa and Bissinger, who wrote the best-selling "Three Nights in August" after receiving generous access to the team and La Russa during the 2003 season, has become strained and perhaps irreversibly damaged.

All of which begs: Does La Russa stay or go?

Requesting a one-year contract over ownership's offer of a two-year arrangement plus an option for 2013 stoked a perception that La Russa is either waiting to see in what direction ownership will take the team or what opportunities may arise elsewhere after this season. He rejects both. La Russa says he would again wait for ownership's endorsement and a positive reaction from his clubhouse, the same formula he has followed since gaining tenure here.

"I can remember the contract before last. We did two (years) so there wouldn't be a question during the first year. ... It was phony because at the end of the year it was the same process. We just didn't do it this year," he says.

Approached by Chicago reporters in late July about his interest in the Cubs' job, La Russa sounded repulsed when dismissing the possibility.

La Russa said Friday his attitude about managing this team is unchanged from a year ago. He did not dispute a suggestion that barring dissatisfied ownership or a player coup he is likely to commit through at least 2011.

"I'm totally into seeing if we can get to October. I'm consumed by that," La Russa says. "I can definitely say the outcome will not determine (his return). If we win, it doesn't mean I'm done. If we lose, it doesn't mean I stay. It's a very good question, and I've heard it speculated both ways. Hey, if we lose, I may not get a chance to answer that. But my answer will not be influenced by the outcome."

His recent insistence that he and center fielder Colby Rasmus can co-exist as well as Friday's public commitment to hitting coach Mark McGwire suggest his stance is decided.

La Russa partly sidestepped a question whether organizational direction would affect his outlook.

"My expectation as manager of this club is based on the history of this franchise. The people in charge will believe they have a shot to win next year," La Russa says. "The opposite would be, 'Well, we don't think we can win so we're going to make a bunch of changes so we can win three years from now.' Maybe they'll decide that. But I think whoever the manager is, my guess is they're going to look at it and say, 'We want to take a shot to win.'"

When pressed, La Russa adds, "If they decide they want to go young and try to win three years from now and looked around and said, 'Who is the best manager to go through that process?' I'd consider it."

Tony TV will await.

Last edited by APRTW (9/12/2010 5:04 pm)