Tony La Russa’s Days as Cardinals Manager Could Be Over

Could one of the best managers in baseball be on his way out of the game?

Tony La Russa doesn't know if he wants to return for a 15th season as Cardinals manager in 2010, according to ESPN.com. St. Louis — favored to represent the National League in the World Series — was swept out of the playoffs by L.A. this past weekend.

La Russa was obviously disappointed in his team's performance against the Dodgers, telling the Web site, "I've just started thinking about it. I really thought we'd make a series of it."

So did the rest of the country. The Cardinals were the first NL team to clinch a postseason berth, had two Cy Young contenders in Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright and had plenty of pop in the lineup thanks to Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday.

But neither slugger did much to help in the NLDS: Pujols went 3-for-10 with one RBI after hitting .327 with 47 homers and 135 RBIs during the regular season, and Holliday's horrendous ninth-inning error in Game 2 of the series completely demoralized the Cardinals. With two outs and the Cardinals clinging to a one-run lead, Holliday dropped a fly ball that led to a Dodgers rally and an eventual win.

"Ain't no free lunch," La Russa said. "Matt's going to take some hits for this."

St. Louis general manager John Mozeliak said he would welcome La Russa back, but the two have not yet discussed the future.

"We need to sit down and talk," Mozeliak said. "We don't need to do it today because it's still pretty fresh, the wound."