UPDATE (10:05 a.m. ET): The Red Sox have made it official, announcing Tony La Russa’s hiring as vice president/special assistant to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.
Per the Red Sox, La Russa will “assist Dombrowski in all areas of baseball operations, including player development and consultation with the major and minor league coaching staffs.”
ORIGINAL STORY: Tony La Russa’s long baseball trip is about to bring him to Boston.
The Red Sox on Thursday are expected to announce La Russa is joining the organization, according to multiple reports. The Boston Herald first reported the news.
It’s unclear what specific role La Russa will have with the Red Sox, but the Herald cited a team source that indicated La Russa won’t be new manager Alex Cora’s bench coach and instead will take a front office role.
It’s a reunion of sorts for La Russa, who began his managerial career in 1979 with the Chicago White Sox, where current Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was starting his career as an administrative assistant.
The White Sox gig launched a 33-year managerial career for La Russa that included three World Series titles: one with the Oakland Athletics in 1989 and two with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006 and 2011. The four-time Manager of the Year was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014.
After retiring from managing in 2011, the 73-year-old took a job with Major League Baseball before being hired in 2014 by the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he worked in the front office. He left that job earlier this week.
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. RebilasUSA TODAY Sports Images
