Minus at least one member of his coaching staff, Tony La Russa confirmed Monday that he will return for a 16th season as Cardinals manager.
La Russa emerged from two weeks' deliberation insistent that he retains the desire and the creativity to help the club back to the postseason after just enduring a second-place, 86-win campaign that briefly tested his desire to return.
"When I started the process, I didn't enter in a bad way. I just kept my mind open and my heart open to see where it all ended," said La Russa, who limited contact with local media to occasional text messages during the process. "I haven't been talking much. But I'm excited. I'm pretty fired up."
La Russa returns with a franchise record 1,318 managerial wins, almost half of the 2,638 overall victories that rank him third all-time to Connie Mack and John McGraw.
"Given his history and what he's done with this organization, clearly we're looking forward to having his continued leadership here as we move forward," general manager John Mozeliak said.
La Russa returns with at least one change to his staff as the front office demanded the removal of longtime bullpen coach Marty Mason for philosophical rather than performance reasons. Mozeliak hopes to conclude contract talks with the remainder of the coaching staff within the next 10 days.
Retaining La Russa allows the organization to otherwise extend continuity that includes eight trips to the postseason and a 2006 world championship during his term. Almost as significant, the Cardinals also reached 3 million attendance this season for the 12th time in 13 years.
La Russa, Mozeliak and chairman Bill DeWitt Jr., devoted much of the previous eight days to discussion of organizational direction and the manager's approach.
"The exercise, as always, was did he feel he was reaching the club," Mozeliak said. "Once he felt that was happening he just really wanted to make sure that ownership, front office and his staff were aligned in the direction he wanted to go."
A year after insisting upon a one-year contract with no option attached, La Russa, 66, accepted a mutual option for 2012 as a means of avoiding what Mozeliak termed "too much of a circus at the end of each year."
Though La Russa's return was widely assumed, the club remained hesitant to conduct any personnel changes until his decision became official.
"What's fortunate and exciting to me is that ownership and the front office believes this staff gives the club its best chance to win," La Russa said.
"Fifteen years is a long time for anybody. But when you consider what Tony has done for this organization, he certainly deserves the right to come back here," Mozeliak said. "It was something we were hopeful we could work out. I do think he wanted to understand he had the support not only of ownership and the front office, but also of the players."
Mozeliak described the process as "a learning process" for those involved. The characterization seemed strange when addressing parties familiar with one another for more than 15 years.
"Dynamics are changed. And how people react under certain circumstances change," Mozeliak said. "I think in this particular case Tony and I had a lot more candid conversations than we had in the past."
Monday's announcement included front-office involvement in coaching matters that previously had remained in La Russa's domain. Mozeliak declined to say whether the tenure of coaches besides Mason was discussed
A front office sensitive to scrutiny of its minor-league operations tired of Mason's critique of what player development could or, more often, could not provide the parent club.
Mozeliak and La Russa both attempted to couch the move as a means for promoting a deserving minor-league coach. "Marty is a qualified guy. He's been part of what's made us successful. At some point I think it's good to give somebody an opportunity," La Russa said.
However, underlying issues targeted Mason, a coach renowned for his ability to break down pitchers' mechanics as well as communicating with a folksy but blunt approach.
"Marty was definitely outspoken," Mozeliak acknowledged when pressed about the move. "And when I look at it, when you're trying to put a group together, and understanding this job is already hard enough, to have people that are second-guessing or challenging decisions makes it tough. In his case, he certainly made his views known and at this point we obviously decided to make a change."
Mason, the team's bullpen coach the past 12 years, said he was surprised when notified of the move early Monday afternoon.
"It's my life's work," said Mason, whose roots within the organization extend to 1983 when he pitched for its Springfield affiliate. "If I was doing something wrong that upset somebody it looks like somebody could have said something."
Mason reiterated respect for La Russa and his staff but didn't retreat from his issues with player development in recent years.
"There are plenty of people that didn't buy into what was going on in the player development system," Mason said, noting the positive vibe created by recent changes within the department. "I don't know if I voiced my opinion louder than anyone else's - maybe so. But a lot of people don't agree. Does that make us all bad guys? Does that mean you're not a team player? I've been a team player for 28 years."
Duncan last week voiced a desire to coach at least another three years, preferably with the Cardinals.
At the time, Duncan insisted he was pleased with organizational direction that included the promotion of John Vuch to farm director. That, however, was before he learned of Mason's dismissal and the club's intention of offering one-year contracts to its coaches.
Duncan had no comment about Monday's developments.
"Dave certainly understood why we were doing it," Mozeliak said.
"Dunc' has to evaluate his situation," La Russa said. "He's valued by the organization. I respect both sides of it. I respect what the organization is trying to do. And I respect that for Dunc', when your contract runs out, it's fair to assess what your value is for the next contract."
La Russa added he is "hopeful" of Duncan's return. Mozeliak said he does not believe Mason's ouster will play into Duncan's decision whether to continue as pitching coach.
Mozeliak said Mason's successor would be promoted from within the system. The process likely will be expedited since all coaches' contracts expire at month's end. Other roles may also be in play.
La Russa described hitting coach Mark McGwire as "really torn" about whether to return for a second season. McGwire and his wife, Stephanie, became parents to triplets during the season, an event the former single-season home run leader mentioned late last month as a complicating factor in his decision whether or not to return.
La Russa and Mozeliak elected not to characterize the tone of last week's talks, though the third-year general manager said he believed they led to a "closer" relationship between the two.
Both men shared concerns about how to ensure the field staff gets through to a team that last season exhibited uncharacteristic lapses in fundamental play. However, Mozeliak characterized this season as an "outlier in terms of how guys performed. To put that on any one coach or coaches wouldn't be fair given the success this group has had overall."
"I'm not going to get into evaluating the season. It's a matter of opinion," La Russa said. "I believe the coaches, manager and players had a real good feel about how we went about it. But you think about how to share the same message in maybe a little different way. It might involve a different language, but the message remains the same every place you go: Play hard, play well. 2011 won't be the first time we change something."
Whatever questions La Russa may have held about his clubhouse support were unfounded, according to closer Ryan Franklin.
"I don't even know why he would have any doubts that the clubhouse would want him back," said Franklin. "To get where we want to get next year, he's got to be there with us."
"He's our general," said lefthanded reliever Trever Miller. "The army can't go forward without the general."
La Russa is scheduled to return to St. Louis today to appear at an evening press conference.
