Tony La Russa Joins Red Sox As Vice President, Special Assistant To Dave Dombrowski
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Red Sox front office is adding a baseball Hall of Famer to the staff.
Former manager Tony La Russa, who spent the last three-plus years with the Diamondbacks, will join the Red Sox in a non-uniformed front-office role. The team announced La Russa as their new Vice President, Special Assistant To The President Of Baseball Ops on Thursday.
In a conference call with the Boston media, La Russa said he wants to be "a resource for people in the organization, especially those in uniform."
La Russa, 73, served as the Diamondbacks' chief baseball officer from May 2014 through the 2016 season, scaling back his role to chief baseball analyst when Mike Hazen took over as GM in 2017. The team made a huge leap forward under new manager and former Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo, winning 93 games and making the playoffs for the first time since 2011.
Inducted into Cooperstown as a manager in 2014, La Russa won three world series in 33 years as manager of the Cardinals, Athletics, and White Sox. His 2,728 wins as a skipper are third all-time behind only Connie Mack and John McGraw.
La Russa first worked with Dombrowski when he managed in Chicago from 1979-1986, while Dombrowski was serving as an assistant to the GM. McAdam speculates that La Russa's role with the Red Sox will be similar to what he did in Arizona in terms of scouting and talent evaluation.