White Sox Manager La Russa Expected To Announce Retirement: Report

CHICAGO — Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa is expected to announce his retirement as the Sox skipper on Monday after a two-year stint that ended in the 77-year-old Hall of Famer having to step away from the job due to health issues, according to a published report.

USA Today reported on Sunday that La Russa, who fell out of favor with Sox fans this season when they chanted “Fire Tony” at home games earlier this year, will officially step down on Monday. La Russa has been out of the dugout since Aug. 30 when he began seeing doctors for a medical issue.

Sox officials have not officially addressed La Russa’s future. General manager Rick Hahn told reporters that they would address La Russa’s status when the time was appropriate. Reports indicated that La Russa had a pacemaker inserted to help deal with a heart issue that has kept him from running the team on a day-to-day basis for the past month.

La Russa told reporters last month that he would leave his return "to the experts" and said his doctors would determine if he again managed the team this season.

La Russa was hired before the 2021 season and was the hand-picked choice of owner Jerry Reinsdorf. Despite winning three World Series championships and being one of baseball’s all-time winningest managers, many feared that La Russa would not be a great fit with a team full of young stars.

The Sox made the playoffs last season but were knocked out in the first round by the Houston Astros. This year, the Sox were seen as a favorite to win the American League Central Division title and were expected to make a run at an American League pennant and possibly beyond. But the team was decimated by injuries to key players throughout the season.

Despite that, the Sox were in a position to make a run at the Cleveland Guardians and a possible playoff spot under interim manager Miguel Cairo but lost eight straight games, which eliminated the Sox from playoff contention.

That string of losses, as well as La Russa never being medically cleared to return to the dugout, quickly led many to believe he would not return next season. La Russa, who turns 78 on Tuesday, was planning on returning to close out the last of his three-year contract next season, USA Today reported on Sunday, but will instead step down.

The newspaper reported that La Russa is expected to remain with the club as a special consultant. Hahn is now left to hire a new manager and speculation has already started on which direction the Sox will move in to name La Russa’s successor.

Many have wondered whether former Sox manager Ozzie Guillen could be a good fit or whether the Sox could look to another former player like Jim Thome or A.J. Pierzynski to take over the reins of the club.