Baseball Notes | La Russa's decision is to return

ST. LOUIS — Tony La Russa tended to his many pets on the West Coast for a week or so, and made up his mind: He wanted to keep managing.

Now, he's hoping the St. Louis Cardinals can make an equally quick decision on hiring a general manager.

La Russa agreed Monday to a two-year contract to stay in St. Louis, confident the Cardinals can still be contenders.

A year after winning the World Series, the Cardinals endured a disappointing 78-win season. General manager Walt Jocketty, who hired La Russa in 1995, was fired earlier this month.

The 63-year-old La Russa never courted offers from other teams. He would have preferred the new GM give the OK for his return, but La Russa felt it was important to finalize his status before free agency.

Team chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said all the GM candidates he's talked to have said they'd have no problem working with La Russa.

Girardi interviews

NEW YORK — Joe Girardi spoke with George Steinbrenner and they quickly found common ground: Northwestern football.

"I talked to him about their 5-3 record and that they were one game from bowl eligibility and that was big for Northwestern, so we had some laughs about that," Girardi said.

Girardi is a Northwestern alumnus and from his days as a catcher for the New York Yankees, he knew the owner is a former Northwestern assistant football coach. Monday, they talked on a different level, with Girardi becoming the first person to interview as a potential replacement for departed manager Joe Torre. He struck a Steinbrenner-like tone.

"I wouldn't expect anything else from the players in New York or for myself but to be the best," said Girardi, who caught for the Yankees from 1996-99, served as a bench coach in 2005, then managed the Florida Marlins the following year.

Yankees bench coach Don Mattingly, scheduled to be interviewed today, is considered the favorite. Yankees first-base coach Tony Pena is slated for a Wednesday interview.

NOTES

• Baseball investigator George Mitchell, also a director for the AL champion Boston Red Sox, denied providing information for a story that Cleveland pitcher Paul Byrd used human growth hormone. Mitchell said his office was contacted by people accusing him of leaking information on Byrd. He released a statement to "correct that mistaken impression."

• Cardinals executive Bruce Manno was hired as assistant general manager of the Braves.

The Associated Press and Newsday contributed to this report.