According to multiple reports (and the Cardinals’ Twitter feed), today the St. Louis Cardinals selected former player Mike Matheny to replace Tony LaRussa as manager.
Matheny, 40, is a former catcher who retired in 2006. Since then, he’s been a minor league instructor with the Cardinals, and has no big league coaching or managerial experience.
The decision is notable not only because it’s the second time this Winter a Cubs’ rival has hired a manager without any big league experience (White Sox – Robin Ventura), but also because two other names of import were on the table for the Cardinals: Ryne Sandberg and Terry Francona. No one ’round here was particularly jazzed about the possibility of Sandberg donning Cardinal red, and rumors that Terry Francona remains under consideration by the Cubs persist. To the latter point, I’d like to reiterate that I don’t see it happening.
The Cardinals will have a press conference tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. CT to announce Matheny.