The Los Angeles Angels have granted the Chicago White Sox permission to interview Tony La Russa for their managerial opening, a source told ESPN on Wednesday, confirming a report from USA Today.
La Russa, 76, hasn’t served as a major league manager since ending a 16-year run with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011, a season that culminated in La Russa’s third World Series championship.
He began his managerial career with the White Sox from 1979 to 1986. White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf purchased the team three years into that stretch and fired La Russa 64 games into the 1986 season then watched him join the Oakland Athletics later that season to trigger what eventually became a Hall of Fame career. Reinsdorf has long regretted that decision.
After his run with the Cardinals, La Russa took on executive roles with Major League Baseball, the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Boston Red Sox and the Angels, who hired him as a senior adviser to baseball operations after the 2019 season.
It is uncertain whether La Russa has the desire to manage again, but those who were around him this year noted that he was highly invested in his role and still had a distinct passion for the game.
AJ Hinch, whose yearlong suspension as a result of the Houston Astros‘ cheating scandal ends at the conclusion of the World Series, is also viewed among the favorites to replace Rick Renteria.
