Posted September 21, 200520 yr comment_3489622 Report: Piniella not returning to Devil Rays in 2006 ESPN.com news services Lou Piniella's rocky tenure in Tampa Bay appears to be over. Two sources speaking on condition of anonymity told The Tampa Tribune that Piniella will not return as the Devil Rays manager next season. According to the Tribune, the Devil Rays will buy out the remaining year of Piniella's four-year deal. Piniella will receive $2.2 million of the $4.4 million he was to have received in 2006. The Rays will also pay $1.25 million in salary deferred from Piniella's first season in 2003. Piniella, 62, will be free to take another managerial job next season, but has hinted he may take the season off, the Tribune reported. When asked about his future by the Tribune, Piniella said only, "I can't talk about it." Rumors of Piniella's departure began earlier this season, when the manager confronted the front office in June over the direction of the team. Piniella criticized the new owners of the last-place team for what he perceives as a lack of a commitment to do everything possible to win. The Devil Rays have the lowest payroll in the majors, just under $30 million when the season began. "When I came here three years ago, we talked about a situation where we wanted to win now and we were interested in winning now," Piniella told reporters in June. "And you know what? With a small payroll we [improved] from 55 [victories] to 63 and then to 70. This was supposed to be a breakout year. The problem is we've got a new ownership group here that's changed the direction of where we're headed." Piniella's agent, Alan Nero, did not comment on the buyout in a voice message he left Wednesday for the Tribune. "I just wish everybody would leave it alone," Nero told the Tribune. "Just honor his privacy a bit and let him finish the season up the way he wants. ... Any decisions that have been made will be made public at the appropriate time." Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
September 22, 200520 yr comment_3489985 This was the worst kept secret in baseball. No one expected Pinella to return as the Devil Rays' manager next season. The big question now is whether Pinella ends up in New York.
September 22, 200520 yr comment_3490009 Good luck, Lou... you deserve much better than the Devil Rays. Enjoy some well-deserved retirement until a job comes along that is worth the hassle, such as the Yankees.
September 22, 200520 yr comment_3495640 I'm not sure who ends up with the better end of the deal. Piniella was obviously miserable in Tampa Bay, but he also managed to short circuit the development of more than one up-and-coming Devil Ray (BJ Upton immediately comes to mind).
September 22, 200520 yr comment_3495815 B.J. Upton will be fine. It is not like he was regressing at the plate at Durham, and when you collect 50 errors, the defense indeed becomes quite problematic. Do you risk your already poor pitching and defense losing a better glove on the field? And Upton wasn't good enough for DH duties at Tampa Bay. And it doesn't do Upton much good to serve in a situational role. I don't know if Pinella was right, but there is an argument.
September 23, 200520 yr comment_3500720 Upton didn't have to be good enough for DH duties at Tampa Bay. 50 errors or not, I think he could have provided more value than the guys that manned his lineup slot at 3B: Alex Gonzalez: .261/.315/.401 Nick Green (Cantu to 3B, Green at 2B): .238/.330/.344 Upton put up a .258/.324/.409 line with four steals in 159 at-bats as a nineteen year old in the major leagues. They already started his arbitration clock by calling him up last year - why let him sit in Durham and rack up .303/.392/.490 while those stiffs rotate in and out of the lineup?
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