La Russa agrees to deal with Cards

The St. Louis Cardinals announced that Tony La Russa has agreed to a two-year contract Monday to return as the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals.

"I'm thrilled to be back," La Russa said at an afternoon press conference. "They think I know baseball. This is where I wanted to be and this is where they wanted me to be."

La Russa is the winningest manager in franchise history but was coming off a difficult 78-84, third-place season in 2007.

Speculation was running rampant that the veteran manager would leave St. Louis after the Cards fired general manager Walt Jocketty earlier this month. Jocketty and La Russa have been close since developing a relationship when both were with the Oakland Athletics.

Instead, La Russa will be returning for his 13th season as the Cardinals manager.

La Russa's St. Louis record is a gaudy 1,055-887 and he has piloted the Cards to seven playoff appearances, six NL Central championships, two pennants and a 2006 World Series win over Detroit.

"We couldn't be more pleased with Tony's decision to remain a Cardinal," said chairman William O. DeWitt. "During his 12 seasons as our manager, he has been a terrific leader; one who is skilled at keeping the team's performance and focus aimed at being a consistent playoff contender."

He also won the Fall Classic as the manager for the A's in 1989.

La Russa, who has won the manager of the year award on four different occasions, has 2,375 career managerial wins with the Chicago White Sox, Oakland and St. Louis. That ranks third all-time behind Connie Mack and John McGraw.