Baseball Hall of Fame-electee Tony La Russa might soon be returning to team operations as president of the Seattle Mariners.
La Russa is among the candidates to replace departing Mariners president Chuck Armstrong, USA Today reported Thursday.
Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln told the newspaper that interviews started this week with two internal candidates. He would not comment on La Russa.
La Russa refused to discuss the Mariners’ job but indicated to USA Today that he would like to land a front-office job with a team.
He currently serves as a special assistant with Major League Baseball.
“I’m interested in getting to the competition upstairs,” La Russa said, according to USA Today. “I’ve missed the competition since I left the field. I talked to the commissioner (Bud Selig) about it. It’s not a thing where you miss the dugout, but I miss the winning and losing. The situation has to be right.”
The 69-year-old La Russa, a longtime manager for the St. Louis Cardinals and Oakland Athletics, was elected to the Hall of Fame in December along with former managers Joe Torre and Bobby Cox.