Hal's out; who's in?

After second straight last-place finish, Rays replace Hal McRae as manager, creating a front-office job for him.

[AP photo] Hal McRae is now assistant to general manager Chuck LaMar.

By KEVIN KELLY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 1, 2002

ST. PETERSBURG -- He was dealt the youngest and least expensive team in the majors, but those glaring limitations mattered little in the end.

Hal McRae just didn't win enough.

The Rays fired McRae as their manager Monday, less than 24 hours after the club concluded its worst season, but gave him a newly created job as assistant to general manager Chuck LaMar and a contract extension through the 2004 season.

"I just thought we needed to win more games," LaMar said. "All I can judge him on is, do I think he should've gotten more out of this team, could we have won more games this year? I think we're both in agreement that that could've happened."

Hired as a bench coach in December 2000, McRae replaced Larry Rothschild in April 2001 when the team was 4-10 and came with the reputation as a fiery competitor respected by many. He compiled a 113-196 record overall as the Rays finished last in the American League East the past two seasons.

"The only thing I regret is we didn't win enough games," McRae, 57, said from his Bradenton home. "I wouldn't second guess or have any regrets about anything else other than we didn't win enough games."

Players were disappointed, but not entirely surprised, by the decision to make a change.

"I don't think he deserved to be fired," rightfielder Ben Grieve said. "I don't think Hal did a bad job; I think he did a good job. I think he had to have patience with us, and that was definitely something that was hard to do. I give him credit, given what he had to work with, for having patience and for not blowing his cool."

Added designated hitter Greg Vaughn: "It's not Hal's fault. In my personal opinion, I think he was in a no-win situation."

Despite being outmanned with a roster that included three Rule 5 rookies and a $34-million payroll, the Rays were competitive on occasion this season.

Tampa Bay tied the Tigers for the worst record this season (55-106) while becoming the first team since the 1978-79 Blue Jays to lose 100 or more in consecutive seasons. But they also played 72 in games decided by one or two runs and lost 40 when they had the tying or go-ahead run at the plate, 34 in the ninth inning or later and 11 in the opponent's last at-bat.

"We were competitive, but we lost," McRae said. "The bottom line is that you lost and you lost because you weren't good enough to win or you lost because you didn't know how to win.

"We were in games, we had leads late but we lost those games. It goes down as a loss. It doesn't go down as a competitive game."

McRae and LaMar met for three days during a series against the Yankees last week in New York, meetings that left LaMar impressed enough with the former Royals All-Star to ask him to stay.

"I have a contract for next year and I like the organization and I like the players," said McRae, who will be paid $700,000 next season. "Why jump ship and go to another organization? I wanted to see this thing through. It's been tough, but I enjoyed it as much as I could."

McRae will be involved with the evaluation of players during spring training and with any trades or acquisitions.

"He's got an outstanding baseball mind," LaMar said. "He has a lot of good opinions not only about baseball players throughout the league, but about our team."

Though McRae's status is settled for at least two more years, that of his coaching staff is not.

Bullpen coach Glenn Ezell, first-base coach Lee May, third-base coach Tom Foley and bench coach Billy Hatcher are without contracts. Pitching coach Jackie Brown and hitting coach Milt May, both hired by McRae after last season, are signed through next season.

"I guess we're in the same place we were in Boston, waiting to see what happens," Foley said. "We're waiting for something to transpire. I don't think a week or so will cost us anything."

LaMar will begin compiling a list of possible replacements and start interviewing candidates within the next two weeks and hopes to make a decision within four weeks.

Foley, Hatcher and Triple-A Durham manager Bill Evers were mentioned by LaMar as internal candidates. None has major-league managing experience but all have been with the organization since its start in 1996.

"You don't deal with many people that not only handle this situation, but handle what (McRae) went through and we went through this year," LaMar said. "I can't give Hal enough credit.

"Obviously I thought there was a change that needed to be made at the major-league level. From an organizational standpoint, however, he and I couldn't be more on the same path. I think he's going to help us get this job done."

-- Times staff writer Marc Topkin contributed to this report.

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