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| Monday, February 19 | |||||
| Manuel's new deal runs through 2004 | |||||
TUCSON, Ariz. – Jerry Manuel won AL Manager of the Year
after leading the Chicago White Sox to the AL Central title in his
third season. Chicago rewarded him Sunday with a contract extension through
2004 with a club option for 2005. His current deal ran through this
year with a White Sox option for 2001.
In an era of agents, Manuel did his own negotiating.
"I believe in agents. They have their place. I don't know if my
situation really warranted me having one," Manuel said. "I think
with the relationship I have with Jerry Reinsdorf, Kenny Williams
and Ron Schueler, it could be worked out in fashion that's fair."
Williams first approached Manuel with the idea after Reinsdorf,
the team owners, hired him in October to replace Schueler as
general manager.
"In between, we had the Alex Rodriguez thing pop up and that
consumed a large portion of time. We were getting the club together
and I had to put him on the back burner," Williams said.
"Jerry showed a tremendous amount of patience. It was something
that was done relatively quickly and easy when we got the time to
sit down with one another."
Three years ago, the White Sox hired Manuel to work with their
younger players as they decided to cut their payroll and basically
rebuild.
Chicago was 80-82 in Manuel's first season and 75-86 in 1999.
Then last year, the White Sox stunned baseball by going an AL-best
95-87. Seattle then swept the White Sox 3-0 in the first round of
the playoffs.
Williams said Manuel was rewarded for the way he managed "a
team in contention as well as getting us to this point with his
ability to lead and develop a young team."
Known for his patience and easygoing manner, Manuel showed his
leadership skills a year ago when he stood up to star Frank Thomas
during an early spring training screaming match.
Williams said Sunday that Manuel is satisfied with the deal in
relation to where it puts him financially with other managers. Joe
Torre of the Yankees has the top salary at $3 million.
"For me and my wife, we have endured basically a kind of a
minor league life style," said Manuel, a coach with Montreal from
1991-96 and then with Florida. "We've been happy and satisfied
with that and not necessarily concerned about it."
Then with a smile, he added: "I didn't necessarily get A-Rod
money."
Manuel has a 250-235 record in his three seasons.
Also, Williams said the White Sox plan to hand their
documentation in the David Wells-for-Mike Sirotka trade dispute
directly to Sandy Alderson, executive vice president of baseball
operations for the commissioner's office. Alderson will be in
Arizona for a meeting on the strike zone, Williams said. The
commissioner's office gave both teams until Tuesday morning to file
their papers. The dispute is centered on Sirotka's sore shoulder.
Williams said he still hopes it can be resolved by the end of the
week. Wells is due in camp either Monday or Tuesday.
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