Things to watch for in 2008 is, well, FanHouse's attempt to keep track of what's worth keeping your eye on as we roll into the 2008 season, be it good, bad, or ugly.This off-season, the Cardinals actually put bringing Tony La Russa back into the fold above hiring a new GM after Walt Jocketty left. They re-signed La Russa over a week before hiring John Mozeliak as their new GM. This was strange, as Mozeliak has since spent most of the off-season cleaning up La Russa's messes by trading away unhappy players like Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds.
Despite that, when La Russa arrived at camp last week, he had this to say about the missing players: "I'm going to miss them all, and I'll miss Scott, mainly because I think he's going to have a great year." I bet Troy Glaus loved that. Between that and calling out Adam Kennedy for missing an autograph session (did he actually think someone wanted Kennedy's autograph?), it seems like La Russa is already in mid-season form when it comes to "crustiness."
Honestly, I have no idea what brought La Russa back to the Cardinals or why the Cards wanted him back. Last year it seemed like the tension in the Cards' clubhouse was pretty palpable and La Russa certainly didn't talk or act like a guy that wanted to come back. The Cardinals, meanwhile, are in the middle of rebuilding the team in just about all aspects and just replaced La Russa's friend, Walt Jocketty, with a new GM. This really seems to me like a situation that's going to boil over in an ugly way in 2008.
