D-backs’ La Russa: ‘You want to be part of turning it around’

On Friday, the Arizona Diamondbacks will begin their final series of the 2016 season.

A campaign that began with so much hope and optimism after an exciting offseason will end with at best a whimper, with the only thing still on the line is a battle to stay out of last in the NL West.

Entering Friday, the D-backs are 66-93 with two games behind the San Diego Padres.

Because the team has struggled since Opening Day, talk of changes — with the roster, coaching staff and management — has gone on for a while.

The trade deadline came and went, with the team shipping out a few players. Now, with the season coming to a close, attention will turn to the other areas.

Last week, D-backs president Derrick Hall said decisions regarding CBO Tony La Russa and GM Dave Stewart would be made relatively quickly after the season, so in essence, the clock may be ticking.

La Russa is aware of the uncertainty that’s in the air.

“Human nature is human nature — it’s awkward, I think, is the best way to put it,” he told Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Friday morning. “Sometimes there are things that you can’t rush, and one of them is the timing of some of the decisions. I thoroughly understand the delay in making some of the important calls that the organization has to make.”

That said, La Russa said he and the front office are caught in between waiting to see if they will even still have jobs and working on planning for the future.

“We can plan ahead, so we might as well do it,” he said. “And if it turns out that somebody else is making the decisions, you turn over what you know and you go on.”

In an ideal world, this would not even be a topic of discussion. La Russa in May 2014 with the idea that his experience as one of MLB’s best managers would help not only stabilize the organization, but help propel it forward. The D-backs finished that season with the worst record in baseball, but in 2015 rebounded to win 79 games.

The future appeared bright, and after an offseason that saw the team land prized free agent Zack Greinke and then swing a deal for young starter Shelby Miller, there was talk about the team making a playoff run.

The D-backs have not been to the postseason since 2011, and it became evident early on in 2016 that the drought would continue.

It wasn’t supposed to happen like this, and for La Russa, the idea of being ousted before he can finish the job he was hired for is one he struggles with.

“I think the most compelling thing that I feel is a lot of responsibility for the lousy season, and I would really dislike, personally, to have this mark without a chance to improve it,” he said. “But life is life. You’ve got to face the reality, and sometimes — you could have lost the World Series the last one I was in, we happened to win it — but you take your shot; I think being a part of this losing season makes you want to be part of turning it around.”

La Russa said that he does not know if he will be back next season and at this point has no idea what the organization is thinking. The meeting will happen at some point, though, and it’s not one he’s spending much time worrying about.

“I think the preparation is there’s a lot of compelling reasons, I think, why the decision might go in our direction, and I know there are some points that are being brought up that suggest a change,” he said. “I made it really clear privately, and I’ll say it publicly, I have absolutely no bad impressions. I feel like I’ve been here long enough (that) if Ken (Kendrick) and Derrick believe that a change is made, I would thank them for the opportunity.

“It’s a results-oriented business, and the result this year has been very disappointing. Whatever happens happens, but I certainly would not bad mouth anything that happens. You go into it and you present what you think is the plan to improve, and if they say somebody else is going to do it, that’s the way it is.”

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