The core of the matter

ST. LOUIS -- With rain postponing Game 5 of the National League Championship Series until tonight, Tony La Russa sat in his office yesterday afternoon with a handful of reporters and offered some insight on the friction that exists between the Cardinals manager and his star third baseman, Scott Rolen.

``He's got issues," La Russa said. ``I don't have issues."

The abridged version of the situation: Rolen, who last season underwent shoulder surgery after a fearsome collision with Hee Seop Choi, admitted that he had been lying to La Russa and the training staff when he said his shoulder wasn't bothering him the last month of the season. In fact, when La Russa called him in and explained to him why he was sitting out a late September game against the Astros, Rolen took umbrage and called it a benching.

La Russa sat out Rolen again before the clinching game in the Division Series against the Padres, after which Rolen had a cortisone injection in the shoulder and pronounced himself good to go. But after he went hitless in three at-bats in Game 1 against Mets lefthander Tom Glavine, making him 1 for 14 in the postseason, La Russa sat Rolen again, saying he detected his swing wasn't right.

While his replacement, Scott Spiezio, hit a game-tying triple and an RBI double in the Cardinals' comeback victory, Rolen expressed surprise and disappointment at the decision, one he did not learn of until he saw the lineup card.

Rolen has started both games in St. Louis -- La Russa said he was influenced by the diving stop Rolen made as a defensive replacement at the end of Game 2 -- and has singled in each game. But the tension remains, Rolen telling one reporter when asked about his relationship with La Russa, ``It's not relevant right now, it's a team game."

``If somebody walks up to him and says, `Is he your favorite manager?' I don't think he's going to say yes," La Russa said.

But Rolen, who hit .296 with 22 home runs and 95 RBIs this season, remains one of his favorite players, La Russa insisted, even as he acknowledged that he has found some of his behavior troubling of late.

``I respect that he wants to be in the lineup," La Russa said, ``but here's one of the managing truths, coaching truths. I have core guys I give respect to. So Taguchi is not a core guy, he's a complementary guy. There are things So wants that I can't give him, like playing time. I try to give him everything else, try to give him respect, care, do the best I can.

``If you're a core guy -- and we have a pretty significant core of pitchers and hitters -- that core gets everything, speaking from management, coaches, and organization. Every one of those guys, you give your best shot."

The decision not to play Rolen, La Russa said, becomes easier when he has a player like Spiezio behind him. Spiezio, who starred for the Angels when they won the 2002 World Series, is hitting .682 (15 for 22) with runners in scoring position in postseason play, the highest average in baseball history.

La Russa also admitted that there is now a trust issue, which is one reason he didn't inform Rolen that he'd been dropped from the lineup in Game 2. The team wanted Rolen fresh for October; he insisted he was OK, so he played. Then, when the Cardinals got to the postseason, he admitted the shoulder was fatigued.

``During that time I was playing him, he came out and said he was lying to us, the guy wasn't healthy," La Russa said. ``Where exactly should I make him part of the decision? From several angles, the answer is no. They don't pay me to play third base, they don't pay him to manage."

Those should not be construed as fighting words, La Russa emphasized, again expressing his admiration for the player.

``I respect all the reasons he wants to play," La Russa said, ``[but] he should be forthright about how he feels. Otherwise, it colors your decisions."

No one manages as long as La Russa does without learning all the ways a manager can send a message. This might have been one of them, speaking candidly about a topic he'd earlier deflected as something of a media creation.

``The guy's a real good competitor and a tough competitor," La Russa said. ``You can struggle the first four games of a series and be the hero the last three.

``I have no problem when a guy is struggling, just because he's still competing, and in his case he still helps us with his glove. But the problem is if he's struggling, and no matter how hard he fights, he has a disadvantage physically."

Gordon Edes can be reached at edes@globe.com