Veteran Lajoie is still a player

Bill Lajoie doesn't have to be reminded how baseball has changed since he was general manager of the Detroit Tigers. He can remember 25 years ago when the Kansas City Royals named John Schuerholz the game's youngest GM at age 40. Now he's seeing GMs in their late 20s and early 30s.

Now Lajoie, 71, will be very much involved in the selection of the Red Sox' new GM. The former special assistant to Theo Epstein had resigned, but was coaxed back into the fold by CEO Larry Lucchino last Tuesday. Because he claimed his job at such a late date, said Lajoie, he was unable to take part in the general managers' meetings.

Lajoie flew to Boston from his Florida home Thursday to take part in Jim Beattie's interview Friday, and he plans to stay in Boston until Thanksgiving to help interview other candidates.

Asked whether he was interested in the job himself, the man who brought a world championship to Detroit as GM in 1984, said, ''No. It's too fast-paced these days."

Lajoie said he resigned from the Sox probably just minutes before Epstein announced he was not returning.

''I spoke to Theo that day," said Lajoie, ''and I said to him, 'I'm resigning.' And he said, 'Well, I've just resigned myself.' I had talked to Theo a few days earlier and he told me things weren't progressing. I guess I knew he wasn't going to be there and I felt I should resign.

''But even in the days after I resigned, Larry was asking my advice on a lot of things. This went on for about five days and he finally asked me, 'Will you stay on?' and I said, 'Sure.' "

Lajoie, who originally offered his resignation out of loyalty to Epstein, said he never told Epstein he had changed his mind. Lajoie said reports that he and Epstein had grown apart were false, but he did acknowledge that his services weren't required as much this past season, save for the days leading up to the trading deadline.

Lajoie said Epstein would have remedied that situation.

While Lajoie plans on scouting spring training, his long-term future with the Sox is uncertain.

''I'll do this until we get a GM in place and at that point if the GM wants to bring in his own guy, I can walk away," Lajoie said. ''I don't want to saddle anyone with me if they don't feel I can be of assistance to them. I like working for the Red Sox and will continue to do so if they feel I can continue to help with evaluations in the future."

As for in-house candidates, Lajoie has worked closely with many of the young administrators -- from Peter Woodfork to Jed Hoyer to Ben Cherrington -- and he said, ''I would think they're very much in the mix."

Lajoie discounted the notion that it's getting too late in the offseason to hire an outside candidate.

''I don't think that will be a big issue," he insisted. ''We really haven't got into the meat of the offseason yet. The general managers meetings are a place where preliminary-type talks take place and then the winter meetings is where things begin to come together.

''There are some very bright, experienced, and capable people out there who want the job, and I'm sure we're going to find a good one. I'm just here to help Larry with the process and then start going over our free agent list."

Lajoie said he's enjoyed working in Boston because the sabermetrics and old-fashioned scouting have worked in great harmony here.

Lucchino values Lajoie's input, and Lajoie won't be afraid to give it.

Moore brings a lot to the table

Atlanta assistant general manager Dayton Moore's candidacy for the Red Sox' position could be picking up speed after a very impressive interview last week, according to sources familiar with the interview.

Moore, 38, said he's declined opportunities to interview for GM jobs the past two years, but felt the Boston job was ''very special."

He seems to have the right mix of what the Sox are seeking -- someone who has coached and managed the game as well as scouted. One thing that came up at the interview was the use of statistical data.

''We use statistics to support our evaluations of a player or we use statistics as a reason to go out and look at a player," Moore said. ''We certainly use stats; I'm not sure what the Red Sox use or whether they have any double-secret stuff. But we certainly want to build our teams on a lineup that gets on base and scores runs and hits for power.

''For us, chemistry in the front office and chemistry in our clubhouse is very important."

Moore, a Wichita, Kan., native, has no ties to Boston. He has hesitated to leave Atlanta because of the superb farm system he helped build there.

''We had a lot of kids come up this year and we have more coming," he said. ''We're not done.

''My philosophy is you should have three or four kids a year competing with your 25-man roster every season. If you don't have that, I think you're going to run into trouble as an organization."

Rise and fall of another Rose

A sad story last week was the indictment of Pete Rose Jr. for selling the muscle-building drug GBL to minor leaguers in 2001 and 2002.

Rose Jr. played in the minors and independent leagues for many years. In 1997, he hit 25 homers for Double A Chattanooga after never hitting more than nine in a season, and as a promotional gimmick, then-Reds GM Jim Bowden called him up to the major league team for a cup of coffee.

In addition to its muscle-building qualities, GBL can also cause seizures and possibly death.

Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News recalled last week seeing sons of the great Reds players in the '70s roaming the clubhouse, ''little snot-nosed kids wearing the uniforms of their fathers, stealing candy bars and red pop out of manager Sparky Anderson's office refrigerator. There was Petey. There was Eduardo Perez, son of Tony Perez. There was Ken Griffey Jr., son of Ken Griffey. There was Pedro Borbon Jr., son of Pedro Borbon. There was Brian McRae, son of Hal McRae. Rose, because of his father's status, was the alpha kid, the leader of the pack. And the most was expected of him. Ironically, all the others -- Eduardo Perez, Griffey Jr., Borbon Jr., and Brian McRae -- made it to the majors and made their marks."

It seems the younger Rose learned something from living through the allegations that his father bet on baseball. Because of baseball's investigation into the charges and finding that they had merit, Rose Jr. never saw his father inducted into the Hall of Fame.

He confessed to authorities last week. Maybe it was a valuable lesson for father and son.

Etc.

David Ortiz had a few days of fun in Las Vegas last week and returned to his home in Wisconsin Friday afternoon. Asked whether he was nervous about this week's American League MVP award announcement, he said, ''Of course I am. I think anyone would be. It's a great award and a great honor that any player would want. There's a lot of other good players in it, and so it's not going to be easy to win it. Just hope for the best."

Keith Foulke took a week vacation from his rehab, which is taking place mostly in Arizona and being supervised by Red Sox rehab coordinator Scott Waugh. Foulke had surgery on his right knee in August and has begun to work out with no setbacks.

If Kevin Towers had taken Boston's GM job, there was an excellent chance he could have persuaded David Wells to stay in Boston. Towers and Wells are very good friends, from Wells's time in San Diego. Towers, who wants to remain San Diego's GM even with Sandy Alderson above him, may soon try to work out a deal to reacquire Wells. It was no secret that Theo Epstein liked Padres righthander Brian Lawrence, but Towers recently shipped him off to Arizona, where Epstein's former assistant, Josh Byrnes, is now the GM and apparently shared Epstein's opinion on Lawrence. There has been some discussion about former Sox outfielder Dave Roberts returning to Boston, along with a pitcher, for Wells.

Red Sox consultant Bill Lajoie said he was 0 for 10 in arbitration cases with the Tigers before hiring Tal Smith to argue them. ''I couldn't say anything bad about a player," Lajoie said. ''I had to hire Tal because I never would have won one."

It remains baffling why a baseball man of Butch Hobson's caliber has been shut out of the majors since he managed the Red Sox from 1990-92. Hobson has done well with the independent league Nashua Pride; he was considered the top manager in the league. The Pride have dissolved, but a new ownership may bring a team to the Can-Am league. Hobson said there's also a chance he'll be hired by the new independent team in Bridgeport, Conn. ''I'd love to get back into major league baseball in some capacity or someone's minor league system," Hobson said. ''I love the game. I have a lot to offer with my experience. I'm getting a résumé together now and hope to send it out to different organizations, and hopefully I can get back in." Asked about the Red Sox, he said, ''They've been awfully nice to me, inviting me for the World Series parade. I haven't formally approached them about a job, but I obviously love the Red Sox and would be honored to work in some capacity there." Hobson said he's making his permanent home in Nashua, where his son Casey is a budding high school quarterback prospect.

An intriguing player out there for someone needing a DH/first baseman is Frank Thomas. The White Sox parted ways with him, buying out his contract for $3.5 million last week, but don't expect Thomas to be a quick sign. His ankle/foot problem has not fully healed, and more time is needed to determine just how well Thomas can rebound. White Sox brass at the general managers' meetings indicated that Thomas could be re-signed at a more manageable wage. But Oakland and Baltimore are said to be interested, too, if they can get some idea how much Thomas is progressing.

When Hall of Famer Robin Yount accepted the job as Milwaukee bench coach, it eliminated Grady Little, who would have had the job had Yount declined. Little may surface on Bruce Bochy's staff in San Diego. Yount, 50, said a big plus in taking the job was the Brewers' recent hiring of former teammate and close friend Dale Sveum as third base coach. ''That was big," said Yount. ''Dale is one of my closest friends. It certainly was a factor in me taking this position. Ned [Yost] and I obviously go way back as teammates. If I didn't respect these guys the way I do and believe in the way they approach the game of baseball, I wouldn't have had any interest. We have a lot of the same beliefs in the way the game should be played."

The Marlins and Phillies are looking for desperate big-budget teams to take on veteran first basemen Carlos Delgado, who has $48 million remaining over the next three years, and Jim Thome, who has $46 million left for three years. Delgado can still hit and play first base pretty well, but the jury is out on Thome, who missed most of last season with an elbow injury (which resulted in surgery) and a creaky back. The Dodgers, Orioles, and Twins have kicked a few tires on Thome, and new Philadelphia GM Pat Gillick will get involved in the upcoming weeks. Thome has a no-trade clause complicating matters, but he may waive that if he is assured of a starting job. The Phillies have Rookie of the Year Ryan Howard, and Thome may be better-suited in the AL as a DH. Gillick said he is not inclined to move Howard to the outfield. He also said that interested teams might want to see Thome in a few spring training games before they make a deal.

Material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.