HOUSTON -- Larry Bowa is set to become third-base coach of
the New York Yankees.
At the World Series as an ESPN analyst, Bowa said he's spoken
with both Yankees manager Joe Torre and general manager Brian
Cashman. Before Bowa's deal can be finalized, Cashman must decide
whether to accept a new contract from New York -- his current deal
expires Oct. 31.
"Brian and I talked. We're pretty much on the same page," Bowa
said Monday as the Houston Astros took batting practice.
"Nothing's been finalized."
A former manager of the San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies, Bowa said he's prepared to work for Yankees owner George
Steinbrenner, who doesn't hesitate to second-guess his coaches.
"You'll be on the hot seat. You don't like it, don't take the
job," Bowa said. "Everybody's got a boss -- I don't mean that 'The
Boss.' Everybody's got a higher-up that you have to account for,
and that's the way it is."
Bowa was a five-time All-Star as a player, and he managed San
Diego in 1987 and 1988, and Philadelphia from 2001-4. He was a
third-base coach for the Phillies (1988-96), the Angels (1997-99)
and Seattle (2000).
"If another organization had called me, I'd have probably told them 'No thanks, I like what I'm doing,'" Bowa told the New York Daily News in a phone interview last weekend. "What happened in Philadelphia kind of turned me off to it all. I thought I did a pretty good job -- we were over .500 three of the four years I was there except for one year when we missed by one game. And then for it to end the way it did, I'm just sort of down on it now.
"But the Yankees, that's a special circumstance. I'd be very selective right now, certainly, but the Yankees are one team that I think I'd enjoy being a part of," Bowa added.
Luis Sojo has been the Yankees' third-base coach for the past
two seasons. He's likely to be asked to move to first base if Bowa is hired to coach third.
"That's a demotion," Sojo told The Post of possibly being asked to vacate the third-base post to become first-base coach. "I don't know. I got to see what they are going to do. When I find out, I will make a decision. I like third base and I didn't do a bad job."
Like Torre, Bowa thought the Yankees were worn out during their
playoff loss to Los Angeles after a regular season in which they
didn't clinch a playoff berth until the next-to-last game.
"The Yankees had to fight all year to get in," Bowa said.
"When you're fighting all year and fighting all year, it wears you
out a little bit."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.