NEW YORK -- Despite the players' strike that led to the cancellation of the World Series, Major League Baseball front offices are carrying on as if it were any other offseason. That means hiring and firing managers.


The latest shuffle involved Kevin Kennedy, who made a speedy return to managing when he was hired by the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday, six days after losing his job with the division-leading Texas Rangers. Kansas City and Baltimore have also hired replacements after giving their skippers the chop, and the Chicago Cubs are in the market after manager Tom Trebelhorn was fired this week.


One candidate who had been much in demand was Oakland Athletics manager Tony La Russa, whose contract expired Oct. 7. But on Tuesday he signed a three-year deal to remain as the manager of the American League team, the club said.


Oddly, considering owner George Steinbrenner's past whims, the New York Yankees will certainly be standing firm. Buck Showalter, who brought calm to a club often beset by controversy, was the overwhelming choice Tuesday for American League manager of the year.


Showalter became the first Yankees manager to win the award, created in 1983, after leading New York to the best record in the league. The Yankees were 70-43 and in position for their first playoff spot since 1981 when the players' strike stopped the season Aug. 12.


At 38, Showalter is the youngest manager in the majors. He also is the first manager to survive three straight years since Steinbrenner bought the team before the 1973 season. Steinbrenner has changed managers 19 times overall.


Showalter received 24 of 28 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Mike Hargroe, who had Cleveland in contention for its first postseason since 1954, got the other four first-place votes. They were followed by Gene Lamont of the White Sox and La Russa.


Kansas City Royals' Hal McRae and Boston's Butch Hobson were fifth and sixth in balloting, but they had been fired long before the results were announced.


For the teams that have made changes, two obvious winners are the Cubs and the Royals.


The Cubs did themselves a big favor the day they lured Andy MacPhail from Minnesota to become club president. Even though the modest MacPhail likes to deflect credit he is the one most responsible for winning two World Series titles in Minneapolis, thus poking a gaping hole in the owners' theory that small markets are at an insurmountable disadvantage. In turn, MacPhail's selection of Ed Lynch, as the general manager of his New York Mets, makes perfect sense.


In their own focused managerial search, the Royals were wise to hire scholarly, work-'til-he-drops Bob Boone, so smart he seemed ready to manage in the latter part of his 19-year playing career.


Baltimore will have to hope untested candidates continue their good track record. After interviewing more than 15 people the club settled on Phil Regan, former Cleveland Indians pitching coach who has never managed on the major-league level. Owner Peter Angelos had fired manager Johnny Oates last month.


One thing that is becoming apparent about conducting these searches is that it helps to have a baseball background and to know something about the game. MacPhail, a baseball person almost since his birth, quickly zeroed in on a candidate. He hired Lynch without interviewing anyone else. MacPhail knew whom he wanted, and he got him fast.


The Royals' General Manager Herk Robinson, another longtime baseball person, only had to open his wallet to find his list of 12 managerial candidates. Robinson said he keeps the list in his hip pocket "in case my manager gets hit by a train.'' Thankfully, Hal McRae was only fired.


Not one to take chances, Robinson said the names on the wallet list are spelled backward so nobody else could understand them if he lost his wallet. It may sound silly but "enoob bob'' was on Robinson's original wallet list, as were most other people Robinson seriously considered.


(AP, Newsday, MT)