Rays discuss Piniella's future

Lou Piniella's agent, Alan Nero, and Devil Rays senior vice president of baseball operations and general manager Chuck LaMar met Thursday to discuss Piniella's future with the organization.
"This morning I met with Alan Nero, Lou Piniella's representative," said LaMar in a statement released Thursday by the Devil Rays. "As we have on a number of occasions over the last year, we discussed Lou, the organization and our direction for the future.

"It was, as it has been in the past, a constructive session with Alan. I would anticipate we will continue to share this open dialogue in the future."

According to the Tampa Tribune, the meeting was requested by Nero on behalf of Piniella, who indicated he would be receptive to getting bought out by the club for the remaining year-and-a-half of his four-year, $13-million contract.

Despite Piniella expressing his frustration Sunday with what he said was the team's ownership for not providing the necessary backing to field a competitive team, LaMar told reporters earlier in the week that Piniella will be afforded the opportunity to manage the team for as long as he wants.

Source: http://tampabay.devilrays.mlb.com/