Giants skipper Alou to wait until year's end to evaluate future

SAN FRANCISCO -- Felipe Alou plans to fly home to Florida and then to the Dominican Republic as soon as the season ends, even if his future with the San Francisco Giants has yet to be resolved.

The 71-year-old Alou's contract is up soon, and it is unclear whether he wants to return for a fifth season as manager or whether the Giants want him back. For team management, discussing Alou's situation was on the to-do list for the final week before the sides parted ways for the winter.

"I know my future is good," Alou said this week.

Alou, the winningest Latin American manager in major league history, said Wednesday for the first time that he can envision himself staying involved in baseball in some capacity after this year, perhaps for a new team.

"I'm going to wait until after the season," he said of evaluating what's next. "There are many positions in this game for a man like Felipe Alou. I may have a few things to choose from or forget about the whole thing. ... I don't have any complaints about anything."

Alou was hired after the Giants' 2002 World Series season to replace Dusty Baker, who left to manage the Chicago Cubs. Alou, who began his 17-year big league career with San Francisco in 1958, was the personal choice of owner Peter Magowan and general manager Brian Sabean.

At 67, Alou became the oldest manager to take over a club since Casey Stengel four decades earlier. Alou was excited to be taking over a team that has the financial resources to acquire and retain star players. That wasn't the case in his 10 years managing the Montreal Expos, who fired him during the 2001 season. Alou worked as the Detroit Tigers' bench coach in 2002 under countryman Luis Pujols, who has spent the past four seasons working for Alou in San Francisco.

Alou, with an avid interest in wine and fishing, has hinted several times this might be his final year managing after five decades as a baseball man. His youngest child, Felipe Jr., just started high school and Alou acknowledged he was ready to stay put at home for a while after so many years of living out of a suitcase.

"I never talked about next year," Alou said. "Next year is nonexistent. When the season is over, I don't have anything to talk about. ... I don't believe anything needs to be resolved."

He was reunited with his son, right fielder Moises, before the 2005 season and the two got to spend his final two years in the same clubhouse - with Moises often bringing his father food before games - after Moises first played for his dad in Montreal.

"That's a blessing if there is ever a blessing," Felipe Alou said.

Alou said he would be willing to provide his input about offseason decisions to a certain point. The Giants have 11 potential free agents, including slugger Barry Bonds and Alou's son and right fielder, Moises.

"When you are a free agent, you can give advice to other teams, too," Alou said.