Tony La Russa, Bobby Cox, Joe Torre headed to baseball Hall of Fame

Tony La Russa, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre — three of baseball’s most decorated managers — were unanimously selected Monday for induction to the Hall of Fame.

The announcement sets the stage for what could be one of the largest Hall of Fame classes in recent history, one year after there were no living inductees. The players up for election include Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas; the results will be announced Jan. 8.

La Russa ranks third on the list of all-time managerial victories, trailing only Connie Mack and John McGraw. Cox is fourth and Torre fifth.

La Russa won 2,728 games with the Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals. He won championships with the A’s in 1989 and the Cardinals in 2006 and 2011.

Cox won 2,504 games with the Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays. He led the Braves to the 1995 title.

Torre won 2,326 games for the Braves, Cardinals, Dodgers, New York Yankees and New York Mets, including championships with the Yankees in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000. He finished his career with the Dodgers in 2010, after grooming Don Mattingly as his successor.

La Russa, Cox and Torre were named on each of the 16 ballots cast by members of the expansion era committee. Dave Concepcion, Steve Garvey, Tommy John, Billy Martin, Marvin Miller, Dave Parker, Dan Quisenberry, Ted Simmons and George Steinbrenner each received six or fewer votes.

Halladay retires

Roy Halladay won two Cy Young awards, but he retired Monday having never appeared in the World Series.

Halladay, 36, won 203 games in 16 major league seasons, 148 in 12 seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays and 55 in four seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies.

He had shoulder surgery last season and didn’t look right when he returned in September, finishing with a 4-5 record and 6.82 earned-run average in 13 starts for the Phillies.

“To go out there and know it’s not going to feel good and I wasn’t going to do it the way I wanted was frustrating,” said Halladay, who signed a one-day contract to retire as a Blue Jay. “I tried to give everything I can but something was holding me back. I felt I couldn’t give them what I wanted to.”

Halladay won the 2003 American League Cy Young with the Blue Jays and the 2010 National League Cy Young with the Phillies. He finished in the top three of the voting three other times.

Yankees to honor Mandela

Nelson Mandela will be honored by the New York Yankees with a plaque in Monument Park. The team said Monday the plaque will be dedicated during Jackie Robinson Day ceremonies before a game against the Chicago Cubs next April 15.

The former South African president, who died last week, gave an address at old Yankee Stadium on June 21, 1990, four months after the end of a 27-year imprisonment. He put on a Yankees cap and jacket and told the crowd: “You know who I am. I am a Yankee.”

Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said Mandela’s visit “was a transcendent moment in the history of the original Yankee Stadium.”

Free-agent deals

First baseman Garrett Jones reportedly has agreed to a $7.75-million, two-year contract with the Miami Marlins. Jones batted .233 with 15 home runs and 51 runs batted in last season for the Pittsburgh Pirates, a year after batting .274 with career highs of 27 homers and 86 RBIs. … Right-hander Felipe Paulino and the Chicago White Sox agreed on a $1.75-million, one-year contract. Paulino, 30, became a free agent Nov. 20 when he refused an outright assignment to the minors from the Kansas City Royals. … The Cleveland Indians signed first baseman David Cooper to a major league contract. Terms of the deal were not immediately available. Cooper, a first-round pick of Toronto in 2008, finished last season with the Indians’ triple-A affiliate in Columbus, Ohio, after coming back from a serious back injury.