Let me start this off by saying I'm a huge Mets fan and I despise the Yankees. That being said, it was absolutely completely 100% unfair how the Yankees treated Joe Torre. In my opinion what they did was worse than firing him.
Joe Torre has been the Yankees manager for an amazingly long 12 years (this is very long considering how quick Steinbrenner is to make changes within the organization). In those 12 years Torre has recorded 4 World Series titles and has reached the playoffs in each and every year (even after a horrendous start to this season). Now the main argument against Torre is that he's managing the Yankees and they are expected to win the World Series every year. Bullshit. Complete and utter bullshit. I don't care how much money you spend on an organization, there is no guarantee that they will win.
Let's look how the Yanks spend their money. First there is Jason Giambi who almost makes $24M a year and who spent all of 2007 with injuries and the steroid scandal hanging over his head. Making even more is the elderly Roger Clemens who was supposed to act as some sort of hero for the, at the time, struggeling Yanks. Roger Clemens was one of the best pitchers in the history of the game, but that has faded and there was nothing Torre could do about him as well as the Giambi situation. Rivera too is getting up there in years and it has shown this season. Yes he performed above average compared to other closers, but he was subpar compared to his previous seasons. This is what you spend your money on and this is what you get. It has nothing to do with Torre's management skills.
Lets look at Torre's offer. A 30% pay decrease which equals $5M and then bonuses based on how well they do in the playoffs (if they make it). To any manager in the leauge thats a pretty great salary, but to Torre it is a huge slap in the face. Torre does not have to prove himself to the Yankees organization after his great 12 years. The pay decrease is bad enough, but the performance based salary was over the top for a guy who has lead this team to the playoffs every year.
I'm also angry about how the Yankees went about handeling the situation (administration not the players). Although it's not unlike Steinbrenner to behave this way, he should have not said Torre's job depends on the series against the Indians. That was just wrong. Then to make the guy wait as long as they did was just ridiculous. Show the man some respect.
This offer was obviously intended for Torre to turn down and I'm glad he did. Taking that offer would show signs of weakness to the players who respect him so much. If they wanted Torre out of there they should have just fired him. End of story. I'm curious to see if they'll implement the "performance based" salary to Mattingly or whoever takes over the Yanks next.
We might see the Yanks of the late 80s all over again. That is how big of an impact losing Torre could be. Posada and Rivera have grown through the league with Torre and who says they'll stay. A-Rod is going to go wherever there is money (although I feel the Yanks will pay enough to keep him). Pettite I expect to leave and Clemens will drive his rascal wheelchair scooter wherever the money is alongside A-Rod.
Whoever replaces Torre is going to have an extremely tough year. He'll be under intense pressure from the higher ups to win a world series. He'll also have a tough time of earning the same kind of respect that Torre has rightfully earned. Good luck Yanks, you'll need it next year.
By the way, have Torre come to the Mets and bring Posada. We'd love to have you.
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