Because some people can't stop running their mouths
However, you wouldn't know it from the way the media have been foaming at the mouth over what may or not happen now that the Yankees have failed to get past the first round of the postseason again. Even a couple of our SB staff members haven't been able to resist putting in their two cents on the topic. The decision of Joe Torre to decline the Yankees' contract renewal offer has added fuel to the fire of those who seem to spend far too much time trying to dig the Yankees' grave.
There's been far too much speculation and stupidity expressed on the topic, therefore I am forced to sit down and edumacate a few people.
Click the link--you know you want to...
Hi, I see you made it.
Now, as to Joe Torre, yes, it was a completely classless way to treat someone who has done so much for the Yankees for so long. I think it was a case of the Yankees wanting to have their cake and eat it, too. They wanted to be able to have Joe Torre's management without having to pay for it. If they were not interested in renewing his contract, they would have simply said so from the start. Of course, doing that would have infuriated Yankees fans (although, to be honest, most of those same Yankees fans were calling for Joe's resignation last year at this time, myself included).
Ultimately, they decided to make him an offer that they apparently considered a win-win situation. If he accepted the terms, they would still have their manager, but with some money freed up to put towards player negotiations. If he didn't, they could go with the "it's not our fault, he chose to turn us down" route, which is exactly what happened.
It's cheap-ass tactics at its best. They were counting on the numbers ($5M for one year, with up to $3M extra in postseason incentives) to blind Yankees fans into seeing things their way. On the surface, it seems incomprehensible for someone to turn down a potential $8,000,000 for one year. Lord knows there's plenty of people who would love to get their hands on that kind of money. However, as smarter folk have pointed out, they were basically asking Joe Torre to take a pay cut for doing his job the way he always has, and there's no working man on earth who would agree to that kind of offer.
Yankees fans are sometimes loyal to the point of blindness, but we ain't stupid.
Does this act of complete tactlessness bode ill for the Yankees? Only time will tell. It will depend on a number of factors such as:
1. Who's the manager?
Because of the importance the Yankees have placed on winning the World Season, they have put themselves in an extremely difficult situation when it comes to hiring a new manager. Oddly enough, the handling of Joe Torre has practically guaranteed that Don Mattingly will not be managing the Yankees next year. Mattingly is a Yankees legend, and has been the bench coach for the past two years, but he has no managing experience. If the Yankees named him manager, and he did not get them to the postseason (which is a good possibility for a rookie manager of any team), it would be nearly impossible for them to fire him without causing a complete revolt of Yankees fandom--and if they don't fire him, they look like idiots.
This may also spell doom for the possibility of Joe Girardi being hired as well. Girardi has managing experience (he was named NL Manager of the Year last year when he ran the Marlins), but he is also a former Yankees player and bench coach. At any other time, these would be positives, but again, if he can't bring the Yankees to the big dance, can the Yankees fire him without angering their fans? Rock, meet Mr. Hard Place.
Most likely, I'd say whoever gets hired is going to be someone with managerial experience, but not so much as to demand a large salary. He's also going to be someone who will have to earn the fans' love just the way Joe Torre did--by taking the Yankees to the World Series and winning in his first year. That's a tall order to fill.
2. 2. Who's coming back?
Right now, the biggest question marks are Mo Rivera, Jorge Posada, and Alex Rodriguez. The Yankees have already tried to draw a line in the sand with A-Rod by saying that they will not pursue him if he chooses to opt out of the last year of his contract. I have a hard time believing that, especially when they were so eager to throw money at Roger Clemens to rent his golden arm and tin hammy. If I were A-Rod, I might call their bluff--but then again, it also might be in my best interest to not opt out, simply because if I stayed, I could use the fact that I did stay as a "good faith" bargaining chip to get even more money out of them next year. The chances of another superman season are also more likely to happen if A-Rod stays with the Yankees, because whatever team gets him is going to expect him to produce big numbers right off the bat, and A-Rod doesn't always produce well when he's adjusting to something new or under pressure to produce. Better numbers = bigger paycheck.
With Torre gone, the Yankees are most likely going to go all out to bring Rivera and Posada back into the fold, because they are going to need them to help provide stability and a veteran presence. Both players have voiced their support for Joe Torre and their desire to see him return as their manager, Rivera in particular, but these are also players who have been with the Yankees for their entire career. I think they'll stay put rather than go somewhere else.
3. Who's in charge?
If anything, the Torre situation has exposed the turmoil that the Yankees management has been going through in recent years. Unknown to many, George Steinbrenner has been gradually allowing others to assist him in making the big decisions. Up until recently, he counted on his son-in-law Steve Swindal's input, going so far as to name him his eventual successor. When Swindal and Steinbrenner's daughter divorced, however, Swindal lost his job--and that appears to have shaken the Yankees foundation a little more than anything on-field. Currently, Steinbrenner's sons, Hank and Hal, have stepped up to the task, but so far, they seem to have all their father's bluster and bombast, but little of his business acumen. Randy Levine, the current president of the Yankees, also appears to have a line to George's ear; the word I was hearing earlier today was that part of the reason for Torre being shown the door was because he and Levine have never gotten along, and this was Levine's opportunity to get Joe out of his hair. Considering Levine himself was signed on as Yankees president in 2000, and the Yankees have not won a World Series since then, I would suggest that if the Yankees don't make the postseason next year, they should take a long hard look at the quality of Mr. Levine's leadership.
When it really comes down to it, though, no one is going to know what is going to happen with the Yankees until they actually get on the field in April and START THE DAMN SEASON. Until then, it's all just a lot of talk. No one knows what's going to happen with any team, including the Yankees, until they actually get on the field and play the game. Yes, I think Joe Torre should have been treated better than he was, but I'm not going to flush the team down the crapper because of it. In reality, the Yankees won rings before Joe Torre became manager, they'll win rings after he's gone. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a complete moron.
Will it be next year? I don't know, and until next season actually starts, I don't care.
Now shut up and go watch some ACTUAL baseball instead of yammering on about things you have no way of knowing will happen or not.
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