By John Gottlieb
The Phanatic Magazine
Now that the Yankees have been unceremoniously dumped for the third straight year in the first round of the playoffs and for the fourth time in the last four series (a first in Yankee history) all of the talk has become what to do about Joe Torre and Alex Rodriguez.
A-Rod is easy so I'll handle that first. Rodriguez, who had another weak postseason but coasted by because Derek Jeter and Posada were even worse, must outweigh the free agency against being the King of New York.
We all know about the opt-out clause but don't look for A-Rod to exercise it. If he does, he takes the Yankees out of the running for his services and no one would outspend the Bombers.
While there are a lot of questions surrounding the 2008 Yankees Torre should not be one of them. Everyone know the obligatory numbers about the regular season wins, playoff births and World Series championships, but to that the naysayers will throw out that 4-13 in the last 17 postseason games is unacceptable.
Every manager and team executive has a shelf life but I'm not convinced that this is the end of Torre's. The names of Don Mattingly, Joe Girardi and Tony LaRussa but will any of those men make the Yanks better?
Girardi was the Manager of the Year in Florida, where there were no expectations, and was still fired after the season due to his quarrels with upper management; LaRussa is the biggest name and has a pair of rings, but his surly attitude and off-field issues won't fly in the Big Apple; and Don Mattingly has never been a manager before. Mattingly will get the job eventually but is now really the right time?
Tell me which of those managers would've turned around a 21-29 team with a $200 million-plus payroll in the number one market.
The players still buy into Torre. He is the only manager in baseball that could've turned this club around. His laid back approach that instills confidence in his players was the perfect compliment to the subpar bullpen and mediocre starting pitching.
We should be talking about Brian Cashman as the high-profile executive on the hot seat. Torre can only play the pieces he's given, and that list, under the GM's tenure, includes Steve Karsay, Kyle Farnsworth, Javier Vazquez, Kevin Brown, Chris Hammond, Jose Contreras, Jeff Weaver, Kenny Lofton, Carl Pavano, Tony Womack, Randy Johnson, Jason Giambi, Jaret Wright, and who could forget Kei Igawa.
Torre is not King Midas. He has no clue how to use a bullpen, he's made more bad than good postseason decisions since 2004, and is loyal to a fault, but he gives this team the best chance to win.
George Steinbrenner should be ashamed of himself for his diatribe to the Bergen Record on Sunday. He only said what everyone else pretty much knew. The team didn't need to deal with that on the night before an elimination game. It's almost like he was hoping Torre would fail (HMMMMMMMMM).
Here's hoping that the brass lets cooler heads prevail for the second straight season and brings Torre back for a 13th season. Bringing Torre back will certainly make it easier to bring back potential free agents Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte and even Alex Rodriguez.
Would Joe even come back? He definitely wasn't talking like it at the postgame press conference. Talking in the past tense and speaking as if he was already separated from the team don't give off promising signs. Did the Boss push him too far this time? Some part of Joe probably thinks he's too old for this crap year-in and year-out.
Give him a one-year deal if you don't want to tie yourself in to the 67-year-old long term, but he deserves to come back.
Any baseball fan, New York or nationwide, with half a brain would say the same thing...let's just hope that Steinbrenner still has half a brain.
The Phanatic Magazine
Now that the Yankees have been unceremoniously dumped for the third straight year in the first round of the playoffs and for the fourth time in the last four series (a first in Yankee history) all of the talk has become what to do about Joe Torre and Alex Rodriguez.
A-Rod is easy so I'll handle that first. Rodriguez, who had another weak postseason but coasted by because Derek Jeter and Posada were even worse, must outweigh the free agency against being the King of New York.
We all know about the opt-out clause but don't look for A-Rod to exercise it. If he does, he takes the Yankees out of the running for his services and no one would outspend the Bombers.
While there are a lot of questions surrounding the 2008 Yankees Torre should not be one of them. Everyone know the obligatory numbers about the regular season wins, playoff births and World Series championships, but to that the naysayers will throw out that 4-13 in the last 17 postseason games is unacceptable.
Every manager and team executive has a shelf life but I'm not convinced that this is the end of Torre's. The names of Don Mattingly, Joe Girardi and Tony LaRussa but will any of those men make the Yanks better?
Girardi was the Manager of the Year in Florida, where there were no expectations, and was still fired after the season due to his quarrels with upper management; LaRussa is the biggest name and has a pair of rings, but his surly attitude and off-field issues won't fly in the Big Apple; and Don Mattingly has never been a manager before. Mattingly will get the job eventually but is now really the right time?
Tell me which of those managers would've turned around a 21-29 team with a $200 million-plus payroll in the number one market.
The players still buy into Torre. He is the only manager in baseball that could've turned this club around. His laid back approach that instills confidence in his players was the perfect compliment to the subpar bullpen and mediocre starting pitching.
We should be talking about Brian Cashman as the high-profile executive on the hot seat. Torre can only play the pieces he's given, and that list, under the GM's tenure, includes Steve Karsay, Kyle Farnsworth, Javier Vazquez, Kevin Brown, Chris Hammond, Jose Contreras, Jeff Weaver, Kenny Lofton, Carl Pavano, Tony Womack, Randy Johnson, Jason Giambi, Jaret Wright, and who could forget Kei Igawa.
Torre is not King Midas. He has no clue how to use a bullpen, he's made more bad than good postseason decisions since 2004, and is loyal to a fault, but he gives this team the best chance to win.
George Steinbrenner should be ashamed of himself for his diatribe to the Bergen Record on Sunday. He only said what everyone else pretty much knew. The team didn't need to deal with that on the night before an elimination game. It's almost like he was hoping Torre would fail (HMMMMMMMMM).
Here's hoping that the brass lets cooler heads prevail for the second straight season and brings Torre back for a 13th season. Bringing Torre back will certainly make it easier to bring back potential free agents Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte and even Alex Rodriguez.
Would Joe even come back? He definitely wasn't talking like it at the postgame press conference. Talking in the past tense and speaking as if he was already separated from the team don't give off promising signs. Did the Boss push him too far this time? Some part of Joe probably thinks he's too old for this crap year-in and year-out.
Give him a one-year deal if you don't want to tie yourself in to the 67-year-old long term, but he deserves to come back.
Any baseball fan, New York or nationwide, with half a brain would say the same thing...let's just hope that Steinbrenner still has half a brain.
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