Goodbye Mr. Torre

I did not see that coming.

For those who haven't heard, the Yankees decided to offer Joe Torre a 1 year, $5 million contract, and Torre turned them down. Its a surprising turn of events, and it seems more than a little shady to me, at least as far as the front office is concerned. The Steinbrenners (its been reported that George's sons Hank and Hal had a lot of input on the decision) couldn't really think that Torre, a Hall of Fame manager who has led the Yankees to historical greatness, would take a 33% pay cut just to have to go through the headache of another negotiation in a year. If they did think that, then they're idiots. If they didn't, then they must have been trying to look good to potential free agents Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada, who have indicated that Torre's future will play a role in their decisions.

I've already written about the potential replacements, so let me just say a few things about Joe Torre. He could absolutely infuriate me with some of his in game moves, but there's no denying that he handled the spotlight of New York, and shielded his players from it, better than anyone. With the rise of cable, Torre faced scrutiny from more press than any manager in Yankee history. In fact, other than the White House Press Secretary, I can't think of anyone, that has to face more reporters and cameras than Joe Torre. His class and professionalism set the tone for a clubhouse that could easily fall apart with the number of highly paid stars that are on the team. and its going to be an incredibly difficult act to follow. I'm sad to see him go, and I've decided that as a farewell present, I'll be making a donation to the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation. It's a small thank you to a man who helped bring me some very good memories.