Insulting

I don't really care what the Yankee higher ups say about Torre for turning down an opportunity to manage the Yankees again, from a logical and rational standpoint Torre made the right choice. What this offer came down to was a difference in what was fair. Unfortunately for Torre he got the raw end of the proposed deal because it was a business decision, nothing personal--though in the end it's become that.

So what was the different in fairness? From the Yankee higher up standpoint, despite the perceived changing of guards, the Steinbrenner Doctrine as Buster Onley calls it, is still in place. All that matters is the championship, winning it and as soon as it is won, another one is needed. Not winning the championship is failure and there no excuses because the Yankees can spend and trade away any year they want to reach such success.

Anyhow, the Yankees took a page out of the book of corporate America in offering Torre a deal. Imagine the Yankees as a private company and they hire Torre to manage the operations with the goal being to have the highest profit of all companies. At first he does this in the first four of five years, but since (seven years), although he's been close, he hasn't reined the most profit in. So he has a performance review and the options on a table are: 1) fire Torre, 2) bring back Torre for a few more years, or 3) bring back Torre but give him additional goals to meet with incentives. The additional goals make sense as a business decision because some have not been met in the past few years (winning ALDS, ALCS, World Series). Additionally, because of Torre's lack of performance he gets a paycut--he was getting paid too much for too little the last few years. But if Torre meets all the goals, in the new deal he'll make more than he ever has before and get another year to do it again.

So from a business sense Torre didn't perform, so he got a paycut and less years in a contract offer. But if he did perform well, he could make more money and save his job another season.

But like the corporate America today, the decision left out things like having made the playoffs every year for 12 years straight, winning all those World Series up to 2000, and this season turning it around and making the playoffs when it looked like they wouldn't make it at all. It left out the leadership Torre had displayed, the respect his players had for him, and the loyalty the fans had for him. All of that doesn't go into a business decision because you can't put numbers to it.

And that's why it wasn't fair to Torre. The humanistic element was left out of it. There was no loyalty, no input from the players, and it added more pressure for him and his team to perform next year. Even if Torre accepted, he could have been fired if the Yankees started off terribly. Either way you looked at it, he was on a tighter leash, on the hook, back against the wall, it's not how Joe Torre played the game. It wasn't about the money, it was going to be there--this is the Yankees afterall.

To me, that's not how you treat an employee, it is insulting, and I think the Yankees will regret this decision.

Postseason Notes

This is a smorgisborg of sorts (I know I spelled that wrong), but I have lots on my mind with the playoffs. I'll get to the first reaction I have regarding Joe Torre.

Torre Declines

I just read it--Torre is gone, turning down a one year contract with incentives to return as the Yankees manager. It amazes me how quickly it was settled and possibly how Torre seemed to have made up his mind. Was the deal an insult to Torre or did he not plan to come back anyway? There are a couple pros to this decision--one pro being at least an offer was made, which to the public and Yankees team shows that the Yankee decision makers were giving Joe one more chance. But maybe it was a bit half assed.

The other pro is that I believe the Yankees will have a new manager by Monday and I think it will be Don Mattingly. I don't know anyone that doesn't respect Don Mattingly for who he was as a player and I'm sure he'll have the same respect stepping in as a manager.

Whatever happens, it is happening quickly because the leadership issue for the Yankees can not be dragged out with the free agents looming.

Past Does Not Predict the Future

Tonight is game 5 of the ALCS and there are references already to the Red Sox being in this position before and coming back a la 2004 style. The media and everyone else for that matter seems to forget that was the first time that ever happened in baseball and chances are the Red Sox won't make the World Series. After game 1, the Indians adjusted their approach but in general the team has hit well with runners on as they did against the Yankees. This series proves once again that pitching makes it or breaks it for teams--the Red Sox pitching has a 6.75 ERA in the series and the bullpen has been blown up.

"Who Cares" Anyway?

Whoever writes Manny Ramirez's biography will have one hell of a time explaining who Manny is. Oh right, he's just being Manny. The last game Manny hit a HR, after Youkilous and Ortiz had just hit solo shots, and made himself a target for bean ball sometime in the future by celebrating more than he should have at that point in the game. He then went on to basically say, well if we lost the series who cares, we'll be back next year. Maybe this is his usual poor judgement but why does Manny care about that HR and not winning?

Will Boras make A-Rod a Fraud?

I want to do a separate post on A-Rod to assess whether the Yankees should sign him or not and I must do it soon since things are heating up. Boras met with his client the past few days to go over his options--or more specifically how much more money he could get for A-Rod. Trust me, Boras has some tricks up his sleeve. Not only will A-Rod get more money, Boras will likely add some new things to his contract that have never been seen before in baseball. Whomever signs him will give A-Rod a deal of at least 5 years and $30-$35 million/season. Some of that money will come from revenues generated by a regional sports channel or part-ownership of the team--just watch, this is what Boras' career has been about and this is his best client, so he will pull out all the stops.