Was The Yankees organization correct on the handling of Joe Torre?

Question

In my opinion, being a die-hard Yankee fan, Joe Torre had to go. It starts and ends at the manager. God Bless Joe Torre, but he had to go. No disrespect to this first ballot HOFer, but he wasn't getting it done. In the end, the manager gets the brunt of the accusations. And in this case, after seven years without a title, I blame Joe. He was the only one who didn't do his job. Cashman and Steinbrenner did their job, they brought the best talent in the world to this Yankees team. It was Joe Torre's JOB to make them all mesh and bring a title. He failed, hes gone. Maybe he might have more lucky over at Shea, but that's in the future.

For the record, he should have called the players off the field during that bug game (Yankee fans know what I'm talking about). He calls off Joba, bugs go away, Joba shuts down that inning and sets it up for Rivera, Yankees go on to split the first two games and maybe win the series.
"Shoulda, woulda, couldas"- The motto for Yankee fans the past seven years,

Answer 1

Everyone is talking about failure since the 2000 world championship. Let's review:

2001 - Yankees 95-65 (American League Champions)
2002 - Yankees 103-58 (Division Title)
2003 - Yankees 101-61 (American League Champions)
2004 - Yankees 101-61(Division Title)
2005 - Yankees 95-67 (Division Title)
2006 - Yankees 95-67 (Division Title)
2007 - Yankees 94-68 (Wild Card)

Frankly I don't see the problem.

Answer 2

The problem comes with Steinbrenner's statement in the middle of the ALDS that Torre had to win the series to keep his job. Maybe that's what he thought, but you don't go public with something like that. It turned into a major distraction just when the Yankees didn't need it.

The Yankees certainly have the right to hire and fire anyone they want. And Torre had some problems, mostly with overworking the bullpen. But -- I don't think anyone can handle the New York "situation" better, which is why he'll be missed more than they know.

And I don't buy the thinking that anything short of the World Series title is a failure. Anything can happen in a short series (and sometimes does), and Torre's record over 12 years was excellent (playoffs every time). I'm not sure many other managers would have gotten the Yankees into the playoffs this year.

Answer 3

First, yes the Yankees did handle this "correctly", kind of. As a New York Yankee of today it is expected to be successful, and moreover to win championships. The Yanks haven't won the World Series since 2000 and haven't been since 2001. However, does that mean they are not successful? How quickly we forget that before this year the Yankees had won the AL East every single year since 1998. That is to say for nearly a decade, they utterly dominated the most financially competative division in sports.

I think that as fans, we have to admit that it is much more realistic to expect a manager to achieve success over a period of 162 games than over a period of 11-19. How many times in a year do you catch the Yankees losing 4 of 5 games? This stretch is just as likely to occur in the postseason; sometimes winning/losing in the postseason is just dumb luck.

Also, if you want to place blame for losing in the postseason, is it really Torre who is to blame? Now you easily reach the conclusion of Cashman and Steinbrenner being out of the realm of possibility. But how so? Surely it can't be Steinbrenner; all he has to do is shell out more money than any other team. And he does this. But he is handing it in good faith to Brian Cashman. How is he doing?

Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera. These guys we can give Cashman credit for. He seems to have the ability to draft and bring talent through the system. Or at least has a good gut for trusting his scouting department. Matsui and A-Rod were good aquisitions for him, but both deals were made effective simply because of the size of the Yankee budget rather than the ability to shrudely deal.

If you want to be successful in the postseason, any manager will tell you that pitching, more specifically starting pitching, is the most important aspect of the game. And this is exactly where the Yankees and Cashman fail. Remember Kevin Brown? Mike Mussina? Randy Johnson? Carl Pavano? Jose Contreras? If any one of these guys had measured up to what the Yankees paid for them, you would be looking at a team that's got an ace and a formidable pitching staff.

What it boils down to is that to whom much is given much is expected. Two fold in this situation with the talent Torre recieved and the fact that he was better compensated than any manager in the league. The Yankees were not wrong to offer Joe slightly less money with large incentives for what they want. I personally think this is how all managers contracts should be structured. But from Torre's point of view a pay cut is more or less a slap in the face especially in light of his consistency of getting to the crapshoot that we call the playoffs.

The ending seemed natural enough, but it would have been nice to see Joe go out on a higher note. He deserved it.

Answer 4

He got much of the credit when he won, so he deserves to take some blame when they lose. I'm not sure he was anointed as such a saint by Yankees fans, but he didn't prove that he could win over these past seven seasons. I know their pitching was bad in 2007, but that's not the case when you look back over the years since their last title in 2000.

As for the "disrespect" they showed him, I don't see it. He expects to win a World Series every year - he's even said so - and ownership simply made it an incentive to do so. Just as players have to take pay cuts and incentive-laden contracts after poor showings, so should managers. The Yankees did absolutely nothing wrong.

Answer 5

How quick you forget what Torre did for the Yankees. Are you related to Steinbrenner? Torre did a lot for the Yankees & in the end, he got the ultimate slap in the face. Sure, they can bring another guy in, but how long will it take him to do what Torre did for the team? He did right to turn down such a pathetic offer. I know he'll be sought after by others who will appreciate him for his past accomplishments. Heads should roll alright, starting from the top NOT the bottom. Am I a Yankee fan, no, but that doesn't matter. Torre was treated unfairly & that's that. A few others should have been given the boot, NOT Torre. You measure failure by what ONE person didn't do. I measure failure by what MANY people didn't do.

Answer 6

I continually like Torre a) as a participant whilst he hit into the DP that made the Mets the 1969 NL East Champions, b) as a supervisor with the Mets and the 1982 Braves, and c) because of the fact the Yankees and Dodgers supervisor; and that i think of this guy is amazingly credible and despite he says is "gospel." i've got self assurance A-Rod is a "situation interior the clubhouse" and there has continually been some "friction" between him and Derek Jeter, in spite of the actuality that Jeter could in no way make everyone attentive to this, i've got self assurance A-Rod is a distraction, and his contract reasons problems. money is a situation throughout the time of baseball with the gamers, there is often jealousy. Cashman is a puppet and hatchet guy for Steinbrenner, and that i've got self assurance Joe grow to be "frolicked to dry," because of capability of how they made him that final ffer whilst he walked, that grow to be relatively shoddy. i might desire to purchase this e book.

Answer 7

Torre should have gone if he wasn't fulfilling the expectations asked of him. However, the front-office left him hanging in the wind too long. They should have just canned him right after the ALDS, not stretch things out.

As for Cashman...maybe he brought in guys like Matsui and A-Rod, but is also known for great moments such as the signing of Hideki Irabu, a far past his prime Randy Johnson, and Carl Pavano.

Answer 8

Yes a change was needed, but no not in the classless way that the organization did it. George's ill timed statement prior to the ALDS end led to too much of a distraction. It should have been handled after the World Series and out of the spotlight (if that is ever possible with the NY press)

Answer 9

Well Joe Torre should of stayed how they handle the situtaion it was not the best way , but the organization was heading in a another direction and he did have the Talent but he can Manage and its the Players part to do there part they dint either so , Its hard to move but we have to do that

Answer 10

Actually, everythings going to work out for both sides...but, they handled it wrong in my opinion. They didn't want him back, and made it quite clear, but took a whole week to string everyone out...thats what was wrong...

In the end, next year, Torre will manage the Dodgers,and Girardi will manage the Yankees, AROD will be in Anaheim, and all of the Yankees' little fairies will be happy.