Torre turns down 1 year deal with Yankees

[TDHND]

Pretty surprised by that.

[CarolinaRedleg]

Angling for a longer deal?

Tired of NY?

[TDHND]

They haven't said. Not sure when he'll speak.

[GoReds33]

I am really intrested to hear what Torre will say. Obdviously the fact that it was a one year deal probably hit him the wrong way. I can't blame him. Maybe he'll find a team that respects a truely good manager.

[redsfanmia]

Good for Joe Torre!

[WMR]

The fact that they waited this long and he had to deal with the media on his doorstep is also being reported as a contributing factor... and the offered deal was a significant drop in pay, albeit with potential escalator clauses.

[Casey]

Not sure how much he was making before, but they are saying this was a one year, $5 mil deal.

[Number_Fourteen]

Offered 5M, w/ incentives totaling 8.5M is what I heard. Since he's making 7M plus now, how is that such a bad deal or an insult to Torre considering how overpaid and underachieving the Bombers have been since 2002?

I can not fault the Boss's offer here whatsoever. I think the Yanks owe Joe nothing. They're basically responsible for his "lock" as a HOF'er, by way of some shrewd organizational decisions made during George's suspension in the early 90's, as well as giving Joe a Cadillac of a team to drive w/ a seemingly, unlimited payroll throughout his entire tenure.

Given Jeter, Williams, Posada, Rivera, and an entire host of big name free agents they've had, I'd imagine most anyone w/ a decent level of baseball acumen could have won a title or more as manager of those Yankee teams.

For '08, Joe was asked to get the Yanks to the Series with a reward of an additional 1.5m over last years salary by doing such -- more than fair, IMO.

[757690]

There was no way he could accept that. It was a slap in the face. He took a team that was in last place two months into the season, and lead them to the playoffs. It is not his fault they ran into a red hot Indians team.
Yes he was overpaid, but money means nothing to the Yankees. It is always an insult to offer anyone a 29% pay decrease after they took a team to the playoffs.
That contract was designed for him to turn it down. Basically, they didn't want to fire him, so they offered him something they knew he would turn down.

[mroby85]

you have to question him having his team in last place 2 months into the season with all the talent they have.

[Number_Fourteen]

Originally Posted by 757690

There was no way he could accept that. It was a slap in the face. He took a team that was in last place two months into the season, and lead them to the playoffs.... Yes he was overpaid, but money means nothing to the Yankees.... Basically, they didn't want to fire him, so they offered him something they knew he would turn down.

Since it was heavily laden w/ performance incentives, I'll beg to differ. Also, you could argue that such a team didn't belong in the cellar two months into the season. Perhaps that was Joe's fault & the comeback was a sole result of the players themselves, or some other confounding variable? A bit hard to qualify either way. And, money, to a point, isn't meaningless to any organization or business -- it's simply all relative.

[jimbo]

Originally Posted by mroby85

you have to question him having his team in last place 2 months into the season with all the talent they have.

The only time where you are in the standings matters is after game #162.

[GoReds33]

Originally Posted by jimbo

The only time where you are in the standings matters is after game #162.

Exactly. That's what I always said when the Reds got off to hot starts.

[AmarilloRed]

I understand that the Yankees were not willing to negotiate. ESPN reported on SportCenter that Joe turned down the offer, the Yankees said thanks for everything, and that was the end of Torre's run as manager.

[Mutaman]

The general consensus in New York is the following:

Its unclear who is making the decisions for the Yankees but it does not appear to be George who at this point is relegated to a figurehead role due to his physical and mental problems. That leaves a vacum at the top with George's sons and in laws making decisions.

These people did not want Torre back but were afraid of the PR hit they would take if they fired him. The media and most Yankee fans wanted Torre back. As a result the Yankees decided that if they made Torre an offer which involved a decrease in salery he would be insulted and turn it down. The Yankees figured that they would end up looking like the good guys and Torre would look like the bad guy.

Well the Yankees were right and Torre turned down their "offer". But the Yankees were wrong in that the reaction from the media and the fans has been almost totally negative toward them with Torre looking like the hero. The Yankees have come off looking really bad.

So while everyone is calling this the end of an era, the Torre era, its the end of something much bigger- the end of the Steinbrenner era. And the new Yankee era is off to a rocky start. But before you start feeling sorry for these guys, just remember that they are still sitting on humongous resources, and they will probably buy their way out of this mess. Indeed, if they hire Mattingly, what Yankee fan is not going to wholeheatedly support Donnie Baseball?