He is bitter and it came out when he wouldn't answer the question about going to the new stadium for it's opening. He had a lot of input when it came to what players they would go get in free agency. Not the final decision but he was part of the process.
The big difference is Joe Torre has over 60 million in the bank. I don't know about your money situation and I won't speculate but certainly that much $$$ in bank likely made Joe's decision somewhat easier. His great grand children's children will be set for life.
You forgot Giambalco..... If Rivera, Petite and Posada leave which is now very likley who will they replace them with? If they trade Damon and Matsui who do they replace them with and who wants them? If A Rod opts out how on earth do you replace not only 3rd base but everything he gave you in offense? Basically your line up would be 1B - Alphabet Soup/ 2B - Cano SS - Jeter 3B- FA OF - Melky OF- Abreu OF - FA C - FA DH- FA SP- Wang SP- Hughes SP- Chamberlin SP- Kennedy SP- Sanchez BP- Mussina, Ohlendorf, ?????? Closer- ???? Not to be an ass but that team doesn't win 80 games. There are no quality FA's and the best OF in Dunn is likely going to have his option picked up by the Reds. Obviously in the future the pitching will be phenominal but you don't know how these guys will handle the stress of 182 game season. Can they all stay healthy? For your case you better hope the scenario you outlined above doesn't happen otherwise it could be some very long seasons in the Bronx. As far as Girardi do you really know what you get in him? Was his season in Florida as good as it was because there was no pressure to win with the garbage he had or was it because he was a top quality manager? I don't know the answer but my guess is likely a combination of both but only time will tell if he is that guy.
Will Mattingly or Girardi sign on for the NEW Yankee business model? Like $500,000 to manage, $750,000 for division champion, $1,000,000 for ALCS, and $2,000,000 for World Series appearance? Its rediculous. It takes 162 games to get to the playoffs. ANYTHING can happen there after. Getting to the playoffs is a grind, ANYTHING after is a crap shoot, eg., hot pitcher, hot team(Rockies, Cardinals)?
He should be bitter, they just should have fired him if they wanted him gone. I am very worried about the direction of the franchise w/ the new Steinbrenners and levine in charge.
There is a misconception about firing Joe. Joe was in the last year of his contract so there is no need to "fire" him. Once the WS is over, he is essientially a free agent. You only "fire" workers when they are still under contract to you.
They have two choices. One is to start over and the second is to spend like crazy. If they start over they are still assured of ticket sales over 4 million for the next two years so even if they only win 80 games it won't hurt the bottom line. If they feel this was a PR nightmare and want to correct it they will just throw money at it like they have always done in the past. We will see which way they go. Personally, I hope they start over. It's the perfect time. Screw every other owner in the league and bring in a bunch of young kids. Next year's FA market will be much better and they can start restocking then.
I agree. Their first dabble into it has been a disaster. There is also a big problem with ruling by committee. At least with George you knew what you had. He might have made bad decisions but at least people got over them. With these three you don't know what to expect.
Ummmm.... A little perspective here. Under his last deal, HE WAS PAID 7 Mil a year, and produced consecutive first round exits..... So they did offer him a new deal. "We want you to be the highest paid manager in the game, by almost 50% over the next closest man thats 5 million this year, on top of that we will spend more $$$$$ than every other team to make sure you have the players it takes to dominate the sport, once you get that team to the post season, We'll pay you a million dollars a round for the extra work..." Insulting???? AYFKM?
What other manager has been to the playoffs 12 straight years with 10 AL east Championships, 6 AL Pennants & 4 World Championships? None. In a short series anything can happen.... the problem is he's being held to the standard of possibly the greatest dynasty we'll ever see in our lifetime...
he still has 4 Championships and 6 AL pennants on his resume and has been nothing but a class act for 12 years. I have no problem w/ the yankees deciding to move on but they could have handled it better. they clearly low balled him when all they had to do was say they were moving on w/o Joe and thank him for his 12 great years.
And this is the result of Joe Torre and his classy way of killing a bullpen, right? Fact is, the guy is a career mediocrity who lucked into the perfect job and was wildly successful with it. Did he do a great job managing the egos and keeping everything together? Of course, and we appreciate it. But he's made probably $25 million more from the Yankees than he could ever made anywhere else, and they still offered him much more than he could ever make anywhere else. I wish I could start getting insulted like that. I just get called names.
People are missing the point. The money isn't the real issue. Yes, it's slightly insulting to be asked to take a pay CUT, but I don't think that's the issue. If they had offered the same contract, but with two years, I think he'd still be there. It's not the money, IT'S THE YEARS.
