I would want either Piniella, Girardi, or stay in house and give the job to Pena. Of all the baseball people on this current staff, I think Pena is the best.
Farnsworth OR Dotel are not used in the day game...Both have experience closing out games... No, Torre has gotta wear out Proctor. Thanks.
I wonder if Proctor's arm just totally goes dead, he has been way overused, Torre killed Sturtze and now hes doing the same with Proctor.
It's only a matter of time... Did it to Quantrill and Gordon as well...And now Villone is slowly becomming that guy, just keep wearing them out Joe.
Newsflash. I don't know why this wasn't posted yet. Coming home from the game on the post game show, Torre said that Farsworth had a back issue and wasn't able to pitch in the second game. He couldn't get it stretched out or something like that. I'm tired of these random Farnsworth poopouts.
Hind-sight is 20/20. It's easy to say that now, but if you already put in Proctor to close the game, would you really yank him after he already got 2 outs? If Torre did, you'd probably be whining about how he's overusing Mo. Besides, Rivera already said he wasn't going to pitch in the 2nd game before it even started. MM already stated Farnsworth's back was hampering him. And you have got to feel alot safer with Proctor defending that 1 run lead over the league-leading Tigers than Dotel.
Hind-sight? More like common sense. Farnsworth(before I know about this "injury") and Dotel were fresh...And it wouldn't be over-using Mo, he hasn't pitched in the last few days, then just give him tomorrow off, we've all seen Mo do double-duty, just take the series with your best man... Feel safer with Proctor? I don't think he has any saves in his career, he's been the most over-used reliever AND was used earlier today, disgraceful.
So you're gonna fire Joe Torre, who with the Yankees has a record of 968-634 (.608 win %) for a man with a career record of 198-285 (.410 win %)? Fire Torre, who's won 4 world titles in New York and 6 AL Pennants for a guy who has never managed in a playoff game? Piniella I could see you making a serious arguement for (I think that he's too combustible for a Yankee clubhouse filled with billionaire primadonnas, but that's just me.) Girardi even I could see (despite his total lack of experience he is doing a great job and he is a former Yankee.) But Pena? I guess we're lucky that you're not the Yankee GM.
The fact that you're comparing Torre's record with the Yankees, a team that has had the most talent in baseball in Torre's tenure, to Pena's record with the Royals, a team that has had the least talent in baseball in Pena's tenure, makes your entire point irrelevant. You think if Torre managed the Royals for a year, and Pena managed the Yankees, that the Royals would have a better record? Of course not. They'd win 65-70 games, and the Yankees would win their usual 95+. Let's not forget that Torre was a losing manager before he fell into such a great position (894-1003). And we're talking about Pena, a guy who has been widely recognized for his baseball knowledge, but had the worst talent in the league for 3+ seasons (and in one of those seasons managed to win 83 games.) It's not like Torre all of a sudden learned how to be a good manager in NY. Torre's most positive trait is that because he's had great teams, he is respected by all in baseball, but he's an awful in-game manager. From 1996-2000, he had Stanton-Nelson-Rivera. Two great relievers with rubber arms that Torre could go to whenever. It was easy for him. Now that he doesn't have those automatic guys outside of Rivera, and he has to think, he has done an AWFUL job. Piniella is a good in-game manager, and I think would fit well. What is with all this billionaire prima-donna crap, anyway? Who is the locker room cancer that will be a problem with Piniella? The only two guys who could cause a problem are A-Rod (because of his ego) and RJ (because of his demeanor). Luckily enough, both these guys were managed for many many years by Piniella. So ironically enough, they'd probably have the MOST respect for Piniella. We know Sheffield won't be back. Who else would be a problem? Jeter is great in the clubhouse. Everyone loves Damon, he doesn't cause any problems. Giambi, Matsui, Cano, Posada, Rivera, Melky, Wang, Abreu, none of these guys are going to cause problems. In the next few years, the influx of young talent will continue, and guys like Hughes, Clippard, Duncan, etc. will have respect for him because firstly, they're rookies, and secondly, he would be their first ML manager, and no one forgets their first manager. Piniella is the perfect candidate to be Yankees manager. Players respect him, he's a good in-game manager, he's a former Yankee and Steinbrenner likes him. Hopefully if the Yankees win the WS this year, Torre will retire.
Just some final thoughts on this game/thread (I couldn't make them yesterday because I was out of town): 1) 10Pen10, your evidence for Tony Pena as being a better manager is...what exactly? I'm not trying to argue that if you put Torre as the Royals manager that they win the World Series, I was just trying to point out the sheer ridiculousness of suggesting that we fire a highly successful manager for a manager who's failed miserably in the majors. And as for your point about Torre having a bad record when he was hired? I agree with you, he never should've been hired in the first place--his record didn't warrant it. We just got lucky that it worked out for us. 2) Torre's decision to pitch Proctor instead of bringing in Rivera for 6 outs in one day seems better in retrospect now that being overworked has Rivera unavailable with a sore elbow.
I said of the guys currently on the staff, should they go in that direction, I would go with Pena. He has been widely regarded as a good in-game baseball guy who was a victim of the awful KC teams. In his first year here as catching coach, he has made adjustments to Posada's motion, and now he's better than he ever has been at throwing runners out. I'm not saying he would be a great manager, but if we pass on Piniella and look in the organization (unless Mattingly shows a willingness to manage), they should look at Pena.
I would promote Mattingly in a heartbeat if he were willing to take it on. He may be open to it now as well. He walked away from the game, and seemed to have no desire to do anything but help at spring training until a couple years ago. Now he travels with the team every day, so managing wouldn't be a huge change to his daily routine. He already has the respect of the players. They absolutely adore him. The only issue he might have is that his hitting coach ability would have to take a backseat, and he is an amazing hitting coach. I would want Girardi, without question. I love Pinella the player, but despise him as a manager. I think he would crash and burn here. He doesn't have the personality to coach this team. I'll agree with kinghenry on this one, there are too many prima donas on this team for Pinella to comfortably deal with. Girardi has multiple things going for him. He already has the respect from a number of core players with the team. Walking in, he would already have guys like Jeter, Mo, Bernie, and Jorge on his side. He has had success this year, with a team that shouldn't even be near .500. Granted, a sub .500 team should never be talked about in terms of the wild card, but it's still amazing that the words have even been uttered. He's young, and he more understands the psyche of the modern ballplayer than Torre. Plus, I am positive Girardi could do a much better job managing the pitching staff than Torre.
