[www.bloomberg.com]


Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Joe Torre rejected a one-year, $5 million contract offer from the New York Yankees today, ending 12 years as manager after baseball's most expensive team lost in the first round of the playoffs for the third straight year.

Torre turned down the deal, which also included bonuses that might have raised it to $8 million, the Yankees said on a conference call.

``We respect his decision,'' team President Randy Levine said. ``We appreciate everything he has done. But it's now time for the New York Yankees to move forward and we will be doing that very, very quickly.''

Torre won four World Series with the Yankees and took them to the playoffs in each of his years as manager. His three-year, $21 million deal, the highest for a manager, expired this season.

No successor was named immediately. Newsday reported that bench coach and former player Don Mattingly is the leading candidate. Mattingly's agent, Ray Schulte, declined comment after Torre's decision.

Yankees ownership and management met for the last three days in Tampa, Florida, to discuss Torre's fate. Torre flew to Tampa today with General Manager Brian Cashman and Chief Operating Officer Lonn Trost, and left after rejecting the offer, which was made this morning. He wasn't immediately available for comment.

``Now, we have a challenge ahead of us to begin the process of looking for the best person for that position,'' Cashman said. ``It's going to take some time and effort. We're going to make sure we take our time and do a full interview process involving all aspects of baseball operations.''

Free Agents

The Yankees also must deal with free agency for two of their key players, relief pitcher Mariano Rivera and catcher Jorge Posada. In addition, Alex Rodriguez, who led baseball in home runs and runs batted in this season, can become a free agent if he opts out of the last three years of his deal with New York.

The Yankees were eliminated from the playoffs on Oct. 8 by the Cleveland Indians, a team that started the season with a $62 million player payroll, compared with the Yankees' $190 million.

``This has been a great 12 years,'' Torre, 67, said at a press conference after the last game. ``Whatever the hell happens from here on out, I mean, I'll look back on these 12 years with great, great pleasure.''

Levine said the package offered to Torre included $1 million bonuses for reach the division series, AL Championship Series and World Series.

`Performance Based'

``We thought that we needed to go to a performance-based model having nothing to do with Joe Torre's character, integrity or ability,'' Levine said. ``We just think it's important to motivate people based on performance and that was the thinking that went behind it. We thought it was very fair.''

Torre joined the club in November 1995 after owner George Steinbrenner fired Buck Showalter, who took the team to the playoffs for the first time since 1981. With a career record of 894-1,003 as manager of the New York Mets, Atlanta and St. Louis, Torre initially was not a popular choice: The Daily News reported his hiring with a headline of ``Clueless Joe'' on the back page.

The Brooklyn, New York-born Torre produced immediate results, winning the World Series four of the next five years to bring the number of Yankees' championship titles to a major- league record 26. In the process, he won the support and respect of fans.

Victories, Tears

He showed his soft side on several occasions, crying after each Yankee title and embracing a sobbing Paul O'Neill on the field following the 1999 World Series after O'Neill's father died earlier that day.

He also showed a stoic side, dealing with prostate cancer during the 1999 season and managing through his brother Frank's kidney transplant.

Fans repaid him during the Yankees' final game against Cleveland with a standing ovation and an extended cheer of ``Joe Torre'' when he came out to the pitcher's mound twice in the eighth inning.

Torre's 12 consecutive seasons are tied for the second-most in club history with Casey Stengel (1949-60) and Miller Huggins (1918-29), and behind Joe McCarthy, who ran the team from 1931 through the first 35 games of 1946. Torre's regular-season record of 1,173-767 includes the second-most wins in franchise history behind McCarthy (1,460) and ahead of Stengel (1,149).

This year, with the team buried in last place after the first month of the season, he got a boost from Steinbrenner. The owner released a statement saying that neither Torre nor Cashman would be fired and urged the team to play better.

Early Struggle

The Yankees continued to struggle the next month, falling a season-low eight games under .500 on May 29. They turned it around from there, leading baseball with a 73-39 record the rest of the season and winning the wild-card playoff berth as the second-place team with the best record.

Against Cleveland, New York lost the first two games. The Record of Bergen County, New Jersey, reported that Steinbrenner said Torre probably wouldn't be back if they lost the series. After winning the third game, they lost the fourth.

Players Support

Players including Rodriguez supported Torre after the loss.

``It's not Joe's fault,'' Rodriguez said after the Game 4 loss. ``As players, it falls on us. You can point the finger at whoever you want, the bottom line is we didn't get the job done.''

Agents for Rodriguez, Rivera, Posada, team captain Derek Jeter, and pitchers Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens didn't immediately return messages for comment.

Torre said after Oct. 8 game that he wasn't ready to retire.

``If I have some options, I'll look at it because I'm certainly not ready to move somewhere and not do anything,'' he said.

Last year's Yankees had the American League's best record at 97-65 before being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Detroit Tigers. The New York Daily News reported at the time that Torre might be fired, and Steinbrenner brought him back for the final year of his three-year, $21 million contract with a warning.

Steinbrenner had also criticized him after the club got off to a 4-8 start in 2005, and it took a face-to-face meeting with the owner in Tampa, Florida, after the season to persuade Torre to return.

Since beating the Mets in 2000, the Yankees lost in the World Series to the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001 and the Florida Marlins in 2003. In 2004, they lost to the Red Sox in the AL Championship Series, becoming the first team in baseball history to blow a three-games-to-none lead in a best-of-seven series.

Torre was a nine-time All-Star as a player and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award with St. Louis in 1971. He has a 2,067-1,770 record as a major-league manager.

To contact the reporters on this story: Danielle Sessa in New York at dsessa@bloomberg.net ; Larry DiTore in New York at lditore@bloomberg.net .

One of the best the game has ever seen.

Truly a class act. The only reason he put with Steinbrenner this long is because he loves managing the Yankees. Be tough to see him go somewhere else. But he'll probably end up in a broadcast booth somewhere.

"It's just some friends of mine and they're busting down the door"

Joe made some questionable moves in the playoffs but more often than not The Yankees were done in by high priced players that came up small. Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson, Mike Mussina just to name a few. And it didn't help that bats like Posada and Arod were usually silent in the playoffs.

People went ga ga over Arod this year because he actually had three or four hits. Him and "Boris The Spider" can go jump in a lake for all I care. For the money nimrod wants you can get a top notch pitcher and a great everyday player.

And don't ask me how this snively little weasel Cashman gets to keep his job with all the bonehead moves he orchestrated. Next year the Yankees will be watching the playoffs from the sidelines and they will be begging Torre to come back.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-10-19 04:36 by FrankM.

FrankM Wrote:
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Kevin
> Brown, Randy Johnson, Mike Mussina just to name a
> few.
>
> And don't ask me how this snively little weasel
> Cashman gets to keep his job with all the bonehead
> moves he orchestrated. Next year the Yankees will
> be watching the playoffs from the sidelines and
> they will be begging Torre to come back.


Throw in Igawa, Pavano, Wright, Farnsworth and I'm sure there are 2 or 3 more lame Pitchers Cashman went after....oh yeah, who's the genius who paid Clemens 26 million for what, 12 starts?

Cashman and Randy Levine, more so Levine, stuck the knife in Joe's back.

Anyway...as much as everyone is looking forward to hear what Joe has to say, he will be Joe Torre and be nothing but gracious.

The yankee front office really botched this one.

........... Sad day in Yankees franchise history.. You can disagree about the minutia of managing a baseball game, but you cannot deny Joe Torre his grace under pressure, magnificent leadsership and the dignity with which he refused their paltry and bitch slap of an offer.

Tom Verducci from Sports Illustrated takes the entire Yankees organization to task.....blistering indictment......for anyone interested.......[sportsillustrated.cnn.com]

...............Randy Levine stuck the knife in deep..........disgusting.

Thanks for the SI article...he hit the nail on the head!

That was the stupidest thing Steinbrenner & the Yankees could do. But Steinbrenner made the threats in the media to Torre that Torre would be gone if the Yankees lost. The Yankees lost the series so Steinbrenner either had to fire Torre or go back on his words and lose credibility, if he has any...

Torre is one of the greatest managers ever in baseball. Period.
Now you will see a mass exodus of Yankee stars this off-season.

The Yankees will suck next year.

I hope the Boston Red Sox hire him as a bench coach or 3rd base coach.

GO RED SOX!

Steinbrenner is no longer in control...he suffers from alzheimers. His sons and randy levine are now in charge.

The gang that couldn't shoot straight.

Hey guys I'm already hearing rumours that Don Mattingly might be among the front runners for the Yankee job. That's a big name from the past,but I don't know about his managerial skills or experience. Any buzz yet about possible succesors?

"It's just some friends of mine and they're busting down the door"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-10-19 06:24 by sweetcharmedlife.

Mattingly seems to be the front runner. He is a great Yankee but he seems a little too laid back- not a real take charge kind of guy.

Bingo Wrote:
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> Steinbrenner is no longer in control...he suffers
> from alzheimers. His sons and randy levine are now
> in charge.

Steinbrenner has had alzheimers or other mental deficiencies for at least 30 years and that never stopped him....

the 1 yr offer was just a face saving move. the organization knows that Torre is loved and respected so they couldnt just fire him, so they had to make him an "offer" which they knew he would reject and they would get what they wanted anyway.

Steinbrenner and Al Davis are the two biggest idiots in professional sports ownership.


plexi

Loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong overdue. Sorry people. I'm a diehard yankee fan and I've been wanting Joe's head since the year after the Diamondbacks debacle. He's been done for a long time. Relies far too much on one player and burns them out as a result. For years I've been saying let the home-growns develop instead of going after these high profile players, and this year they finally do - and look they had the same result as the superstars. Imagine if they went with them years ago instead of acquiring an ARod, Giambi, Pavano, Wright, Damon, Renewing Matsui, Abreu, etc. It's time for a change in the Bronx.

Now let's see who's left because the problem is I don't think they'll bring back Posada and Mo without Joe. And let's see Boston fire Francona if they don't make the world series and Joe goes to Boston and brings ARod and Mo with him! I don't really see that one happening but talk about a knife in the back!

I think Mattingly is the heir to Joe's throne, but now the brass isn't even mentioing him. I don't want Giradi in there at all - he's just a younger version of Joe. No emotion, no fire. They need someone with drive and fire like Pinella to whip the overpaid pansies into action.

In addition to Mattingly and Girardi, Tony LaRussa has been mentioned as a possible replacement.

VoodooLounge13 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong
> overdue. Sorry people. I'm a diehard yankee fan
> and I've been wanting Joe's head since the year
> after the Diamondbacks debacle. He's been done
> for a long time. Relies far too much on one
> player and burns them out as a result. For years
> I've been saying let the home-growns develop
> instead of going after these high profile players,
> and this year they finally do - and look they had
> the same result as the superstars. Imagine if
> they went with them years ago instead of acquiring
> an ARod, Giambi, Pavano, Wright, Damon, Renewing
> Matsui, Abreu, etc. It's time for a change in the
> Bronx.
>
> Now let's see who's left because the problem is I
> don't think they'll bring back Posada and Mo
> without Joe. And let's see Boston fire Francona
> if they don't make the world series and Joe goes
> to Boston and brings ARod and Mo with him! I
> don't really see that one happening but talk about
> a knife in the back!
>
> I think Mattingly is the heir to Joe's throne, but
> now the brass isn't even mentioing him. I don't
> want Giradi in there at all - he's just a younger
> version of Joe. No emotion, no fire. They need
> someone with drive and fire like Pinella to whip
> the overpaid pansies into action.


On your first point. I agree, they paid a boatload of money to some shitty Pitchers. Brown, Pavano, clemens, Igawa, Johnson, Farnsworth, Wright and a few others.

Those decisions are made by the front office, those bonehead acquisitions should lower the guillotine on Cashmans head, not Torre's.

In spite of having been provided a dismal Pitching staff, he still led them to the playoffs.

I doubt in my lifetime or your lifetime, we will ever see the yankees have the success they had these past 12 years.

I'm a diehard yankee fan as well, I grew up 10 blocks from yankee stadium, BUT, the people who run the yankees make it very hard to root for them lately.

I'm not sure what I do next season, I was adamantly opposed to the new stadium, and now the way they handled this situation, I may give baseball a rest for awhile.

I guess I'll be paying more attention to Arsenal, ManU, Chelsea ,West Ham etc.

I HATE The Yankees but I always thought Joe was a class act! It really is the management of the Yankees that I loathe, and this is the final insult, the last straw! Joe deserved to be with that team when they move to their new stadium next year, and now he has been shuffled out the door, discarded like Yesterday's Papers! TRUE YANKEE SPIRIT! TRASHY, COLD, LACKING COMPASSION, MONEY-MONGERS! They will reap what they have sown.

VoodooLounge13 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong
> overdue. Sorry people. I'm a diehard yankee fan
> and I've been wanting Joe's head since the year
> after the Diamondbacks debacle.

and so your hatred/dislike of this man blinds you. Whatever decisions,lack of decisions or even bad decisions he may have made, his track record of 12 straight championship caliber seasons , 4 world championships, 6 American league championships and his absolutely masterful seamless direction of the most difficult sports clubhouse/team in the world along with the integrity and class that he brought to the job afforded him a fair offer or a public and honest vote of no confidence by the organizations high command. They failed to do either. I am proud to be a Yankee fan, because their defacto leader, Joe Torre, stood up from the table on principle and said...take this job and shove it!!......that's balls.........that's an icon.....that's what true diehard Yankees fan are feeling today.

I am glad that Joe finally told em to F off but he should have been fired long ago. The blame doesn't entirely rest on the front office I'm sorry. He had some great pitchers in Quantrall and Proctor and he wore em both out. Why did he start Wang on 3 days rest after a Sh-tty start? Shoulda been Moose. Why didn't Jeter bunt with the bases loaded regardless of his track record? If the players loved Joe so much why didn't they show up to play more thru out the season???

I too hate the idea of Yankee Stadium being replaced - it's sacreligious to me and that is just a matter of pure greed.

The Yankees have not been fun to watch or a great team IMHO since O'Neill retired. That is when they stopped playin small ball and started waiting on the long ball, which obviously doesn't win ball games.

Since this is basically/originally a european fansite, shouldn't this be discussed on Shidoobee ??????

No, that's a Rolling Stones message board. LOL

Lighten up Doc, there are more pressing matters in life.

Doc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Since this is basically/originally a european
> fansite, shouldn't this be discussed on Shidoobee
> ??????

If a thread doesn't interest you, simply don't click on it and read it. I do that all the time.

mickschix Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I HATE The Yankees but I always thought Joe was a
> class act! It really is the management of the
> Yankees that I loathe, and this is the final
> insult, the last straw! Joe deserved to be with
> that team when they move to their new stadium next
> year, and now he has been shuffled out the door,
> discarded like Yesterday's Papers! TRUE YANKEE
> SPIRIT! TRASHY, COLD, LACKING COMPASSION,
> MONEY-MONGERS! They will reap what they have sown.

Wouldn't it be ironic if Torre went to Boston
and took them to the Series?

VoodooLounge13 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am glad that Joe finally told em to F off but he
> should have been fired long ago. The blame
> doesn't entirely rest on the front office I'm
> sorry. He had some great pitchers in Quantrall
> and Proctor and he wore em both out. Why did he
> start Wang on 3 days rest after a Sh-tty start?
> Shoulda been Moose. Why didn't Jeter bunt with
> the bases loaded regardless of his track record?
> If the players loved Joe so much why didn't they
> show up to play more thru out the season???
>
> I too hate the idea of Yankee Stadium being
> replaced - it's sacreligious to me and that is
> just a matter of pure greed.
>
> The Yankees have not been fun to watch or a great
> team IMHO since O'Neill retired. That is when
> they stopped playin small ball and started waiting
> on the long ball, which obviously doesn't win ball
> games.

Like I said before Torre has made some questionable moves but he doesn't deserve any more blame than others like Levine and Cashman. Levine joined the Yanks in 2000 and only took part in one championship vice Torre who won four, so who is Levine to wiggle off the hook? Proctor was a bozo to begin with so you can't blame Torre for ruining him. Everytime he came into a game he would give up a run or two. Wang was the goat this postseason but it had nothing to do with short rest. If you get bombed in the first couple innings it's not a short rest issue.

Personally I would have started Mussina not because Wang was on short rest- but because Wang got bombed in game one. In regards to the new stadium I hate to see it happen too but Yankee Stadium is ancient. Giant's stadium is being replaced and it was built in the seventees. In this day and age it is not suprising they are replacing Yankee Stadium but yes it is disappointing.

Some interesting comments from Joe at the Press Conference today. It appears as if he will listen to offers from other teams right away. I thought he may take a year or two off from managing.

Feel REAL sorry for him. By the way, when was the last time we got a smile out of him.

Off topic.

PS. IORR is NOT a European site.
There are visitors from all over the world.
Still. This is very off topic for most of the world,
but most of all it is not Stones related as far as I know.

Bjornulf