Does anyone still think the Yankees should have kept Joe Torre as manager? I’m not looking for comments on the way the Yankees released him, but the actual decision to let him go. He’s not exactly marching the Dodgers into the post season at this point.
I think you hit the nail on the head. Torre really isn’t lighting it on fire in LA. Girardi’s had to deal with a lot of injuries and serious under-performance from guys like Hughes, Kennedy, and Cabrera who were counted on rather heavily (fair or not) for some production, especially the two young pitchers considering they made up 40% of the rotation and considering the Johan trade situation. Cashman is taking the blame for the season, but they are still a pretty good team overall. They just aren’t “that” good. I doubt Torre would have made a difference, although he always found a way to bring the Yankees back when it seemed they were done. Then again, who can really win with a rotation of Rasner, Giese, and Ponson.
This is kind of scary because I was thinking of this precise question before I logged on. Anyway, I think you are right. The decision would be looking a lot worse if the Dodgers were playing any better than they are, but it would be very difficult to argue that the Yanks would be playing any better under Torre.
It’s not Girardi’s fault that Cano and Melky were terrible and Posada and Matsui got hurt. Girardi has done a better job managing the bullpen than Torre could ever imagine doing. Looks to me like the Yankees made a wise choice.
Last time I looked closely at the Dodgers stats, I found myself wondering why the #3 slot in the order wasn’t producing as well as the #1 & #2. I mean, com’on… #3 is very important for an offense. I don’t know if that’s changed since mid-July, but I started questioning what Torre was doing at that point. You don’t let your #3 batters stay in slumps that long without making a big change in the lineup. I think he’s mismanaged the Dodgers… that team really has what it takes to win the NL West despite the injuries they had. This division should be easy to grab… but the Dodgers are looking like they’re trying not to take it.
I have to wonder… if Torre was in NY this year, would the Yankees be heading into September below .500? I think they might.
Torre’s strength was always in managing the egos of his players and managing the interface between the players and the ravenous NY media. He’s not that good an in-game tactician, he’s not good at picking lineups, he’s bad at running a bullpen, and he’s in love with veterans over youth. The Yankees were a great place to showcase his strengths. With the way Coletti builds a team, LA is a good place to showcase his weaknesses.
The Boss George Era is dying a natural death. That’s all. Nothing more….nothing less. From this moment foward, the Yanks need a new business model. 35 years of paying a premium to fill a roster and little to no results in grooming minor leaguers for major league play, has run it’s course. This is the way it ends folks. Don’t be surprised if the Yankees are sold in the next 5 years. Torre…Girardi…..it really doesn’t matter. But since this is what I was supposed to respond to……I say Torre had a way of making you feel guilty for lapses in hustle. Girardi may garner respect from his players, but I don’t think they would go through a wall like they may have for Torre. It was time for Torre to move on. It’s also time the Yanks reconsider how they do business.
The Boss George Era is dying a natural death. That’s all. Nothing more….nothing less. From this moment foward, the Yanks need a new business model. 35 years of paying a premium to fill a roster and little to no results in grooming minor leaguers for major league play, has run it’s course. This is the way it ends folks. Don’t be surprised if the Yankees are sold in the next 5 years. Torre…Girardi…..it really doesn’t matter. But since this is what I was supposed to respond to……I say Torre had a way of making you feel guilty for lapses in hustle. Girardi may garner respect from his players, but I don’t think they would go through a wall like they may have for Torre. It was time for Torre to move on. It’s also time the Yanks reconsider how they do business.
The Boss George Era is dying a natural death. That’s all. Nothing more….nothing less. From this moment foward, the Yanks need a new business model. 35 years of paying a premium to fill a roster and little to no results in grooming minor leaguers for major league play, has run it’s course. This is the way it ends folks. Don’t be surprised if the Yankees are sold in the next 5 years. Torre…Girardi…..it really doesn’t matter. But since this is what I was supposed to respond to……I say Torre had a way of making you feel guilty for lapses in hustle. Girardi may garner respect from his players, but I don’t think they would go through a wall like they may have for Torre. It was time for Torre to move on. It’s also time the Yanks reconsider how they do business.
don’t ask me why my entry posted 3 times.
I dunno. The Yanks have been staving off complete disaster for the past few years. It seemed to me that Torre helped rally the troops when it really counted and get that team into the playoffs. This year, it would take a miracle for the Yanks to get to the playoffs. Sure, underperformance and injuries are a huge part of it, but what about leadership? How do Girardi’s differences from Torre matter? It’s almost impossible to say. But, I don’t think the Dodger’s floundering make it easy, necessarily, to say that the same would be happening for the Yanks right now. Leco is right: It’s a natural death; their window is closing.
Hey Denton…..I agree totally with you about the Yanks staving off disaster for several years now. The last 3 years they’ve had to work exceedingly harder each year to make postseason play. It was a great run….but it’s coming to an end as we knew it.
How does Brian Cashman get a pass for this season? He’s not Bill Bavasi bad but he has to be the main target for blame, doesn’t he? I mean it’s one thing to have an aging bad team, or a low-payroll bad team, but what about having an aging bad high payroll team? It’s like Kevin Malone with twice the payroll.
However, he’s good for the rest of baseball because could you imagine a competent GM with at least double the payroll of nearly every other team?
Agreed, Tom. Cashman spins better than most acomplished politicians. Now he has spun a web re home grown youth. While that is a solid way to build passing on Santana was absurd. The NY Yankees let one of the game’s best go to the Mets because Cash wants to hold all his kids? Garbage.
Of more immediate interest, will Cashman get real and deal? They are not making the playoffs. Several veteran players could bring back prospects. They have no value to the Bombers, the team is looking to the future, no? The Yanks must be sellers here, rt?