Was Torre’s Offer Insulting?
Before I start this blog, I want to clear any thoughts that I might be focusing only on the Yankees and Red Sox. The truth is that I hate it when ESPN and other media outlets spend eighty percent of their time focusing on two of all the teams in the major leagues. With that said, the sports stories are slow this time of the year with so few teams in play. And with the Yankees in the midst of many big stories, such as A-Rod’s impending free agency and the current Torre dismissal, it seems relevant to talk about them.
OK, so back to the Torre story. After reports that Steinbrenner and the Yankees would just straight-up fire Torre, the team ended up making him an offer to return. Five million dollars over one season. There were two main complaints Torre had with this offer. One, the team decreased his salary from the previous season despite his overwhelming success over his twelve-year tenure. Two, it was a one year deal that basically made Joe into a lame duck.
So was this offer really that insulting? To most of us, five million dollars to manage a team is not a bad thing. But would any of us be happy with a pay cut? After your boss publicly stated his dissatisfaction with your work? Probably not. Joe Torre had good reason to feel under-appreciated and not wanted, and it made perfect sense for him to turn down his insulting offer.
What the Yankees don’t seem to understand is the next manager is not going to have it easier. How is a new manager going to take over the team, with the same pitching and age problems, and turn them back into a World Series winner? How are they going to deal with the pressure of managing in New York? I wouldn’t be surprised to see the team take a drastic downturn and miss the playoffs next year.
Joe Torre deserves all the praise and all the credit for the Yankees success. Any other team in the major leagues would have given him a lifetime contract for his results. Too bad the one team that won’t was the one he managed.
