Joe Torre Insulted By Offer

George Steinbrenner is a jerk, and has this Yankee fan Mad as Hell!! We have a manager that gets our team to the post season 12 times in a row, and 4 world series, and he insults him, with pay cut. All Good Yankee Fans should contact the team and let them know that this is Crap, and we sill not allow a winning manager to be treated like a loser!! This is a bit of news that is being broadcast on the web and in regular media outlets.

Joe Torre says he was insulted by the incentives attached to the New York Yankees contract offer he rejected this week, thereby ending his 12-year spell as manager. "The incentives I took as an insult," the 67-year-old told a packed news conference at a hotel near his New York home on Friday. He had been offered a one-year contract to stay, with a basic pay of $5 million and a $1 million bonus for each level of playoffs reached. Torre steered the Yankees to the playoffs in each of his 12 seasons at the helm. His teams won four World Series but had not claimed the championship since 2000.

Joe Torre thanked the Yankees for a wonderful 12 years, shook owner George Steinbrenner's hand, and assuredly shut the door on his tenure as Yankees manager by rejecting a one-year, incentive-laden contract that he felt was insulting, he told reporters on Friday. Torre addressed the media less than 24 hours after dropping yesterday's bombshell, turning down an offer of $5 million with postseason incentives to return to the team in 2008, a deal that many believed was the team's way to get rid of him diplomatically.


The beloved Yankees manager explained that terms of the contract and its presentation were the main reasons that he turned down their offer. "The fact that somebody is reducing your salary is telling me they're not satisfied with what you're doing. I think it was the way it was offered, not so much with the numbers involved," he said. "Incentives, to me, I took that as an insult." He made it clear that had the contract been guaranteed for two years and perhaps offered in a more timely manner, he might not be holding the news conference on Friday. "To me if somebody wants you to do a job, if it takes them two weeks to figure out that, 'Yeah, we wanna do this or we should do this,' you're a little suspicious. For me to say I was very surprised by the nature of the offer, I wasn't very surprised," he said. Still, despite saying he felt "discouraged" by the offer, Torre thanked the players, the organization, and owner George Steinbrenner "for giving me the opportunity and trusting me with his club for the last 12 years."


And as that 12-year reign comes to an end, the search begins for the team's next skipper who will slip on a pair of shoes that could at first be somewhat uncomfortable to knot up. Team executives are confident they'll find a worthy successor, however, and they'll have plenty of experienced hands waving in the air" [General Manager Brian] Cashman is hard at work doing the search for who will succeed Joe," Yankees President Randy Levine said Friday.

The most obvious choice and likely the favorite to move into Torre's office is former Yankee great Don Mattingly, who Torre named bench coach following the 2006 season. Don Mattingly on Friday morning was asked about the position, but he declined to comment in respect to Torre. Mattingly did release a statement regarding Torre's decision, however. "Joe Torre exhibits class, dignity and a winning attitude both on and off the field. Those of us who coached or played under Joe know he is someone very, very special," he said.

Joe Girardi, who was named Manager of the Year in 2006 after just one season with the Florida Marlins, is also a former Yankees bench coach and player, and should be Mattingly's main competition for the gig, which Girardi called "a great job." Girardi turned down an offer to manage the Baltimore Orioles earlier this season when Sam Perlozzo was fired, and it was widely speculated that he wanted to hold out for the Bronx.

As for other candidates, some insiders say Tony La Russa, who currently manages St. Louis Cardinals Manager and is a four-time Manager of the Year, could be considered. La Russa has twice managed in the American League, managing the Chicago White Sox and the Oakland Athletics in the 1980s and 1990s. He guided the Cardinals to the World Series title in 2006, and the A's to the championship in 1989. Even former Mets manager Bobby Valentine, who currently manages the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan's Pacific League, could be called back into the Big Apple for a bite of the big leagues.


"I think there are any number of good candidates. I think Don Mattingly is the favorite right now, I think Donny would do a good job. Joe Girardi is probably right after him, and I think Joe has proven that he can manage in the big leagues," Yankees broadcaster and 1050 ESPN Radio host Michael Kay said Friday. While the Yankees seem ready to move on, Kay isn't completely convinced that the doors have actually closed on the Joe Torre era. "I think what the Yankees will probably do is gauge the fans' reaction and if a lot of people are in favor of it, they'll leave it alone. But if a lot of people are against Joe Torre not coming back, they might revisit it so I wouldn't say it's 100 percent closed," Kay said.


Torre threw the chances of that happening out the window on Friday, however. "I don't anticipate it happening based on the fact that, to me, that if someone wanted me to manage here, I'd be managing here," he said. Of course, Torre could also soon opt to manage elsewhere, something he acknowledged might happen sooner than later. "That would depend on sitting with someone and discussing what it would be all about," he said. "Right now my contract runs until Dec. 1 here, but I think that's just the way it was written. I'm free to listen now."


Steinbrenner needs to rethink this ridiculous offer, change it and get our winning manager back, before we have a losing season next year!! George you are rich, and own the Team, but you're still a jerk and Torre is still a Winning Manager!!

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