By the time this article hits the newsstands, we’ll almost certainly have an answer to the question that’s been asked every postseason since 2003 – was this Joe Torre’s last season as the manager of the New York Yankees?
At this stage, all signs point to yes – from George Steinbrenner’s typically boneheaded ultimatum after the Yankees fell behind the Cleveland Indians 2-0 in the American League Division Series to Torre’s postgame comments following the 6-4 loss in Game 4 that eliminated the Yanks from the playoffs and propelled the Indians into an ALCS matchup with the Boston Red Sox. After the Yankees lost the first two games of the series in Cleveland, Steinbrenner, the venerable Yanks owner who perpetually spouts off whenever the team is going through a down stretch – as they were when they started the year 21-29 and looked like a long shot to make the playoffs –was quoted in a New Jersey paper as saying that Torre was managing for his job. “I think we’re paying him a lot of money. He’s the highest-paid manager in baseball, so I don’t think we’d take him back if we don’t win this series,” he said.
And after losing to the Indians, Torre spoke in detached terms at the postgame press conference, saying, “This ballclub, they have a great future,” and clearly distancing himself from the team that may soon no longer be his. For what it’s worth, Torre handled the questions about his job security with grace, each time noting that the pressure of New York means that he’s perpetually on the hot seat and that Steinbrenner has always called the shots for the Yankees. But that doesn’t mean that Steinbrenner is always correct, and I hope that for the Yankees’ sake, Torre is around next spring.
I’m not a big fan of making changes just to shake things up, particularly since this offseason may do that to the Yankees whether or not Torre is retained. The soul of the team – in talent, spirit and heart – could be moving on, although it’s doubtful that all of the team’s possible free agents (including Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte and Alex Rodriguez) will leave New York. But if even one of those players moves on, combined with the possible dismissal of Torre, that will signal the very real end of a dynasty in New York. And faced with the uncertainly of a sizable defection of talent from the Bronx, not to mention the continual grooming of the team’s young stars (Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, Philip Hughes, Ian Kennedy and superstar-in-the-making Joba Chamberlain), Torre’s steady hand and demeanor would be a welcome presence on the bench.
There are those who would argue that Torre has worn out his welcome in New York, lost the ability to properly motivate his stars and become a questionable manager of his bullpen. Those aren’t new arguments against Torre, and every time it seems like the Torre Era has run its course, the team manages to right itself. This year was a perfect example. Many were calling for Torre to be fired after the Yankees’ poor start, never mind the crushing slumps being endured by Robinson Cano, Hideki Matsui and Bobby Abreu and the rash of injuries that destroyed the Yankee rotation and led to a solid month of Darrell Rastner, Jeff Karstens and Chase Wright starts.
But as soon as players got healthy and on-track, the team began to resemble the Yankee teams that Torre has managed for the last 12 seasons, going on a monumental late-season run to clinch Torre’s 12th postseason appearance as a Yankee, 10 of which have division titles. Torre deserves serious consideration for the AL Manager of the Year award, and although managers have been dismissed after being so honored (rumored Joe Torre replacement Joe Giradi was canned after winning Manager of the Year in Florida in 2006), Torre doesn’t deserve that fate.
Speaking of possible replacements, the name tossed about most frequently is that of bench coach and ex-Yankee captain Don Mattingly, who will no doubt make a good manager one day and has been groomed for the job since being hired after the 2003 season. But after serving only three seasons as the team’s hitting coach before this one, Mattingly would be thrown directly into the fire should Torre not be offered another contract. Players fiercely loyal to Torre (including Rodriguez, Posado and Derek Jeter, among others) would have to adjust to a new coaching style, and Torre’s leaving could affect whether some of the players decide to even return to New York.
In a way, the final 24 hours of the Yankees’ season was a microcosm for the end of the era they are now facing – first, Roger Clemens was removed from the playoff roster, a move that was as symbolically important (another big-money contract that didn’t pan out) as it was to the team’s pitching depth. Then, Cleveland centerfielder Grady Sizemore hit the third pitch of the game from Yankees’ ace Chien Ming-Wang over the wall, putting the Yanks on the ropes from the start. There was little suspense as the night went on, even as the Yankees tried to claw their way back from an early 6-1 deficit, and home runs by Abreu and Rodriguez couldn’t keep the aging Yanks from being brushed aside by the younger and deeper Indians.
Even if you question Torre’s decision to bring Wang back on three days’ rest (and all conventional wisdom suggests that Wang’s signature pitch, a heavy sinker, would be more effective with a tired arm), it was not him out there hitting into double plays (the usually clutch Jeter) or batting below .200 for the series (Matsui and Posada). And even if you accept the fact that this Yankee team doesn’t resemble the ones that won four world titles under Torre (and there’s no question that it doesn’t), Torre hasn’t played much of a role in the construction of this squad. That has fallen largely to Steinbrenner and general manager Brian Cashman, and Torre is simply playing the sometimes injury-prone and ineffective cards he has been dealt. To cast him away now, when the Yankees need a steadying presence more than ever, would be tantamount to announcing a rebuilding effort, something it’s almost impossible to imagine them doing.
With Torre gone, it’s questionable whether Posada would return. Pettite would probably leave. And the Yankees would enter next season with the uncertainly of a new manager at the helm. What if the Yankees fail to make the postseason next year under Mattingly or Girardi? Will Steinbrenner be quick with the hook then, too? And would the next step be a downward spiral back into the days of the 1980s, when the Yankees couldn’t get out of their own way and Steinbrenner was in the midst of a nearly annual managerial changing pattern?
Although pressure always runs high in the Bronx, Joe Torre is still the man for the job. Of course, if he’s gone by the time you read this, the Yankees will still have a team ready for next spring. But it will be the beginning of the end for baseball’s last dynasty.