new york daily news: torre to be canned

The evidence dates back to the Ed Whitson years.

 

I know what you're saying, but there's a whole different dynamic in NY. They have to create a buzz that's going to sell expensive tickets and make the TV games a hot number. They need names in lights and headlines.

And, really, the fact they can prevail over a 162-game schedule speaks to their success. Short series tend to be crapshoots or abnormally influenced by Jeffrey Maier or Steve Bartman.

For every mistake at the major league level like Carl Pavano or Dave Collins, there's a big failure in the farm system like Brien Taylor or Drew Henson.

 

It is ALWAYS better to have more payroll.

If you make bad decisions, that's another issue.

Of course, all that money allows you to make a couple mistakes.

 

shockey's post was the key one. Bill Madden is very close with Piniella. When Lou left Seattle, there was a time when it looked like he was going to manage the Mets instead of Tampa. But the Mariners demanded compensation from the Mets, saying if Piniella really wanted to leave so he could be closer to his family, they would let him go to the Devil Rays without issue. But he wasn't going to New York without a fight.

Madden clobbered everyone on that story, because he had the best source -- Piniella himself. If there is anything going on with the Yankees, Madden would know.

If Piniella does go there, Madden's book "Damn Yankees" (with Moss Klein) is something everyone who covers them should read. I'd recommend it to everyone, because it's one of the funniest things ever written.

 

In that context, what's to say Madden isn't floating a trial balloon on Piniella's behalf? Yankeeland is in an uproar, so put out the idea that Lou is under consideration to replace Torre and maybe it pushes things in that direction.

 

That's certainly possible, Smasher. I should have included that scenario in my post.

 

Will Lou keep Mattingly as a coach? I thought the Yankees were grooming Donnie Baseball to eventually be their manager.

 

Someone else said it, but I'll reiterate: Girardi couldn't deal with the Marlins owner. How's he going to deal with George?

 

Thank you, Simone.

 

Not that I think Girardi is going to get this job, but Girardi knew very well his life wasn't over
when he flipped Florida off.

 

Agree wholeheartedly about "Damned Yankees" (cq). I still have a dog-eared paperback of that book, and its one of my favorite baseball books ever. I think it does well to explain how history may be repeating itself.

As the book chronicles, the Yankees had a great organization in the late '70s and the key to that was that it was a team of some superstars mixed in with good players (Piniella, Roy White) who weren't marquee players. Then when Steinbrenner decided he had to sign every big name as a free agent, deplete the farm system and meddle in operations more and more, it became a team that was a good one more years than not, but could never make the playoffs.

Now the same thing seems to be happening in that Steinbrenner doesn't understand the effect character guys like Brosius, Tino and O'Neill had when they were mixed in with the big guns like Jeter, Bernie and Rivera, the farm system is pretty dry and seems to want to get more and more involved again. The only difference is that now they always make the expanded postseason, but they can just never seem to get that big prize.

 

Hey, Yogi's still out there...