Master Index of Archived Threads


MFY Press Conference

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 18 2007 01:54 PM

4pm

Frayed Knot Oct 18 2007 02:00 PM

Hello Joe, he ain't gonna go, Me-oh-My-oh Reports have it as being a one-year deal with a club option for 2009 - and most likely at a pay-cut as compared to the ~$7mil/yr rate from the just completed contract. Kind of makes Steinbrenner's pronouncement from last week sound kind of hollow and makes George sound like and aging wolf who's lost his bite. Maybe this was the result of a compromise between those who wanted to keep him and the George faction (whoever that is these days). The pro-Joe-ites got to keep their man but didn't get a multi-year deal (making it easier to can him mid-season next year if things are going south) and had to cut his pay so as to show him he done wrong by not winning the whole shebang for lo these many years.

metirish Oct 18 2007 02:04 PM

What about Don Mattingly ?, not ready yet as reports are saying?

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 18 2007 02:07 PM

They have Joe out there now. Just to make sure the message doesn't get lost, Joe has offered to eat aqn entire plate of shit.

metirish Oct 18 2007 02:08 PM

Anyone crying yet?

Farmer Ted Oct 18 2007 02:09 PM

Me thinks that they have a few guys not willing to re-sign if Joe goes. So this gives them one more year with the sap. Wusses.

Farmer Ted Oct 18 2007 02:10 PM

So much for not trying to upstage the ALCS with this horseshit.

metirish Oct 18 2007 02:11 PM

I don't think for one second that Posada or Rivera give a discount because Torre is staying, they'll follow the money no matter who the manager is.

Elster88 Oct 18 2007 02:11 PM

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: They have Joe out there now. Just to make sure the message doesn't get lost, Joe has offered to eat aqn entire plate of shit. ="Farmer Ted"]Me thinks that they have a few guys not willing to re-sign if Joe goes. So this gives them one more year with the sap. Wusses. Ummm, you guys? What are you listening to? Joe turned them down.

sharpie Oct 18 2007 02:11 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Oct 18 2007 02:12 PM

That "I won't sign if Joe goes" stuff is crap. If the money was right Rivera, Posada, alla those guys would've re-signed with Mattingly in there or Girardi or LaRussa or whomever. (on edit): Now I guess we'll see.

Farmer Ted Oct 18 2007 02:11 PM

This is classic. ESPN reports a one year extension. CNNSI reports Torre rejects a one year deal.

Frayed Knot Oct 18 2007 02:12 PM

NOT SO FAST!!!! Joe Torre has [u:cc1f76db36]TURNED DOWN[/u:cc1f76db36] the team's offer of a 1-year plus option at a reduced rate plus various "incentives" based on progress in the post-season. NYYs will now start looking for a new manager.

Edgy DC Oct 18 2007 02:14 PM

I'm so CONFUSED!

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 18 2007 02:14 PM

Yay Joe!

Benjamin Grimm Oct 18 2007 02:14 PM

Good for him! He should have told them to fuck off a week ago. Better late than never, though.

Mr. Zero Oct 18 2007 02:15 PM

Way to go, Joe!

metirish Oct 18 2007 02:15 PM

Of all the dramatic things I have read in here this beats them all.

Edgy DC Oct 18 2007 02:17 PM

JOE TAWREY IS IN JAWJE'S BOX RIGHT NOW TELLING HIM TO STUFF IT! OH, MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS, HE'S GROWN A PAIR!!

bmfc1 Oct 18 2007 02:17 PM

Oh my goodness gracious!

bmfc1 Oct 18 2007 02:17 PM

That's TWICE Edgy!

metirish Oct 18 2007 02:24 PM

I was confused by this thread, turns out Torre was not at the conference call, Randy Levine who was on the conference call said Torre had left.

Frayed Knot Oct 18 2007 02:24 PM

Yancy Street Gang wrote: Good for him! He should have told them to fuck off a week ago. Better late than never, though. I still like it this way better. If Joe just preemptively quit the upper crust could always claim that they really wanted him back but that he backed out before they ever made an offer. This way it shows that there was an element of wanting to "punish" him for "only" getting to round 1 the last few years as both the pay and the vesting of the option were conditional on how far the team made it into the playoffs. That he made them make the offer and THEN turned it down puts more of the onus on them IMO.

Edgy DC Oct 18 2007 02:26 PM

bmfc1 wrote: That's TWICE Edgy! Irish gets the blue ribbon there. I agree with Knot. Leave them holding a contract and a pen.

metsmarathon Oct 18 2007 02:28 PM

such a classy organization, those yankees. ="espn"]The Yankees offered Torre a one-year deal with a base salary of $5 million and incentives that would have increased his salary to $8 million based on postseason performance. Under that offer, if Torre reached the World Series in 2008, an option for 2009 would have vested. "We felt we needed to go to a performance-based mode," team president Randy Levine said. "We thought it was very fair. It clearly was at the top of the market, but we respect Joe's decision."

Benjamin Grimm Oct 18 2007 02:31 PM

Yes, that's true. It did turn out nicer that the Yankees said, Joe, come back, and he said no. But if I were Torre, I wouldn't have let it get this far; I wouldn't have given them the chance to announce that they didn't want me back.

metirish Oct 18 2007 02:33 PM

The papers for the next several days are going to be a mess, I'll be avoiding them I hope.

Mr. Zero Oct 18 2007 02:33 PM

I think this offer was designed so that torre had to refuse. Will the next candidate be given the performance based clauses?

Nymr83 Oct 18 2007 02:38 PM

it probably depends who they hire. no respectable established manager is going to go for that shit, especially on a 1 year deal. of course if they want to offer a market-rate 3 year deal and THEN add the bonuses i doubt anyone finds them as insulting as they clearly were here.

sharpie Oct 18 2007 02:51 PM

Thing is, they can't not offer the next manager a performance-based deal. That's why it'll probably be Mattingly or someone who has no leverage.

Benjamin Grimm Oct 18 2007 02:53 PM

Mattingly's recent whimpering about how he's "not ready" should rule him out, for this year and probably forever. They should hire a guy who wants the job.

Mr. Zero Oct 18 2007 02:56 PM

Willie?

Valadius Oct 18 2007 02:57 PM

I'm betting Girardi gets it, and gets fired after one year or less.

Frayed Knot Oct 18 2007 02:59 PM

They won't have to give the next guy a performance-based deal because they'll be able to pay him approx half what they were paying Torre. What they apparently objected to was that they got it in their heads that they were paying him approx double what any other mgr was making BECAUSE he reached the WS every year then got pissed when that run ended.

Frayed Knot Oct 18 2007 03:01 PM

Yancy Street Gang wrote: Mattingly's recent whimpering about how he's "not ready" should rule him out, for this year and probably forever. They should hire a guy who wants the job. Mattingly denied ever saying that. ]Willie? How, he's under contract?

sharpie Oct 18 2007 03:05 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Oct 18 2007 03:13 PM

Frayed Knot wrote: ]They won't have to give the next guy a performance-based deal because they'll be able to pay him approx half what they were paying Torre. What they apparently objected to was that they got it in their heads that they were paying him approx double what any other mgr was making BECAUSE he reached the WS every year then got pissed when that run ended. This would make it unlikely that they would hire a guy like Tony LaRussa, however. He would insist on big money and no performance-based deal. He's actually won more games than Torre.

Mr. Zero Oct 18 2007 03:08 PM

]Willie? How, he's under contract? wishful thinking.

Centerfield Oct 18 2007 03:16 PM

There's alway Lee Mazzili. You'd have to assume Lee would forgive them for firing him and all that.

Frayed Knot Oct 18 2007 05:29 PM

]This would make it unlikely that they would hire a guy like Tony LaRussa, however. He would insist on big money and no performance-based deal. He's actually won more games than Torre. Even LaRussa is/would be making about half Torre's ~$7.5 In short, no matter who they hire they'll be saving money on the manager. I just find it funny - and Joe likely found it insulting - that they decided that a form a "incentive-based motivation" (their words) was needed for a guy who led them to the playoffs 12 straight years.

Edgy DC Oct 18 2007 05:51 PM

Girardi has got to be the 2-3 favorite.

Benjamin Grimm Oct 18 2007 06:15 PM

I really hope the next Yankee manager's name isn't Bobby Valentine. Knowing the Yankees' penchant for subverting Mets history, it's something that could happen.

metirish Oct 18 2007 06:27 PM

I really hope the game tonight is not ruined with Torre talk, yes talk about it but please don't ram it down our throats all night.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 18 2007 08:01 PM

Mr. Zero wrote: Willie? That would be great. As it is they prolly wind up with Valentine whose team conveniently fell out of the playoffs yesterday.

metirish Oct 18 2007 08:44 PM

I don't think Valentine would want to work under the management system the Yankees have , in Japan he runs everything at his club , that's not going to happen at the Yankees. Bobby V might be too much personality for them to control.

Edgy DC Oct 18 2007 09:15 PM

In the Bronx, he'd have the most prestigious job in his field and be forty minutes from his home base. I doubt he wouldn't invite Brian Cashman in for tea and hear him out. It'd be one job his Japanese fan base wouldn't resent him for going home for. And the Yankees would have his Nipponocelebrity working for their marketing department.

DocTee Oct 18 2007 09:40 PM

Larry Bowa, anyone? He can play Billy Martin to Steinbrenner, Jr.

metirish Oct 19 2007 06:52 AM

From Newsday regarding candidates. ] 4. Bobby Valentine. Have you heard of him? Valentine, who just completed his fourth season in his second term as manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines, may have his share of detractors, but Cashman and Steinbrenner admire his work. Valentine has two years left, at $4 million per season, in his deal with the Marines. However, he does have the ability to opt out of it. Reached last night in Japan, where his team just lost a postseason series to the Nippon Ham Fighters, Valentine said, "I haven't had any time to think about [the Yankees' opening]. But I will sometime."

Frayed Knot Oct 19 2007 07:22 AM

Gammons suggested this morning that the Yanx would be nuts not to talk to Valentine, but ultimately thought that he'd be viewed as too volatile for their tastes. Meanwhile, BP's Nate Silver pretty much nails things on the head: This was not a serious offer to Joe Torre. Nobody with any modicum of self-pride would be willing to accept a 33% pay cut at a late stage of his career, which is what this ultimately amounts to, from a base of $7.5 million in 2007 to $5.0 million in 2008. And nobody with any tangible sense of the randomness inherent to postseason baseball would be willing to give much benefit of the doubt to incentive clauses that are difficult to achieve under the best of circumstances, and which have little to do with one’s own performance. No. This offer was a public relations stunt, designed to make it look as though the Yankees had not put Joe Torre out to pasture. It was not an offer that had any chance of being accepted, nor was it an offer that that had any chance of facilitating future discussions. It was an insulting offer, quite frankly, and a conversation-ender. That is not to a render a judgment about what Joe Torre is ultimately worth to the Yankees. Very probably, the marginal revenue that Torre produces is not worth $7.5 million more than what Don Mattingly would give you, nor is it worth $5.0 million more. But it’s not like Torre went from being worth $7.5 million yesterday to $5.0 million today, just because the Yankees lost three out of four games to another very talented baseball club. If it were my business, I would not have made this offer. I would have offered Joe Torre more, or I wouldn’t have made him an offer at all. I can’t entirely blame the Yankees for trying to triangulate the situation. But I hope that people see this offer for what it was.

seawolf17 Oct 19 2007 07:33 AM

="metsmarathon"]such a classy organization, those yankees. ="espn"]The Yankees offered Torre a one-year deal with a base salary of $5 million and incentives that would have increased his salary to $8 million based on postseason performance. Under that offer, if Torre reached the World Series in 2008, an option for 2009 would have vested. "We felt we needed to go to a performance-based mode," team president Randy Levine said. "We thought it was very fair. It clearly was at the top of the market, but we respect Joe's decision." Yeah, no kidding. Because six league championships in twelve years sucks ass. Fuckin' great move by Torre. Love it. Anyone but Bobby V is good by me.

metirish Oct 19 2007 07:41 AM

I liked the line Lupica used today, Torre fired Stienbrenner and the Yankees.

Benjamin Grimm Oct 19 2007 07:53 AM

seawolf17 wrote: Anyone but Bobby V is good by me. If I could choose the next Yankees manager, I'd pick Richard Simmons.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 19 2007 07:58 AM

I hope they move heaven and Earth and Robinson Cano to get Lou Pinella.

Edgy DC Oct 19 2007 10:07 AM

That would be fun. Any chance that the Yankees get crazy and turn around with a new offer?

metirish Oct 19 2007 10:24 AM

I would say no chance, they are probably not all that bothered that Torre turned them down, Cashman might have really wanted him back but Levine and the rest probably don't care. They'll deal with the fallout the next few days and move on, it will be interesting to hear what Torre has to say at his press conference later today.

Frayed Knot Oct 19 2007 10:30 AM

Considering that most believe that Torre leaving was the ultimate aim of Yanqui brass, I don't think there's much chance of that. Torre to hold some sort of press meeting this afternoon.

seawolf17 Oct 19 2007 10:38 AM

Wouldn't it just be great if Torre went out this afternoon in flames, just ripping the hell out of the organization, outing Derek and Alex, and exposing the fact that the Boss died six years ago and that he's been replaced by an animatronic version? That'd be the best sports story ever.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 19 2007 10:43 AM

seawolf17 wrote: Wouldn't it just be great if Torre went out this afternoon in flames, just ripping the hell out of the organization, outing Derek and Alex, and exposing the fact that the Boss died six years ago and that he's been replaced by an animatronic version? That'd be the best sports story ever. Yes. Yes it would.

Edgy DC Oct 19 2007 10:49 AM

ESPN The Magazine is working on a great story about the great story that's coming along those lines.

Valadius Oct 19 2007 11:00 AM

I'd buy a tell-all book from Torre about all the shit he had to put up with the last 12 years.

metirish Oct 19 2007 11:28 AM

Cashman might have the better book in the end.

TransMonk Oct 19 2007 11:37 AM

="seawolf17"]...outing Derek and Alex... ="Edgy DC"]ESPN The Magazine is working on a great story about the great story that's coming along those lines. Now that would be salacious.

metirish Oct 19 2007 12:52 PM

Nothing much here. ] RYE, N.Y. -- Joe Torre told his side of the story Friday, saying the incentives in the New York Yankees' contract offer were an "insult." "I just felt the contract offer, the terms of the contract, were probably the thing I had the toughest time with -- the one year for one thing, the incentives for another thing," Torre said of his reasons for declining the offer. "I've been there 12 years and I didn't think motivation was needed." "We knew exactly what was expected here," he said, "So, I just didn't think it was the right thing for me, I just didn't think it was the right thing for my players." Torre, who won four World Series with the Yankees and made the playoffs each of his 12 seasons, on Thursday turned down a one-year offer that would have cut his base pay to $5 million, a reduction of $2.5 million, but offered $3 million in performance-based incentives and an $8 million option for 2009 if the Yankees won the 2008 AL pennant. Torre, who had just completed a $19.2 million, three-year contract, turned down the deal after meeting for an hour in Tampa with team owner George Steinbrenner, his sons Hal and Hank and team management. Torre, who thanked the team, its fans and Steinbrenner, said that the Thursday meeting went 20 minutes and that there was no negotiation on the proposed contract terms. Asked if he would return if the team reconsidered, Torre said he wasn't expecting that to happen. He said committment, not money, was the biggest factor. "I like to work with people -- there's a certain trust that has to be earned and forged in order to have the commitment to follow," Torre said. "I can't answer that question because I don't anticipate it happening. If someone wanted me to manage here, I'd be managing here." "Yes it was a very generous offer," he added, "but it wasn't the type of commitment that 'we're trying to do something together,' as opposed to 'let me see what you can do for me.'"

G-Fafif Oct 19 2007 01:00 PM

Good lord, this Torre thing has gone on longer than his entire managerial tenure.

bmfc1 Oct 19 2007 01:12 PM

I enjoyed listening to part of it, not because I like the guy but because the media is almost united (Joel Sherman is the only apparent exception) in saying that the Yankees screwed this one up. However, the press conference changed to a love-fest and made me ill. After awhile, I expected Suzyn Waldman to run out and tearfully give Torre a kiss. And that wasn't sexist, as she claimed. I'd say that about any broadcaster, male or female, for any team that cried on air about a player or manager about to leave the team.

G-Fafif Oct 19 2007 01:16 PM

She will no doubt be as effusive in her emotions when Donnie (or whoever) is named manager. And just as defensive about her unprofessional reaction.