Thanks for the Memories Joe, Now Get the Hell Out of Here

The great thing about all of that winning is that I never really sweat the regular season. More thank likely, the Yankees were going to make the playoffs. I thought that streak might end this year, but as September rolled around, we were playing so well, we thought we had a real chance at the World Series. Instead, we get bounced in the ALDS. The pitcher that knocked us out in our own house? Paul Byrd, not exactly a name that puts hitters in fear.

Many people are trying to figure out what happened. First, let's give props to the Indians. People may not have noticed, but the AL Central has been a strong division, sending the White Sox and Tigers to the World Series the last couple of years, with the White Sox winning in 2005. Lots of people count Cleveland out, but I think they will surprise especially with the type of pitching they can throw at the top of the order. Then again, there is Joe Borowski.

Even though the Yankees are out, New York created the real drama. The Boss, George Steinbrenner basically stated that Joe Torre would be working for his job in the series. The Yankees lost, and now the question is what to do with Joe Torre.

Joe Torre has been one of the Yankee's greatest managers and his players are fiercely loyal. Our closer and our catcher say they might decide re-signing with the team based on Torre's contract negotiations. Even before an announcement has been made, the fans and the press have gone out of their way to defend Torre and call the boss crazy if he doesn't let Joe come back for a few more years. They say it is the players fault that they didn't produce and it is the GM's fault for not doing more with the $200 million worth of money he has spent on payroll.

I take a different stance. Joe Torre has been a great manager, but the only reason why people talk about him going to Cooperstown is because of the Yankees. Before managing in the Bronx, he made the playoffs only one time - and lost. The only time he has won a playoff series was when he was blessed with the highest payroll in baseball. I'm not saying anybody could have won four world series like Joe did, but when you can pencil in an All-star at four or five positions every night, things become a little easier.

Torre's strength has always been handling egos and he has done a great job in the pressure cooker of New York. But ever since a few of his trusted colleagues, Don Zimmer and Mel Stottlemeyer, left, his in-game decisions have at times been puzzling. On offense, the Yankees have become a team that relies on home runs to get them through everything, and we hope to score enough runs to wear down the other teams. This strategy is OK when you have a 162 game season, but the playoffs are a series of short seasons. If your big hitters suddenly aren't swinging as well, you can't wait a week for them to warm up again - you'll simply be heading home. And that's what happened to the Yankees the last three years.

So, do we blame Joe Torre for the pitching? Not really, he did do a good job with all of the rookies he threw out there. And a lot of people say any smart general manager would have traded for a veteran arm or veteran bat to help out with the Yankees troubles. Years of that attitude brought lots of big names to New York, but no World Series wins, and our farm system was depleted.

This year, things were different. The GM, Brian Cashman, did not send out our best prospects in hope of a one-year fix. Torre had to win with what he had, but that's what other managers are left to do, and the Yankees scraps and scrubs would be starters elsewhere, so I don't have sympathy. Joe got paid $7.5 million this year, so you can't say that he is not being well-paid for all of his trouble.

This is a long way to say that it is an end of an ear. We love you Joe, but it is time to leave. Some say that he might be back, but I don't think so. Torre's habit of overusing his bullpen is so well-known that when our star arm Joba Chamberlain turned out to be a lights-out setup man, the organization instituted rules to keep his arm safe. I'm not worried about those our free agents leaving because of Joe either. If Torre is not hired by the Yankees, their choices will be to play on the Yankees without Torre, play on another team without Torre, or hope that Torre signs with a team that can afford their loyalty. The players we are talking about(Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada) are going to command at least $20-25 million worth of combined salary next year, so I'm guessing they are going to stay well-paid with the Yankees.

The big question, as always, is Steinbrenner. As the Yankees build their youth movement, will the Boss stand by while a younger Yankees team perhaps struggles and fails to make the playoffs, especially with a new stadium to pay for starting in 2009? I guess we'll find out.