ESPN Report: Torre out, Piniella in?

[TheLeiterSide]

Heads were likely to roll after the Yankees were eliminated from the postseason by the Tigers, but the opening odds were on Alex Rodriguez going first, not Joe Torre.


According to the New York Daily News, however, the popular Yankees manager will be fired unless he decides to resign first to save face. Sources told the newspaper that former Yankees player and manager Lou Piniella will be owner George Steinbrenner's choice to replace Torre.
After winning the World Series in four of his first five seasons, Torre has weathered many storms since then, but Saturday's 8-3 loss left him emotional as he pondered his future in the Bronx.


"We felt pretty good about ourselves," Torre told the Daily News. "But again, that's something for [general manager Brian Cashman] and I and other people to talk about. But right now, it's just ..." and choking back tears, he concluded "... it's just tough."


Cashman and most of the front office employees are expected to keep their jobs, the Daily News reported.


Several Yankees players told MLB.com that they would be surprised to see Torre go.


"That's pretty drastic," outfielder Johnny Damon was quoted as saying by the Web site. "Joe has been awesome. You never know what's going to happen, but I think Joe should be safe. For all he's done and had to put up with, he's been incredible."


Cashman dismissed the idea of either Torre or Rodriguez leaving, telling MLB.com, "Why wouldn't they be coming back? That's not something that I'm even thinking about."


Piniella has been rumored to be in contention for the open positions with the Washington Nationals and Chicago Cubs. He last managed the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to a fifth-place finish in 2005. Piniella began his managerial career with the Yankees in 1986. That team finished second in the AL East, the best result of his three seasons in the Bronx.


Piniella went on to win the World Series as skipper of the Cincinnati Reds in 1988, however. After three years with the Reds, he managed the Seattle Mariners from 1993-2002 and the Devil Rays for the next three seasons.
Torre has won more than 1,000 games as manager of the Yankees, but after beating the Mets in the 2000 World Series, the Yankees have fallen short of always high expectations despite having the highest payroll in baseball.


Torre has one season and $7 million left on his contract.



CREDIT: ESPN.com



I won't say anything since I'm not a Yankee fan, I just figured the Yankee fans here needed to see this.

[realmofotalk]

If I were a diehard Yankees fan, I'd want Lou Piniella like nyjunc wants J.J. Redick on his Nets or like hammer wants poorly cut weed. Georgie would be a fool to not go after Joe Girardi as Torre's successor.

[nyjunc]

Girardi would be my 1st choice but I'd be fine w/ Piniella, this team needs some fire and as much as I love Joe and don't think this is his fault I think it's time for a change.

[Roy31]

ESPN also reported that Terrell Owens attempted suicide, They also reported that Matt Leinart was going to start the game last week vs the falcons. In other words they are wrong more than they are right. Ill believe it when I see it....

[DirtyKash]

ESPN also reported that Terrell Owens attempted suicide, They also reported that Matt Leinart was going to start the game last week vs the falcons. In other words they are wrong more than they are right. Ill believe it when I see it....

Read carefully! It's the New York Daily News that is reporting this. ESPN is just reporting that the New York Daily News is reporting it.

[General]

I disagree with Roy. I am confident that Torre will not be back as manager next year. And, while I think Girardi would make more sense, Steinbrenner will go after Sweet Lou because he is the anti-Torre.

[catman]

Either way, Torre will not be resigned after next season. I don't think he is interested in the headaches that managing a bunch of prima donnas brings any longer.
In my opinion, the problem is Cashman, not Torre. Torre can only suggest players he wants, Cashman is the one that sets the deals up and signs the FAs. Torre can't pitch for his team.
Would Girardi have the respect of the team the way Torre has? To bring in a "young" manager, even one that was the bench coach may not be the direction this team needs to go. Piniella makes more sense, because he is a veteran manager that has been in New York before and has earned his reputation.

[Rufio181]

Isn't Torre a better manager than Pinella?

[Dry1313]

Torre is going to resign. And it's not that he's not a better manager than Piniella, they have different styles. We need a proactive manager, who will hit and run and steal, and Torre just sits on the ****ing bench and does nothing. I don't know how well Girardi would go over, just because Mattingly would still be on the bench then, and the Yankees brass is more fond of Matts than Joey. Either way, Torre is going to be out.

[General]

If its true that Piniella will be the manager, I might have to start actively supporting the Yanks again, something I haven't done since 2001.

[Dry1313]

Why? Lou is a douche.

[Saber]

Why resign? Why not get canned and get 7 million to sit on your ass or do a cushy ESPN gig for awhile? Joe Torre controls his destiny.

[Lance324]

You guys that are wanting Cashman out, how can you blame him when he's nothing more than a puppet on George's string? Steinbrenner runs the show, Cashman and Torre are just pawns.

[nyjunc]

You guys that are wanting Cashman out, how can you blame him when he's nothing more than a puppet on George's string? Steinbrenner runs the show, Cashman and Torre are just pawns.

I think Cashman truly had the power this year(or else we would have made moves in a panic after Sheff and Matsui went down) but guys geroge anted like Johnson, Sheff, Matsui killed us. Cash did a great job, unfortunately Sheff and Matsui came back from injury when we were better off w/o them. We aren't as indivdually talent w/o them but we were a better team.

[Dry1313]

Sheff we were better off without, Matsui no. He is a beast and was phenomenal down the stretch. Plus he didn't make any errors.

Sheffield is a douche. He trashes Torre for benching Giambi and him and moving ARod to 8th? Maybe if any of those guys showed up he wouldn't have had to. **** you Gary.