The LoHud Yankees Blog

39 Responses to “Another day, another delay”

1. Joe October 17th, 2007 at 4:40 pm

   They must really be working hard at these meeting…..

2. Qns Fan October 17th, 2007 at 4:41 pm

   Joe has gotta be gone now.

3. The Central Scrutinizer October 17th, 2007 at 4:41 pm

   Good News for everyone!!!

4. Skinny Mike October 17th, 2007 at 4:42 pm

   Let me be the first to say, this is RIDICULOUS

5. Rebecca--Nothing beats Optimism! October 17th, 2007 at 4:42 pm

   So basically, what you’re telling me, is I’ll have written and presented my thesis before I know anything else.

   Okay.

   There’s hockey tonight. Maybe I’ll try and figure out how to watch that…

6. Ben October 17th, 2007 at 4:43 pm

   how long is this escapade going to go on for? this is ridiculous, the only way that this make any sense that if torre is coming back and they are trying to figure out new contract terms. if not this is totally irrehensible and disrespectful to a man that has been our leader for twelve years and managed to get a team to the playoffs every year for those twelve years with teams in the last 5-6 years having not even close to the amount of team chemistry that they did in the late 90′s.

7. harrs21 October 17th, 2007 at 4:44 pm

   This is beyond ridiculous and unfair to leave Torre twisting in the wind like this. It shouldn’t be that hard: You either ask him to come back at a reduced rate or let him go. Make a $%#&ing decision already guys!

8. jk October 17th, 2007 at 4:45 pm

   Boras on CNBC says A-Rod is worth $500 mil over the next 10 years. There is a lot of fuzzy math in Boras’s numbers. Let him try to get 500 mil from any other team. Lotsa luck.

   http://www.cnbc.com/id/21224927

9. www.jobathehutt.com October 17th, 2007 at 4:46 pm

   LAME.

   Terrible job by the New York Yankees. Terrible way to treat Joe like this. It’s disrespecting to Joe, and If I were him, I would walk. I know he wants to be with the team, but bad job yanks.

10. Gayle October 17th, 2007 at 4:48 pm

    Couple of things:

    If Torre things he is being treated unfairly it is very simple for him to say you know what I dont want to go through this stuff. I dont want to come back. Does anyone here him saying this. No. So if it does not bother him then it doesnt bother me.

    If the speculation is that this delay is because they are negotiating a new contract with Torre. has any reporter called his agent and asked if the Yankees have been in contact with him the past few days. it is either a simple, yes (which if they are negotiating he is not going to say), NO (which means they truly have not made a decision) or NO COMMENT (which would leave me to believe they are negotiating)

    If I recall the last negotiation was not a good one in terms of it being easy and that Steve Swindal was the one who really made it happen from the Yankees side.

11. Cup O Joe October 17th, 2007 at 4:50 pm

    These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.

12. Drew October 17th, 2007 at 4:50 pm

    Make up your minds already, you idiots.

13. J-Dawg October 17th, 2007 at 4:54 pm

    Gayle- Right on. It’s just business. I imagine that they are keeping Joe updated every now and then. There’s no way that the Yankees are just going to forget about him and pitch him aside after everything that he has done. I mean, maybe someone else is the manager, but they are not just abandoning Torre and disrespecting him.

    I’m beginning to think that they are also playing cards at those meetings. Either that or the danishes must be out of this world!!

14. Stephen October 17th, 2007 at 4:54 pm

    Pete, you can still make it to the Garden! Run!

15. Jean Bongiovi October 17th, 2007 at 4:56 pm

    Do you remember how mad Torre got at the Yankees when they played in St. Louis a few years back? I think that he really loves that city and that team. I’m picturing him and Zimmer in Red and White.

16. Sara October 17th, 2007 at 4:57 pm

    what pete failed to mention is that they are negotiating with someone…aka Torre I am sure. They are negotiating a contract for money or years or whatever. Did anyone else read on ESPN that Gator may be gone, or moved to the bullpen?

17. Dee October 17th, 2007 at 4:58 pm

    At best, Boras is making A-rod look like a money-hungry A-hole, at worst, he looks like a brain-dead idiot without a mind of his own on a super short leash. I know Boras is just doing his job trying to get as much $$$ as possible and yes this is a business and players play for money…but at some point A-rod needs to stop his agent from making ridiculous statements daily in representation of him. At this rate of inflation when Boras is adding a 100 mill a day to Arod’s “worth”, Boras is starting to lose credibility, so is Arod.

18. JJNJ October 17th, 2007 at 4:58 pm

    #$%@$@#&!@#**!#%

    I feel much better now.

19. JFud26 October 17th, 2007 at 4:59 pm

    This is absurd. It’s been 9 days since the Yankees were eliminated. Fire Joe, bring in a new manager with some fresh ideas who doesn’t abuse the bullpen. I look forward to the day that the Yankee manager’s greatest strength isn’t massaging egos.

20. Raya October 17th, 2007 at 4:59 pm

    good god. this is the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. Its not that hard: Realize that Steinbrenner was naive to make that comment in the first place and resign torre to a 2yr deal…there. done. I did that in 30 seconds. come on people!

21. EdWhitson October 17th, 2007 at 5:00 pm

    Would you people think about it logically for 1 second? Why would the Yankees say anything, unless they had a deal in place with Joe? Publicly announcing their intention to resign him would be incredibly stupid, because they would lose negotiating leverage. What do you want them to say “We love Joe, he is our first choice, and we will do whatever it takes to sign him”? Why would the Yankees do that, lose leverage, and have egg on their face if something happens and they can’t get it done. Then whoever gets signed to manage the Yankees will know they are the 2nd or 3rd choice. Is that how we typically sign FA players? Think!! If you think the negotiations with Joe’s agent is a slam dunk, they you clearly were not here a few years ago. Steve Swindal negotiated it and the deal took a few weeks to finalize….I believe over Spring Training. Please somebody tell me why I’m wrong.

22. stuart October 17th, 2007 at 5:00 pm

    I m tired of the disrespectful garbage. torre is under contract thru the end of the month, the yanks have made no negative statements except the steinbrenner rant and I do think he is mentally diminished.

    torre got paid $7 mill this yr. he has not been disrespected.

    again arod is a clown and a the greediest clown, when is enough enough…boras is the ultimate hucke=ster and I would not mind if he hit the road….

    to see the soap opera leave would be fine by me. I actually like the game of baseball and can do without the theatrics that accompany Arod.. Yea is he held to a different standard then others? Yep. He wants to get paid more $$$$$$$ then anyone else and this is what you get.

    the woosies will say oh know with out Arod we will win nothing!!!!!!!!newsflash they have won zippo the last 4 yrs., 1 playoff series victory I think in 4 yrs…..

23. Bob October 17th, 2007 at 5:01 pm

    Translation:

    It is meatloaf night at the nursing home and the Boss only cared about getting back in time for that.

24. Ed in Westchester October 17th, 2007 at 5:05 pm

    No wisps of white smoke for another day.

    Ah, Yankeeland confusion. Love it!

25. Scooter October 17th, 2007 at 5:07 pm

    Here’s the thing – it is possible that the Yankees are in contract negotiations with Joe Torre, and the holdup is about the contract (Lots of terms to work out – money, length of contract, Mattingly as successor, etc.)

    It’s also possible that there’s a disagreement between Hank and Hal Steinbrenner. But so far there haven’t been leaks from within the organization – so everyone does seem on the same page at the moment.

    Rebecca – you CAN watch that Devils game tonight:
    http://myp2p.eu/NHL.htm
    (via Sopcast)

    Pete – great job as usual!

26. Lori October 17th, 2007 at 5:08 pm

    See Pete. Now you can just use the same story as yesterday. Get out the thesaurus, change a few words. Boom. Done. Now go see Bruuuuuce!

27. Rebecca--Nothing beats Optimism! October 17th, 2007 at 5:13 pm

    Scooter, I love you.

28. whozat October 17th, 2007 at 5:15 pm

    “newsflash they have won zippo the last 4 yrs., 1 playoff series victory I think in 4 yrs…..”

    Actually, they won their division several times and went the playoffs every single year, despite being buried early in the season at least twice. Frankly, I think it’s the attitude of fans like you that contributes to the post-season exits.

    O’neil and Justice say that the pressure was the same back when they played, and that some guys (ie the two of them) love that, and some guys don’t perform. I call BS. Now that they’ve not won in a while, the pitching is not as good, and the payroll is higher I think the pressure on the offense is MUCH higher than it was back at the turn of the century. Jeter and Posada, two apparently “pressure loving” important offensive cogs of those winning teams, didn’t come through this year either. They looked like they were pressing, just like most of the rest of the lineup. Meanwhile, other teams know that they already are considered successful and are playing like they have nothing to lose. And they win! The Yankees in September, though in a playoff race, looked like they were enjoying playing baseball. As soon as the post season came, they all tightened up and played demonstrably worse.

29. Doreen October 17th, 2007 at 5:45 pm

    whozat -

    Great post. of course it’s great, because I agree with you 1,000 percent.

    To say the Yankees have won “zippo” is to diminish the not insubstantial feat of having reached the playoffs for 12 consecutive years, and as whozat said, the last 2 years of which they have been serious underdogs somewhere before mid-season.

    The early 90′s teams had nothing to live up to; the 2002 and beyond teams had the 90′s team just on their heels, and the mandate is you must win the WS. Now, although the mandate from Steinbrenner has always been to win the WS, it IS different once you’ve done it 3 consecutive years and 4 out of 5. All of a sudden it looks like something easily accomplished.

    I watched the final game of the 1998 WS versus San Diego this morning. Two things were obvious to me (all right, more than 2, but I’ll keep this short). One was that the Yankees did get some breaks, but also, they had the pitching in place to allow those breaks to actually mean something. If your starting pitching can’t keep you close, you diminish your chances of winning. Also, relating to the really played out argument that Torre abuses the bullpen, if your starting pitching can’t get you into the 7th or 8th innings, you will burn out your bullpen. It really seems to me to be as simple as that. If you have to bring in 2 or 3 guys every night (or almost every night), instead of 1 or 2, well, they’re are going to be used more often. Even if they’re good, they’re going to get tired.

    Anyway, although I wish they’d come to a public decision regarding the manager, my feeling is if they were so far apart, Cashman and the New York contingent would not be headed home to hold further dicussions over the telephone. They have to at least be at a point where major things have been settled. Are they going to discuss those things? Of course not.

    I also like the stance they’re taking on ARod. ARod knows the Yankees would like him back; he also can assume they are going to make him a pretty offer. It makes no sense for the Yankees to say that if ARod opts out they are still in the running, because it just raises the final price of ARod – they’d be negotiating against themselves. And Boras’ daily pronouncements of ARod’s worth are really getting tiresome and I would be surprised if there are ANY teams in the major leagues that aren’t just laughing their heads off.

    Boras can say anything he wants. He will not get anywhere near the numbers he’s spouting. In retrospect, he did not get what he originally wanted for Matsuzaka either. Boston held firm on what they wanted to offer and they won out.

30. henry October 17th, 2007 at 5:45 pm

    we better hear something by tomorrow because this is really gettin ridiculous. i mean it’s not that hard to make this decision. you sit down go around the table and ask do u want joe back? yes or no, then move on. geez they’re makin this out to be harder than rocket science

31. Sherri October 17th, 2007 at 5:47 pm

    Scooter – great post!

32. SJ44 October 17th, 2007 at 5:51 pm

    Ed Whitson is right. Think logically for a minute.

    You have to have a contract in place with somebody before you announce anything.

    When they have something to announce, they will announce it. Why is this concept so difficult for some of you to understand/

    If they decided yesterday or today to bring Torre back, then they have to negotiate a new deal with him. Announcing that he is coming back without a contract in place would be monumentally dumb.

    Conversely, if they decide to let him go, wouldn’t it make sense to have a deal in place with the new manager?

    You don’t negotiate these deals in 24-48 hours. They take a little time. Especially if they are asking Torre to take a pay cut.

33. webb15 October 17th, 2007 at 5:55 pm

    Pete — sounds like you can take the rest of the night off now and go catch THE BOSS at the Garden! I went to the show in Toronto on Monday night and it was FABULOUS! You will not be disappointed. “Gypsy Biker” is a phenomenal song, the best one by far on “Magic”, IMHO. Sorry, Torre junkies — I know this is off topic, but what better to do on another “no news day” than talk about Bruce, right Pete????

34. Eric Young October 17th, 2007 at 6:40 pm

    (Computer probs had me send this to the wrong location. I should have posted this here in the first place–although probably no one will read it)…

    The Yankees should split the baby.

    Announce that Torre is coming back on a one or two year contract, and that Mattingly will replace him at the end of the contract. Confusion and indecision is removed from succession issue, the players have a stable present and future, anti-Torre fans and pro-Torre fans are mollified and even Torre will know he was treated with all the dignity a great Yankee should be.

    Any thoughts? And does anyone know the circumstances of Stengle’s departure?

35. gargoyle October 17th, 2007 at 7:03 pm

    Eric Young

    That is the most pussy-ass solution to this situation imagineable.

    Torre needs to go.

36. randyhater October 17th, 2007 at 7:04 pm

    Smells to me like at least one more year of Torre’s teary-eyed, tea-soaked incompetence. Look forward to more crappy in-game decisions, non-existent motivational skills, and a team that starts playing around the middle of June and stops playing around September 20th.

    Any truth to the rumor that most of the meetings were spent brainstorming ideas for next year’s rookie-hazing day? Lord knows that’s more important than fighting hard for the division and going into the playoffs with a head of steam.

    Also, let’s be sure to have all of our minor leaguers schedule their personal business for the first week of October. What better time than early fall for a wedding, family reunion or piano recital.

37. 2007 Yankees October 17th, 2007 at 7:08 pm

    I KNOW they would never do it, and Torre wouldn’t for that matter, but I would like Mattingly to take over and have Torre be his bench coach to help him along the way. If Torre REALLY wanted to stay with the Yankees, he could sign some kind of organizational contract with them to “tutor” Mattingly for 2 years and then move on to some other high level position.

38. gargoyle October 17th, 2007 at 7:26 pm

    What is the fascination with Mattingly? He has no experience and told the Denver Post last June that he was not ready to manage.

    God this is pathetic.

39. 2008 Yankees - The Yankees will be GREAT October 17th, 2007 at 7:47 pm

    gargoyle: What do you expect Mattingly to say? I want Torre’s job? Be real…
    Mattingly was brought back into the fold to be a future Yankee manager.