I think there is a misconception among Yankee haters that Yankee fans think Torre is a great manager. That may be true, or may have been true anyway, when it comes to the casual Yankee fan. (Now there's no shortage of Yankee fans blaming Torre for all that is wrong with the world.)
But there are many Yankee fans, including me, who didn't like Torre when he was hired 11 years ago and don't like him now, four rings or no.
Sometimes I think the case against Torre is overstated -- I do not, for example, believe he is a sign of the impending apocalpyse -- but it also sets my teeth on edge when I hear John Sterling, Suzyn Waldman and Michael Kay blasting Torre's critics as ingrates ("I guess 1996-2000 wasn't good enough for you?"), hypocrites ("no one was complaining when he won four World Series rings!") or second-guessers ("if Kyle Farnsworth had struck out the side, people would say Torre is a genius!").
Isn't it possible to be a Yankee fan and still not like Torre as manager? Heck, isn't it possible that Torre was the right manager a few years ago, but is the wrong manager now?
Torre is a player's manager -- hands-off, laid-back, low-key. He won't jump up and high-five you after a great play, and he won't get in your face and scream after a dumb one. He prefers veterans over rookies, and "his guys" over newcomers. If you are one of his guys, you don't have to worry about losing your job. You'll have time to work through your slump. Joe will protect you.
It must be a comfortable place to work. And sometimes that's a good thing, and sometimes that's a bad thing.
When Torre came to the Yankees, there were a number of players -- Joe Girardi, Tino Martinez, Jim Leyritz -- who did the yelling and screaming for him. (At the time, I assumed Paul O'Neill was the in-your-face guy in the dugout, but since then I've heard that O'Neill was always screaming at himself, not at other people.) Scott Brosius would later play this role as well.
There isn't a player like that now. Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez are the lead-by-example types. Jorge Posada sometimes yells, but not always. He seems to direct most of his ire at the other team anyway. Larry Bowa is a screamer, but he's the third base coach, not the manager.
The problem with being a player's manager is if you try to do something different, now you're an asshole. Look at it this way: if Torre demands that Melky Cabrera gets sent down to Triple-A and that Luis Vizcaino gets released, well, then Torre's a traitor. He's throwing guys under the bus to save his own job. (Look at how Philly fans killed Charlie Manuel for putting Brett Myers in the bullpen.)
But if a new guy comes in and does the same thing, hey, he's cleaning house.
The truth is I don't think there's much that can really be done with the Yankees. Maybe you send Cabrera down to figure things out, or at least call up Kevin Thompson so we have another option. You can upgrade at backup catcher over Wil Nieves... woo-hoo. The best possible upgrade on offense would be a real first baseman to replace Doush Phelkiewicz.
For all the bluster about releasing Vizcaino, remember this guy was pretty good last year (3.58 ERA, 1.22 WHIP) for Arizona and not bad the year before that (3.73 ERA, 1.47 WHIP) for the White Sox. The same goes for Kyle Farnsworth, who despite all his struggles might be worth something in trade back to the N.L. There's obviously room to upgrade the middle relief.
There's nothing that can be done about the rotation except wait for the return of Roger Clemens and Phil Hughes -- if we trade for a guy, it would mean sending Hughes back to Triple-A, unless you want to put a hit on Mike Mussina.
So what's Joe's replacement going to do, other than yell and scream?
All that said, if it were my team... I'd fire him. But then again, I would've fired him last year, too.
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