Torre Speaks Out

Former Yankee manager Joe Torre has a new book coming out called "The Yankee Years." I want to first state that I have always been a Joe Torre fan. I think he has a phenomenal ability to manage multiple and varying personalities in a clubhouse which is the strength of his managing ability. However, even when he was with the Yanks I think it was pretty clear that although he can manage people he isn't the best baseball manager. He rarely would change things up with sac bunts or hit and runs and he always overused his bullpen, but the fact that he always kept a steady head was one of the great things about him.

In his book apparently Torre says that the Yankee players would call A-Rod A-Fraud because he is a spoiled brat. It is true, Alex is one of those guys that aggravates everyone because he apparently thinks he above everyone else, but he is one of the greatest players in the game and despite the dumb things he does, he isn't as big of a nuisance as someone like Manny Ramirez. Torre also talks about how Cashman didn't give him support in the final contract negotiations between Torre and the Steinbrenners after the 07 season. As much as all of these things that Torre says upset me, the fact that he is trying to publicly make the Yanks look bad upsets me more. I don't want to make judgements here, and I will always give Joe the benefit of the doubt, but I am a little dissapointed that a guy like Joe would turn his back on his former team. I know that the Yanks kind of turned their backs on him, but I usually put Joe above other people and expect him to be more civil than others. This disappoints me, but I will have to read the whole book before I draw any real conclusions.