Joe has an affinity for fine wines. Wonder how he will manage to pay for his magnum's of Cos and other wines on a paultry $5,000,000 a year contract?
Posted on 10/19/2007 2:23:23 PM PDT by Michael.SF.
Joe Torre had a hunch it would come to this. And when the New York Yankees offered him a one-year contract with a hefty paycut, performance-based bonuses—and no room to negotiate—he was insulted and figured he had no choice but to walk away.
"The fact that somebody is reducing your salary is just telling me they're not satisfied with what you're doing," Torre said Friday at a news conference. "There really was no negotiation involved. I was hoping there would be, but there wasn't.
"If somebody wants you to do a job, if it takes them two weeks to figure out, yeah, we want to do this, should do this, yeah, you're a little suspicious."
His voice trembling at times, Torre admitted he was uncomfortable and nervous talking about himself. He said his 12 years with the Yankees were the best time of his professional life—but he hasn't ruled out managing elsewhere.
Torre took a morning flight Thursday to Tampa, Fla., walked into George Steinbrenner's office at Legends Field and listened to the team's offer. He said he couldn't accept it, shook hands and left the ballpark, the Yankees' manager no more.
"I offered a concept we may talk about," Torre said. "I don't want to go into Xs and Os here. More a concept that would work for both of us. It was term and how to go about it. But that was it. Money wasn't involved in the suggestion."
After all he had accomplished—four World Series titles, 12 straight years in the playoffs, almost certain entry into the Hall of Fame—and after all the indignities, this was one he wasn't going to stand for.
"I was very much at peace with my decision," Torre said.
The 67-year-old Torre turned down a $5 million, one-year contract—$2.5 million less than he made this season, when the Yankees failed to make it past the first round of the playoffs for the third straight year.
"A difficult day," general manager Brian Cashman said Thursday. "He will always be a Yankee."
Joe has an affinity for fine wines. Wonder how he will manage to pay for his magnum's of Cos and other wines on a paultry $5,000,000 a year contract?
I agree 100%. What a whiny response. Hey Joe, you have a $200 million ballclub out there and you haven’t sniffed the World Series for 7 years. Your previous contract’s $7 million annual salary has been better than double what ANY other manager is baseball is getting, and is generally about 3-4 times what most of the established guys get. Give it a rest. There are a number of guys who would do just as well, if not better with that talent and in that ‘fearsome’ media market. And 4 times a year, the mean old owner gets mad and says a few things in the press if things aren’t going very well. Wow, what a burden to deal with each year for that $5-7 million, while getting to fill out a lineup card of nothing but current and ex-All Stars. Take a hike.
All sports salaries should be based on performance. The days of the multi-million dollar multi-year sight unseen contract needs to go. ( Matt Leinert comes to mind )
All rookies should make a league set salary until the end of their second season then they can negotiate. Veterans keep playing well or face reductions or even retirement.
That team isn't run by George Steinbrenner anymore . . . it's run by businessmen who don't know very much about baseball and who have made some of the worst decisions imaginable this past year. The thought of cutting the 67 year-old manager's salary by $2.5 million after some @sshole decided to p!ss away $28 million on a contract for a 77-year-old Roger Clemens is a disgrace.
And Torre never walked away from the team in 2003 only to "un-retire" and sign with the Houston Astros the following season, either.
I don’t know - the Yankees were 14 games down in June and they MADE THE PLAYOFFS - seems to me Torre didn’t do such a bad job, but Steinbrenner is a complete A%^&. Joe will land on his feet - is Don Mattingly going to be the next fall guy, er, manager for the Yanks?
Another example of why I could give a rat’s arse about professional sports . It’s ALL about money these days . Take me back to the “ old days “ when THE GAME came first .
Not entirely true .... came to within one out of winning the WS in 2001, appeared in it in 2003, and came to within one out of getting there in 2004. I'd reckon thats a bit of a 'sniff' :)
A 30% pay cut, regardless of the final number, is definitely a statement on non-confidence. People shouldn’t let class envy get into this, if your boss offered to let you stay at a 30% pay cut assuming the company wasn’t in dire financial straits you’d probably be a little miffed.
$5M is an insult when you’ve been paid $7.5M for the previous years.
Torre was right to refuse the offer, which was only made so the Yankees could blame Torre’s departure on Torre himself rather than taking responsibility.
H
When was that?
(Full disclosure: I am a Yankees fan). I don’t view it as a whiny response. I watched his press conference today and he clearly stated $5 million is a heck of a lot of money and certainly more money than he will make this year. Torre viewed it as an insult to offer only a one year contract with a reduced salary and incentives. The incentives themselves were insulting, he said, because he viewed management as saying he needed extra money to be motivated, when that clearly wasn’t the case.
I like Joe; he’s a class act. This wasn’t a Patrick Ewing type quote (i.e. he wasn’t saying anything to the effect of he couldn’t feed his family on such a paltry salary). He was mainly stating a fact that for all he did for the Yankees organization (playoffs every year he was there, ten AL East titles, 6 World Series appearances and 4 World Series championships vs. only 1 playoff appearance and no World Series appearances in the 10 years prior to his arrival) they weren’t willing to work with him at all on the terms of his contract. And yes, it does appear insulting to think the manager who brought so much to the team needs extra incentives to be motivated after all he had done for the organization.
In any case, this isn’t Torre being greedy or saying that $5 million itself is insulting. I’m pretty sure from his comments today that he doesn’t feel that way at all. He mainly just viewed the overall terms as insulting, and I frankly have to agree. He did a great deal to turn that franchise around and successfully managed an entire team of egos; he didn’t deserve to be treated this way, but it’s par for the course for Steinbrenner.
It’s an insult all right .... to those of us who don’t have a nice fat sports contract offer. LOL
Now I’m a NYY fan, and I love Torre, but this is just a bit much....seriously, an insult? C’mon...
No other manager in MLB makes over $3.5 mill/yr to start with (Piniella), so $5 mill/yr is still more than 30% more than the next highest paid manager in the game. Did he want a raise?
Next, the way the incentives were outlined, the contract was in all likelihood for at least $6 mill/yr since the NYY have made the playoffs 12 seasons in a row. Hey Joe...if you’re such a good manager have faith in yourself...you know the FO will get you the best players money can buy, and you got a STABLE of young, good arms coming up next year. Hell, IF he won the WS, there was an automatic extension for $8 mill/yr for the following season.
If Torre wanted to complain that it was a one year deal and that didn’t fit with his plans, so be it...but to sit and complain the offer was an insult is ridiculous.
Better years for the NYY are just around the bend...they have a LOT of real talented pitchers that will be arriving over the next few years.
All the fans and media types who were bitching and moaning about Joe Torre's "failures" in recent years are going to wish they could turn back the clock in the not-too-distant future when the team starts to miss out on the playoffs on a regular basis.
Wow, what a burden to deal with each year for that $5-7 million, while getting to fill out a lineup card of nothing but current and ex-All Stars. Take a hike.
Right -- but that cuts both ways. Wow -- what a burden for the Yankees organization to deal with . . . 12 consecutive years in which they only made the playoffs 12 times, they only went to the World Series 6 times, and they only got 4 World Series championships along the way.
Baseball fans in any other city would love to have "problems" like this.
Oh, the horror, I'm all choked up thinking about how rough he has it...not.
>> Hey Joe, you have a $200 million ballclub out there and you haven’t sniffed the World Series for 7 years. Your previous contract’s $7 million annual salary has been better than double what ANY other manager is baseball is getting,
Torre has done the best he could’ve done with the hand he was dealt. Brian Cashman, not Torre, is responsible for acquisitions ... and he’s done a poor job constructing at $200M team.
The Yankees have spent $200M on overpriced hitters and has-been pitching. They have no young talent ... but, instead, are overpaying players who were good 4 or 5 years ago (usually for other teams).
The Yankees have an ultimately flawed method of building a team, and responsibility was pushed on Joe Torre to take this flawed team all the way.
Baseball is about fundamentals, pitching, and youth. The Yankees system of overpaying for players who are past their prime simply won’t work ... and Torre’s not to blame.
H
no comments other than the insults and slight from steinbrenner......just gonna read all the love & hate that will be posted by the haters & fair weather fans!!!!
I despise the Yankees (Being a Red Sox fan) but Joe is a class act and a very good manager.
Steinbrenner is a senile old ass and stupid to boot.
>> And Torre never walked away from the team in 2003 only to “un-retire” and sign with the Houston Astros the following season, either.
Go Astros!
I’m kinda hoping Andy Pettite does it again this year. We need the pitching.
H
All Yankee contracts should be 1-year performance based. If this is a Yankee signal to do this to all contracts, it’s a plus. If only Torre, it’s a shaft.
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