Joe Torre Out

Joe Torre will officially be out of a Yankees uniform, as he turned down a one-year $5 million contract that included a possible $3 million in bonuses, and a $8 million option in 2009 if the Yankees won the AL pennant.

This has to be a pride thing for Torre. At $5 million, he still would have been the highest paid manager in the bigs, and probably would have made it $6 million since the Yankees have reached the playoffs for 12 straight years. Not only that, I think the Yankees wanted to save face by offering Torre a contract he would not accept.

The contract negotiations could have gone on for a couple of days but instead, they offered, he declined, thank you for the great years. Who would want to be in Torre's situation anyway?

He led the Yankees to 12 straight postseason appearances and four World Series championships, yet faced scrutiny from George Steinbrenner on the daily. Why would Torre take a one-year deal after all the years he put into the Yankees?

Basically that is telling Torre, "you better perform in 2008 or you will be out of here." Why would Torre want to go through a full season with that hanging over his head? The worst part about this whole thing is that Steinbrenner gave Torre an ultimatum during the ALDS. That is no way to treat a manager.

Some say that the door is still open for Torre to return, but I doubt that will happen.

Those considered to be the top candidates to replace Torre:
Don Mattingly, Joe Girardi, and Tony La Russa.

Stay tuned for more.

Nice move by the Yankees though: keeping the attention on them on the day that the Boston Red Sox can be eliminated in the ALCS. Touché.

Game 5, ALCS 8 p.m. ET on FOX.
The ex-girlfriend of Red Sox starting pitcher Josh Beckett, Danielle Peck, will be singing the national anthem at tonight's game. No word yet on whether she will give him a kiss of death before he pitches tonight. Double touché.