Torre To Dodgers

It was reported last night by The Journal News that the Dodgers will fire Grady Little and hire Joe Torre as the new manager for Los Angeles. Don Mattingly will reportedly join Torre as the bench coach.

Torre, 67, could be named manager as soon as tomorrow, according to two sources close to the situation. Don Mattingly is expected to accompany Torre to Los Angeles as his bench coach. Torre is also interested in hiring Kevin Long, his hitting coach with the Yankees.

If this is true then I have to commend the hire by the Dodgers. BIG pickup, especially with their squad. Torre is exactly the kind of manager that they need in Los Angeles, with the veterans fighting with their talented young players. The former Yankees manager is a player's coach and will make an immediate impact on the squad.

Torre is a great man and a very bright baseball mind. He was on the David Letterman show last night and was very funny. I cannot wait to see him in the media around this area.

The "Freeway Series" will have a new twist, as Mike Scioscia owns Joe Torre. Sorry Dodgers fans, that will be the only negative thing about this hire.

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.

October Beisbol

The New York Yankees made their third straight exit in the first round of the playoffs after losing to the Cleveland Indians last night. And if the "boss" was being honest, the exit may cost Joe Torre his job as the Yankees manager.

This was the only series I predicted right on the nose, with the Indians ending the series in four games. The Indians outplayed the Yankees in every aspect of the game.

Alex Rodriguez may get the most criticism, but the Yankees nation can look at their captain, Derek Jeter, for some answers. Jeter went 3-for-17 in the series, batted into three double plays, and drove in one run.

It makes no difference though. The Indians hit the ball from top-to-bottom in the lineup, and their pitchers kept the Yankees offense at bay.

League championship series predictions to come.

In other baseball news... I am a little late on this one, but thought it was pretty nuts.

A Cubs fan decided to hang a goat carcass from the Harry Caray statue at Wrigley Field in an attempt to rally the Cubs in the NLDS. (Youtube is not allowing to embed the video, so its the link.)

It obviously did not work and am rooting big time for the Cubs to win it all in 2008. If that happens it would be their first World Series title in 100 years.

R.I.P Angels. Hey TBS, Fox, ESPN and every East Coast bias medium out there, you got your wish! The Red Sox made it to the ALCS.