Luvofthegame
10-09-2006, 12:25 AM
Skipper likely gone after 11-year stint
BY BILL MADDEN and T.J. QUINN
NY DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
DETROIT - Despite an 11-season run that will put him in the Hall of Fame, Joe Torre has probably spent his last day in a Yankee uniform after last night's stunning 8-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers.
After winning four World Series titles in his first five seasons but failing to win the Fall Classic over the past six, Torre is expected to be fired, sources said, and his replacement is expected to be former Yankee Lou Piniella.
Unless other team officials can talk The Boss out of it, or unless Torre, 66, agrees to resign in order to save face, sources said principal owner George Steinbrenner will replace the manager who was credited with returning the team to its fabled glory. Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman is expected to keep his job, as are most members of the front office. Torre may be offered another position within the organization.
Asked about possible changes after yesterday's loss, an emotional Torre said he had not thought about it.
"We felt pretty good about ourselves. But again, that's something for Cash and I and other people to talk about," he said. "But right now, it's just ..." - here he choked back tears - "it's just tough."
Sources said Steinbrenner lost his patience over the team's listless play in its division series loss to the Tigers - and Steinbrenner is not expected to wait long to make his move.
Sources told the Daily News that Piniella has been in discussions with the Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals, and Steinbrenner does not want the Yankees to miss a chance to sign the man considered the natural successor to Torre for years.
Piniella managed the Yankees from 1986 to 1988 but developed his reputation as one of the game's best and most emotional managers during his years with the Cincinnati Reds and Seattle Mariners.
When the Yankees first hired Torre to replace Buck Showalter, the choice of the Brooklyn native was hammered in most media outlets. Torre was considered a good announcer, a good person and a mediocre manager who could never get the Mets, Atlanta Braves or St. Louis Cardinals to the World Series.
After inheriting Showalter's Yankees, however, the former New York Giants fan took the Bombers to their first World Series in 15 years in 1996, and won the first of his two Manager of the Year awards. He has one year and $7 million left on his contract.
BY BILL MADDEN and T.J. QUINN
NY DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
DETROIT - Despite an 11-season run that will put him in the Hall of Fame, Joe Torre has probably spent his last day in a Yankee uniform after last night's stunning 8-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers.
After winning four World Series titles in his first five seasons but failing to win the Fall Classic over the past six, Torre is expected to be fired, sources said, and his replacement is expected to be former Yankee Lou Piniella.
Unless other team officials can talk The Boss out of it, or unless Torre, 66, agrees to resign in order to save face, sources said principal owner George Steinbrenner will replace the manager who was credited with returning the team to its fabled glory. Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman is expected to keep his job, as are most members of the front office. Torre may be offered another position within the organization.
Asked about possible changes after yesterday's loss, an emotional Torre said he had not thought about it.
"We felt pretty good about ourselves. But again, that's something for Cash and I and other people to talk about," he said. "But right now, it's just ..." - here he choked back tears - "it's just tough."
Sources said Steinbrenner lost his patience over the team's listless play in its division series loss to the Tigers - and Steinbrenner is not expected to wait long to make his move.
Sources told the Daily News that Piniella has been in discussions with the Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals, and Steinbrenner does not want the Yankees to miss a chance to sign the man considered the natural successor to Torre for years.
Piniella managed the Yankees from 1986 to 1988 but developed his reputation as one of the game's best and most emotional managers during his years with the Cincinnati Reds and Seattle Mariners.
When the Yankees first hired Torre to replace Buck Showalter, the choice of the Brooklyn native was hammered in most media outlets. Torre was considered a good announcer, a good person and a mediocre manager who could never get the Mets, Atlanta Braves or St. Louis Cardinals to the World Series.
After inheriting Showalter's Yankees, however, the former New York Giants fan took the Bombers to their first World Series in 15 years in 1996, and won the first of his two Manager of the Year awards. He has one year and $7 million left on his contract.