Joe ready to walk?

The longer Joe Torre keeps quiet, the more likely it is that he will not be back in the Bronx for the 2006 season. I am a Torre fan, I want him to come back but when I look at the situation, I struggle to find a reason why Joe himself will want to come back. All his allies are leaving him, Zimmer left two years back, Mel has gone and Cashman is on his way.

He has $13.1m due to him over the next two years and it is hard to walk away from such money, but does he really need it? He and his family are setup for life, he can negotiate a buy-out and have his pick of TV offers should he so desire, and a book on the Yankee years under him would automatically be a best seller and make him a bundle of cash, money should not be an issue.

Also the old guard that have served him so well are gone and/or disappearing fast. Only Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera are contracted to the Yankees next season from the dynasty run. In place of great clutch hitters like Scott Brosius and Paul O'Neill are superstars such as Alex Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield, both great hitters but neither have that never say die attitude that the Yankees used to have. I may be wrong but this team knows losing, the other players didn't know when to give in, certainly in October. I feel that those Yankees believed in each other, these Yankees believe in themselves.

The Yankees were a fun team to manage, they could do it all, they could pitch, play small ball and had the long ball in them, now it is more about managing a clubhouse full of volatile egos and not about managing how to get the team to score more runs than the opposition.

Does Torre need to take all the shit from George anymore? No he doesn't. He needs to do what he enjoys and I don't think that working for The Boss is a very enjoyable experience for him anymore. I'd love to see Joe back but if I was him and had put up with what he has had to then I'd be happy to cut my losses and walk away from the top job and concentrate on my own health and peace of mind.