Joe Torre is hanging on

Joe Torre is hanging on to his job as manager of the New York Yankees following a crazy 24 hours. Torre was gone after the defeat on Saturday night but slowly the powers that be are softening big George's stance and the longer this goes on, the more likely it is that Torre stays. Should I go to bed tomorrow night with Torre still in his job, then he will enter the final year of his contract and hope to end his Yankee career on a high.

Obviously there has been a lot of talk since last night and one thing is clear, if George still held absolute power then Joe Torre would already be gone, and Lou Pinella would be ready for his Press Conference tomorrow morning.

If Torre goes then all the good work Brian Cashman has done in wrestling control from the Tampa will be undone. If Torre goes and Sweet lou comes in then the dynasty is over and the era of it being the Derek Jeter team is over. If Sweet Lou comes in then I fear for the young arms the Yankees have, I really fear for Philip Hughes. If Sweet Lou comes in then I fear for the dynamic of the clubhouse. If Sweet Lou comes in then A-Rod stays and becomes teachers pet, maybe that'll help A-Rod's psyche, having a manager who believes 100% in him, the question though of course is at what cost to the rest of the ball club.

I am a Joe Torre guy. I think the job he did this year was extraordinary, they failed in the playoffs, they stunk in the playoffs, but in all honesty they walked right into two great starting pitching performances and were throwing out a gutsy but injured 43 year-old and a bum who should never of been signed.

The Yankees need to get some live arms, that is the problem, the problem isn't hitting despite its poor showing in the past three games, these players will hit. I read over on Pete Abe's blog about moving Giambi to full time DH, asking Damon to learn 1B in Spring Training and having the kid Melky as the starting CF, not the worst suggestion I've read, not by a long shot. Damon is a keen learner and would have much more time to learn the position compared to Sheffield.

So the right thing to do is keep Torre and staff, let Sheffield walk, sign Matsuzaka, keep your hard throwing BP core of Bruney, Proctor and Farnsworth (unless this back issue will still be a problem in '07) bring back Dotel (who despite being shocking this year should be ready for next) ask Damon to move to 1st, move Melky to CF, bring in some starting pitching somehow and roll the dice on Kerry Wood joining the 'pen.

As for A-Rod, if you get an offer for him that involves some young stud starting pitching then consider it, if you don't, then keep him. I'm not an A-Rod hater, I'm not an A-Rod fan, I don't know what to think about him I must say, but what would be best for A-Rod is to leave the Bronx and return to SS elsewhere, whether or not he would do this is another matter, but it hasn't worked for A-Rod in NY, and despite all the great numbers he has posted, he can't win unless he does the business in the big games, and rightly or wrongly he hasn't, and the media won't let him forget that.

This Yankees team could go through another dynasty if Cashman is allowed to do his stuff, if he is then Torre's his guy, if he isn't then you know Cashman's authority isn't half as great as we'd been led to believe.

Joe Torre for New York Yankees manager in '07 - That's my two cents.

Posted by Neil H for Neil M