Yankees' Woes: Cashman, Steinbrenner, Torre Duke It Out

George Steinbrenner should give Joe Torre a medal...so Torre can ram it right back down the Boss' treacherous throat. 

Then, the beleaguered manager should collect his final paycheck and say goodbye to Yankee Stadium: the House that Ruth Built, the House that Torre Re-Built, and the House that King George Broke. 

Update: For more on the Torre/Steinbrenner/Yankees saga, check out this video interview with Brian Cashman from WNBC.com. 

Thanks to WNBC.com's Adam Shapiro for the link.

They'd be singing a different tune by the end of the season.

Torre led the Yankees to a World Series title in '96, their first since 1978 and one that ended the longest championship drought in the club's history. Piloting a mix of proven veterans and emerging stars, Torre never clashed with the media or showed up his owner. He was patient and watchful, always willing to take the good with the bad.

He was everything the Yankees needed.

And it was never good enough for George Steinbrenner.  

Torre's teams would go on to capture three more Fall Classics, but that didn't keep Steinbrenner from leaning on his manager via the press. A 2005 statement that came on the heels of a string of failures is particularly revealing: 

"Enough is enough," a furious Steinbrenner said. "I am bitterly disappointed, as I'm sure all Yankee fans are, by the lack of performance by our team.  They are not playing like true Yankees. They have the talent to win and they are not winning.  I expect Joe Torre, his complete coaching staff, and the team to turn this around."

That's playing dirty.  Steinbrenner has no business calling out the man who brought winning back to New York.  The fact that Torre's job could ever be in jeopardy is ridiculous.

A manager can only work with the dugout he's given. Think Torre has a loaded roster? Look at the numbers this year.

Robinson Cano has been hovering 100 points below his 2006 batting average. Jason Giambi is batting .260 with just six big flies and 19 RBI. Johnny Damon is sixth on the team in hits and is batting a meager .275. Bobby Abreu is hitting .239, with more strikeouts than any other Yankee. 

The salaries of those four players account for almost a quarter of the Yankees' bloated payroll.  

And then there's the pitchers. The Yanks have had 11 different starters in 2007, including seven rookies. Carl Pavano has been a bust. Kei Igawa is in the minors—with Single A Tampa.  Mike Mussina and Chien-Ming Wang have done stints on the DL. 35-year-old Andy Pettitte leads the staff with three wins.  And it seems that age has finally caught up to Mariano Rivera, who has a 6.32 ERA and as many saves (three) as losses. 

Too often in professional sports, the coach gets blamed for his team's failure.  Torre doesn't assemble the roster—that's GM Brian Cashman's job.  Joe's responsible for giving his players the best chance to win...but he can't  actually play the games for them.

I used to have a hard time figuring out why Steinbrenner would want to fire Torre. Joe is reserved, patient, and compliant; his passive mentality would seem to be an ideal complement to his owner's overbearing approach.

And then it dawned on me.

George Steinbrenner is, to his core, an outspoken fighter who wears his passion on his sleeve. Torre is his polar opposite: He's driven to win, but he never comes unglued. Steinbrenner has a history of hiring aggressive, combustible managers (Billy Martin, anyone?), and the fact of the matter is that Torre doesn't fit the mold.

In any event, Joe looks to be aced within the year. His contract is up at the end of the season. If he goes,  Steinbrenner will probably turn to one of two candidates: Don Mattingly, who never quite got along with the Boss during his playing days; or Joe Girardi, who got fired in Flordia after quarreling with the owner. 

Maybe King George really does like 'em hot and fiery. If nothing else, both Mattingly and Girardi would provide a break from the subdued style of Torre. Maybe they'll provide a break from winning the AL East every year too.

Happy hunting, your Lordship...

(And by the way: Here's to you, Joe Torre, and your four forgotten rings. Way to go, Meat. Way to go.)