You Must Be Joking

I don't know if you've been following the whole Yankees & Joe Torre deal the past couple weeks, but I am just dumbfounded. Essentially, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner issued a statement right after the Yankees were eliminated from the playoffs stating that Torre would not return as the club's skipper in 2008.

Then he hit the brakes. He issued another statement that a decision would be make in the next couple days. And, when a decision wasn't reached after a couple days, the team announced that meetings would be held in Flordia to determine Torre's future with the Yankees. Now, after two days of meetings involving General Manager Brian Cashman, team President Randy Levine, and Steinbrenner, a decision still has not been announced.

Here's my take. Torre has been an incredible manager for nearly 25 seasons. He was great with the Braves, the Cardinals, and for the past 12 seasons with the Yankees. He's a winner. Now, I don't know about you, but if I was in my 60's, had millions and millions of dollars stashed away, and had amazing success with a team that wasn't sure if it wanted my services any longer, I'd make the decision easy for everyone: I'd say "sayanara" and wipe my hands clean of Steinbrenner and the Yankees.

Obviously, we haven't heard much from Torre, but all signs point to the fact that he wants to come back to the team. Why in the world would he want to come back and work for a micro-managing, unappreciative egomaniac? Beats me.

As crazy as this Torre deal is, it's probably not much different than some of the silly things we do. We might be in a situation that is less than ideal, but we're willing to compromise in order to stay in the limelight or cash a larger paycheck than we would in another set of circumstances that could ultimately be more rewarding.

Remember, there's something much more at stake than winning and a bank statement. And, it's infinitely more valuable than either of those: character.