Bob Klapsich reports that Joe Torre may not be the only person leaving the Bronx:
So who’s staying, who’s bolting? That’s the question Yankee fans are asking, now that Joe Torre has been escorted out of the building. If the most successful Yankee manager of the last 50 years couldn’t get a long-term commitment, what does that mean for free agents-to-be Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada? Even more critically, does Torre’s ouster help or hurt the Bombers’ chances of re-signing Alex Rodriguez?
It hurts – if you believe the rhetoric. Agent Scott Boras hints darkly that the Yankees will pay for their turmoil, telling CNN.com, “I would say that state of flux is a grand issue.”
Of course, Boras could be bluffing; it’s all part of the off-season calculus. Still, it stands to reason that Rodriguez’s decision will have more to do with his own contract than Rivera’s and Posada’s or how Torre was treated in Tampa, Fla., last week. But A-Rod is smart to stall for a few more weeks, if for no other reason than because the cost of doing business will zoom without Torre.
That’s the irony here: The Yankees tried to save $2 million on their manager, and because of that cheap-skate decision will end up wildly over-paying to keep Rivera and Posada in pinstripes. The Bombers can’t afford a full-blown exodus, not now. They’ve already taken a public relations beating on Torre and can’t let Rivera and Posada go, too.
The irony, as Klapsich notes, is that by trying to save a few million dollars on a manager the Yankees have probably ended up costing themselves tens of millions of dollars, more if they end up putting the money needed to keep A-Rod in pinstripes on the table.
Not exactly a smart business move Hank & Hal.
