Sad news about Torre, but the man exited with class. Say what you will about the "Evil Empire," the Yankee team that closed out the 20th century was a real TEAM in every good sense of the word. I firmly believe Torre had as much, if not more, to do with that as any player. Who else could've handled the Boss, the media and the egos with as much stoic savvy?

It'll be interesting to see what develops; not just on the manager and A-Rod front, but with the one-time youngsters like Rivera and Posada who have ONLY known MLB under Joe Torre.

God Bless and good luck to him, say I!

It's stunning that the Steinbrenners would extend Torre an offer without being sure that he would take it. Can't believe that George would've let that happen if he were in full control of the reins.

Is this Yankee FO kinder and gentler, or just clueless?

Barry have you noticed now much more of a response the NJ gets and when the subject is Nats not the Wpost beloved Out of Town Teams?

While Your job is not being a fan, we your customers are fans......it is no wonder Post Radio is dead, Post on Paper is dying fast.....Do no make the same mistake with WPost.com........Nats posts old and/or wrong information most of the time......Yule Log Young is still there....with the DC United "More Headlines"

Hendo, I have the opposite take on this: I think the Yankees extended the offer fully confident that Torre would turn it down.

Smart (if cynical) in that they got exactly what they want: Torre's gone, and they don't have to take the flack for firing him.

In favor of your argument, joebleux, is the ridiculous pay cut that Torre would have had to take.

Even so, it seems needlessly awkward that they even bothered to go through that step. I'm putting an extra chip on "clueless."

I disagree with some of your points. WashPost radio failed because they hired a bunch of yucksters for it...Hillary Howard, you've got to be kidding! As far as the $.35 edition losing customers, that's going on all across the country because of the online editions. I actually like hearing about out-of-town teams. Ok, light me up for saying that.

I guess the Steinbrenner sons want to show everyone who's boss. They didn't just get rid of Torre, they insulted him on the way out. ("Joe, we think you'll work harder for your money this way"). Now they can watch the old guard players who are free agents walk, after receiving "fair offers," and they can claim that they did the best they could to please the ingrates. I think they're trying to replicate the Angelos model of team building. We can only hope so. This is going to be fun to watch.

I'm among those who do not care all that much whether Torre does/does not skipper the Yankees in 2008. Ditto Willie Randolph. Why so much ink on a non-local story?

By the way, the Sox and Yankees benefit greatly from playing Tampa Bay and Baltimore a lot. Their W-L records would not be so stratospheric if they were required to play against more competitive teams. (I know, Balto hounded the Yankees, but still . . .)

In the postseason, when the Sox and Yankees face teams hardened by stiff competition, they fade. Seems so, anyway.

Geezer, Pinstripe implosion is entirely possible.

JohnR, the Yankees are a team that captures national interest, and the Post is a (somewhat) national paper. For them not to cover the Torre story would be unthinkable.

BTW, at the start of the season, I picked the Rays to slug their way a lot higher in the standings than they ended up doing. Are they victims of the baseball world's dismal expectations, or are they just hideously misrun? (No, that's not appropriate chatter for a Nats blog either. Just wondering, though.)

I'm not a Yankees fan but Torre always struck me as a standup guy. Good luck to him.

Nice piece on Torre by Sheinin this morning.

It wouldn't hurt my feelings to see a longer feature on Torre in the Post this weekend. This would no doubt distress some readers who would maintain that Torre, never having been a Washington National, does not qualify for Post feature coverage.

Nonetheless, Sheinin (or Svrluga), write it if you dare.

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