While I have enjoyed watching the Yankees lose as much as the next guy, I just can't fathom the calls for Joe Torre's head. The latest is from Jeff Pearlman over at ESPN, and it's as stupid as any other riff I've seen on the subject.Pearlman's basis for canning Torre: everyone else has failed to do their job. Torre was great, Pearlman notes, at motivating respectful, farm-raised talents like Jeter, Posada, and Pettite, but now that the Yankees roster is full of lackadaisical high-priced mercenaries, he's got to go. Bring in Bobby Valentine is Pearlman's prescription. Or re-animate Billy Martin.
How about canning Brian Cashman or whoever is responsible for turning an organization known for a never-ending supply of talent into a bunch of ill-fitting parts with no depth? How about acknowledging that, as a result of an improbable number of injuries, Torre has been forced into using a cast of starters that would make the 2002 Devil Rays blush? No, Pearlman says, time for Torre to go.
Aside from the curious notion of Torre's seeming failure to motivate players (A-Rod, Abreu, Giambi) everyone acknowledges to be unmotivatable, I have yet to see one single critique of Torre that identifies a flaw he has which would be corrected if he were removed as manager.
And I'm still not ready to write the Yankees off this year as many seem to be willing to do.
