When it comes down to it, Joe Torre felt that his 4 championships would stand up to 7 straight seasons of the Yankees not winning the World Series. But he was wrong. And while the argument could be made that Torre should've taken the deal the Yankees offered him (in which he still would've been the highest paid manager in baseball), when it came down to it for Joe Torre the 4 championships made him feel like he had every right to be Yankee manager until he was ready to retire.
Yet, the facts are the facts and they start with an owner who puts more of his money into his team then any other owner in the game. And for that reason George Steinbrenner deserves the right to say that the finality of the 7 seasons have not been good enough. The owner deserves the right to feel that if he's giving his manager the best players in baseball, as he does every year, should have more to speak for it then a bunch of playoff appearances. He deserves the right to say that if he's paying his manager two times what the second-highest paid manager makes, that manager should take his team all the way.
Joe Torre made his legacy in pinstripes, not the other way around. He became a Hall of Fame manager, mostly because of the quality of players Steinbrenner provided him with and while he did a great job altogether, bottom line is that he should've won more. Now it's time to move on and if the Yankees hierachy is smart they'll give Don Mattingly a chance to manage the team.
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