They made him an offer that he could refuse

The Joe Torre Years are over.

The news spread quickly in New York. My friend Kate, a Boston native, sent me a Facebook message: “Even I’ll admit, your man Torre was the only guy who could make me nervous on the field.” My roommate forwarded the breaking news alert from NYT.com. “Have you heard?”

I passed the news on. My boss wrote back, “Who?” My dad said, “Wow, they made him an offer that he could refuse.”

The offer extended at Legends Field in Tampa represented a one-year contract and a salary cut. I’m not surprised that Torre walked away from such a conditional offer, full of “ifs” and silent “in cases.” In his twelve years as manager, he lead the Yankees into twelve post-seasons. His team won six pennants and four World Championships. Among his devoted following are fans and several of the players that the team will rely on next season.

Dollars aside, the new contract would have represented borrowed time with the team. Torre would have had just a year to redeem himself with the Yankee Monarchy. If the team had another off-year, he would have been out anyway and faced with a bombardment of “why not sooner?” If the team pulled it together for 2008, he would have been on probation. An eight million dollar probation is still a probation when Yankee pride is at stake.

“Rejected” is as good as a conspiracy slant on Torre’s reaction to the 1-year offer. This deal was fabricated to shoo Torre out. He wasn’t fired; he didn’t accept a hand-out. He walked away with the same level-headedness and staid dignity with which he lead the Yankee team.

The Steinbrothers, who are assuming ownership responsibilities as George Steinbrenner bows out, will get to choose a new manager, and it sounds like they will be moving on quickly.

This way, everybody wins.

But that’s not how it works in baseball.