Leith - as much as I hate to see Torre go, we knew that it was only a matter of time before either he would retire or Steinbrenner would send him packing. I think that his record speaks for him, but what more could you ask of the man to accomplish in 12 seasons - 12 post season appearances, 6 world series appearances and 4 world series championships. I do think that the offer yesterday served two purposes; I think Steinbrenner wanted him gone and I think that Torre probably wanted out on some level. I\'ve always said that a coach can only do so much, then it\'s left up to the players to do the rest. The Yankees just did not perform well enough to stay in the hunt the last couple seasons. But Torre will surely be missed.
As for his replacement, I\'m not sure who I would want to coach the team
Mattingly - My all time favorite baseball player. I don\'t think that there was a Mattingly curse, it\'s just that they didn\'t have the right team during his tenure. My concern is that he really doesn\'t have any managerial experience and I can see he and Steinbrenner having it out if he doesn\'t perform well immediately, which might leave you with a situation like Yogi, where you don\'t see Donnie in a Yankee uniform for along time. Sone day he\'ll be ready, but not now.
Girardi - I think that he might be the man for the job. I personally wouldn\'t like it because I get the feeling that he would be a player\'s coach and I don\'t think that would work in a club house that has several of his old team mates potentially on the team. But if I had to guess who they\'d end up with, this would be my guess
LaRussa - I don\'t like the guy and wouldn\'t want him in pinstripes.
But I\'m sure that a decision will be made fairly quickly.
