Ken Rosenthal reported in his latest video cast that “friends of Joe Torre doubt he would
tolerate another year of the Dodgers’ penny-pinching circus” and that, as a result he’s looking for a way out of L.A.
That report was shot down by Torre himself yesterday, saying “obviously they’re no friends of mine.” Still, he’s rather non-committal about coming back to L.A. for 2011, saying “It’s going to be me and how I feel toward the end of the year . . . Do I want to do this again?” Torre went on to say that it’s highly unlikely, at 70 years of age, that he’d go work for some other team, regardless of what happens in L.A.
That’s not good enough for Buster Olney, who decided to start some Torre to the Mets chatter this morning:
This is in keeping with how Torre has handled his contract situations
for about a decade-and-a-half — he talks about the unlikelihood of
working in any place other than where he is located, he mentions
possible retirement, and he leaves his options open. And one
option that would make a lot of sense for Torre if he leaves the Dodgers
– and there is a sense among some who know him that he is very
frustrated with the team’s ownership situation — would be a reunion
with the Mets, if they’re looking for a new manager after this season.
The rationale: The Mets will spend money, Torre won’t mind not being in on the big decisions, which he wouldn’t be in Wilpon-land, and of course, Torre is a New York guy, so why not make some money back in the town to which he’s probably going to move back when he’s done in L.A. regardless?
I guess stranger things have happened, but why would the Mets be interested in bringing in a 70 year-old to take over the team? The name of the manager and the column inches devoted to the team don’t sell tickets, winning ballclubs do. Torre’s famous. Big whoop.
A Torre-to-the-Mets move would be like Casey Stengel all over again, and not just by virtue of the manager’s age. Torre taking over the Mets assumes that the 2010 Mets crater. I mean, if you haven’t noticed, the team is actually doing pretty well right now, and if they keep it up, it’s highly unlikely that they’d even have a managerial opening next winter.
For there to be an opening, it seems like the Mets would have to utterly crater, and if the team utterly craters, you have to figure that they would start to clean house and go with youth. Is that really what Joe Torre is best suited for at this point in his career?
I think not, and thus I think anyone talking about Torre taking over as the Mets manager is dreaming.
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- BC - May 11, 2010 at 11:23 AM
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Bring back Bobby V!!!
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- YankeesfanLen - May 11, 2010 at 11:36 AM
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I’ll second that, and it should happen sooner than later.
Before I even read that part of the article, my first though was Casey Stengel. Kind of too bad that Joe didn’t just leave in ’07.
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- Dave - May 11, 2010 at 11:51 AM
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Your rebuttal of the speculation is reasonable and logical, however you forgot this is the Mets and the Wilpons have shown an aversion to logic and reason for 25 years.
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- BCTF - May 11, 2010 at 11:55 AM
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Those “friends” of Joe Torre probably don’t dance either
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- Dan Olson - May 11, 2010 at 12:21 PM
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Well, Calcaterra, if that report was shot down by Torre then why waste everyone’s time by writing this story. What a moron. Go back to journalism school…if you even went there in the first place. Hard to know considering you’re not important enough to even have a Wikipedia page. Ouch.
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- Craig Calcaterra - May 11, 2010 at 12:25 PM
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So many new faces around these parts lately. I love it!
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- Church of the Perpetually Outraged - May 11, 2010 at 12:41 PM
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Hard to know considering you’re not important enough to even have a Wikipedia page. Ouch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=dan+olsen&go=Go
Oh and by the way, under The Hardball Times on wiki it lists this:Shysterball
In December 2008, The Hardball Times added Craig Calcaterra’s blog, “Shysterball,” to its stable of content. A year later, Calcaterra left to write full-time for the NBC Sports blog, “Circling the Bases.”
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- Jonny5 - May 11, 2010 at 12:42 PM
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No… Shut up. I really think Joe will take up fishing after this season.
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- Jason - May 11, 2010 at 12:51 PM
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Joe isn’t the only one irritated with Dodger management. It’s just not been the same since the O’Malley family sold. If McCourt holds on to the team much longer, a significant portion of the fan base is going to shift to the Angels, Padres, or other teams. I’ve been a Dodger fan for 20 years, but I’m so put off by the way McCourt tries to field a team on the cheap, I’m finding myself increasingly indifferent to the Dodgers.
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- Jamie - May 11, 2010 at 1:33 PM
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Joe Torre is 70 years old and a millionaire, you would think he’d prefer to spend his summers relaxing on the beach or spending time with his family. I can’t imagine him on his death bed saying “I wish I’d spent more time answering inane questions about Manny”.
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- DRam - May 11, 2010 at 1:44 PM
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I second that emotion to bring back Bobby V. He would instantly galvanize this team and drop all the mentally weak players (hello Ollie). I hope a clean sweep of the GM/Manager is made.
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- Old Gator - May 11, 2010 at 4:17 PM
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As Keith Hernandez, and Casey Stengel before him, so vividly demonstrated, the Mets’ home turf is a great place to take a nap. They should dig a pond in front of the dugout, stock it with trout fingerlings,, and let poor old Torre snooze on the bench with the line tied around his toe. If he really wants to drive a hard bargain, he could doubtless get Minaya to plant him a shade tree too. Maybe even a straw hat with the Mets logo on it. And while they’re at it, they could bring in Ken Griffey Jr. so Joe would have someone to snuggle up against. Hell, they could leave them there all season and Hernandez could join them for the winter. There’s a lot to say for hibernation, too. David Wright hibernated right through last year, after all.
