Torre Comes Clean On February 3rd a book titled "The Yankee Years" written by Tom Verducci will be available to purchase. This book includes Joe Torre's perspective of his final years with the New York Yankees, a team he managed to four World Series titles. Torre wanted a two-year contract from the Yankees, but was disrespected when the Yankees offered a minimal deal for only one-year.! Torre then left to manage the Los Angeles Dodgers. GM Brian Cashman has always said he has had a great relationship with Torre, but this book refutes that. The book says several times how Cashman "betrayed" Torre. This book also goes into detail about Alex Rodriguez's jealousy towards teammate Derek Jeter. Torre says teammates called Rodriguez, "A-Fraud." There has always been speculation of A-Rod's jealousy of Jeter because A-Rod was forced to play 3B since Jeter was at SS. Verducci says he does not expect this book to be a distraction for Torre b
ecause the book is more about the Yankees and how the game h! as chang ed around them. The New York media is already running with this story trying to make Torre look like a bad guy. Verducci made it quite clear that people should read this book before they judge solely based on the tabloids. Torre is a god in NY, but this book could make him hated by Yankees fans. A-Rod has always seemed like a drama queen and Torre confirms that in this book. A-Rod's dream was to be the king of New York, but the problem is NY already has a king in Derek Jeter. A-Rod obviously does not enjoy playing second fiddle to anyone. It will be interesting to see how Jeter, A-Rod, and Cashman react.Manny Still for Sale
One of the most dangerous hitters in baseball history is still on the free agent market. Manny Ramirez turned down a 2-year offer from the LA Dodgers earlier in the offseason and has not received an offer since. I expected Manny to wait a long time until he got the offer he desired, but I am beginning to think that offer may never arrive. The recession has many teams keeping their money (besides the Yankees) and therefore a market has never really opened up for Ramirez. Manny was rumored to be headed to the Yankees, but then NY snagged Tex. The SF Giants said they cannot afford Manny and the Mets said they are not interested. Cleveland and Washington discussed it, but that was as far as it went. The Angels also said they were not! interested. That leaves the LA Dodgers who still would like h! im back, but only for the right price. There are some rumors that Ramirez could make a stunning return to Boston, but that is highly unlikely. Expect to see Manny in Dodger blue next season.
