Oh, I forgot. Torre never had any injuries or adversity to deal with over his 12 years.
___

I guess you have because Torre never faced a depleted offense like Girardi has to this point.

Steve–Of course not. I’m just wondering where the “fire the manager” crowd is this year? I mean, aren’t all the pieces there? Lifeless-looking play, questionable bullpen moves, an under .500 record, an offense in a funk, etc…

I guess 4 rings and 11 consecutive playoff appearances couldn’t (as of last year) couldn’t buy Mr. Torre the same benefit of the doubt that it now buys the new guy.

If you give a GM money and free reign to use it, can you really blame him if he does? Sure, you can question his choices of who to spend it on, but once that decision is made, is it his fault for spending the money or the Steins’ fault for handing him the wad of blank checks?

You don’t think ROI is a column on the report card of every G.M. in baseball?
—————-
I suppose so, up to a point. Could be the reason the Yanks have decided to get “younger and cheaper.”

Anyway, some numbers from the team last year.

Salaries
Jason Giambi $ 23,428,571
Alex Rodriguez $ 22,708,525
Derek Jeter $ 21,600,000
Andy Pettitte $ 16,000,000
Bobby Abreu $ 15,000,000
Johnny Damon $ 13,000,000
Hideki Matsui $ 13,000,000
Jorge Posada $ 12,000,000
Mike Mussina $ 11,070,423
Mariano Rivera $ 10,500,000

That’s part of the reason the payroll’s so high. A few of those guys will be gone next year.

You don’t think ROI is a column on the report card of every G.M. in baseball?
==================================
Not in the simplistic way you are going about it, no. Or at least it shouldn’t be. But I concede that baseball owners are often as dumb as fans when it comes to equating a payroll figure with what that amount should “equal” to.

Joel — Spot on.

As for lacking A-Freud, the team won five straight, Alex was an important contributor in only the first of those wins.

Cano and Giambi were coming around before the ‘return’.

This is like the Willie-Omar argument on the other side of town.This is quite simple,right now in this order the Jays,Rays,and Red Sox all have better pitching than the Yanks ,1-12.Lat time ,I checked Girardi didn’t pick the pitching and his first name is not JP,Andrew or Theo.Theo has built a team that is well rounded(they have so much pitching that they want to move Buchholz to the bullpen),Andrew Friedman has fielded a team that is well rounded and feisty as well,Ricciardi has fielded the best pitching in the AL this season ,what has Cashman done?Cashman took a gamble to create a Young Three (Joba,Phil and Ian)for the future.There have been growing pains.The one problem is that the Jays and Rays are in play because of their pitching,what was his reponse to that?The lineup is still the same as last year with the same warts(the lefthanders fall asleep at the same time,their RISP early on has been awful).In essence,the AL East teams are all better but the Yanks are not and that will make their playoff climb that much harder.And if I hear one more radio personality in NY say that the Yankees are only a few games behind the Red Sox again,I will burst out laughing.There is a new order in the AL East and the Jays and the Rays are in contention this year and the last time I checked Boston is in second and the Yanks are in last!

BTW,that 209 million that the Yanks have spent is ridiculous.Tampa spends 42 million,Toronto,100 mill and Boston 133 mill.Who is last now?Cashman AND the Tampa brain trust both have blame in this mess.This is one of the most poorly constructly teams ever for any amount of money.And in the end,is Girardi the Dummkopf/Stunad or is Cashman….Ny answer is Cashman!

This time last year, they were 21-27 and they still made the playoffs. You can stick any manager you like in there and you’re still going to have your slow starters, your slumps, your guys who simply can’t cut it in the majors, your guys who need more time, and your guys who are past their prime.

Joel – are you blaming this on Girardi?

~~Payroll should have very little to do with performance.~~

You don’t think ROI is a column on the report card of every G.M. in baseball?