You hear the old cliché all the time, that the role of an effective manager lies in his ability to put his employees in the best position for them to achieve success. This is true in both sports and corporate America. Unfortunately for the New York Yankees, management is failing to live up to its responsibilities.
It is well-documented that Joe Torre is a clueless customer when it comes to handling his bullpen. Time and again Torre blunders when it comes to making pitching changes, often placing misguided faith in veterans who should otherwise be on a short leash. The phenomenon, known as being one of “Torre’s guys” is the bane of Yankee fans’ existence. Clueless Joe gets fixated on certain pitchers (Paul Quantrill in 2004, Mike Stanton in 2005, and Tanyon Sturtze in 2006) and just runs them out there in tight spots when they’ve shown a remarkable consistency at blowing games.
Ultimately, however, Torre’s bad decisions are the fault of GM Brian Cashman. As the chief executive of all baseball-related decisions, it is Cashman’s responsibility to rid the Yankees of players like Sturtze. For if Torre is so obtuse as to not realize his pathetic dependence on lousy players such as Sturtze and Bernie Williams, then Cashman must act decisively to rid Torre of the temptation of constantly relying on his “guys.”
By permitting Torre to continue to rely on stiffs, Cashman sends the implicit message that it is acceptable to continue losing games due to managerial incompetence. Not to get all highbrow, but as Cicero wrote, “To stumble twice against the same stone, is a proverbial disgrace.” Brian Cashman permits his manager to stumble several times over but does not remove the stone on which his manager stumbles. For that, Cashman is the greater fool.
It is well-documented that Joe Torre is a clueless customer when it comes to handling his bullpen. Time and again Torre blunders when it comes to making pitching changes, often placing misguided faith in veterans who should otherwise be on a short leash. The phenomenon, known as being one of “Torre’s guys” is the bane of Yankee fans’ existence. Clueless Joe gets fixated on certain pitchers (Paul Quantrill in 2004, Mike Stanton in 2005, and Tanyon Sturtze in 2006) and just runs them out there in tight spots when they’ve shown a remarkable consistency at blowing games.
Ultimately, however, Torre’s bad decisions are the fault of GM Brian Cashman. As the chief executive of all baseball-related decisions, it is Cashman’s responsibility to rid the Yankees of players like Sturtze. For if Torre is so obtuse as to not realize his pathetic dependence on lousy players such as Sturtze and Bernie Williams, then Cashman must act decisively to rid Torre of the temptation of constantly relying on his “guys.”
By permitting Torre to continue to rely on stiffs, Cashman sends the implicit message that it is acceptable to continue losing games due to managerial incompetence. Not to get all highbrow, but as Cicero wrote, “To stumble twice against the same stone, is a proverbial disgrace.” Brian Cashman permits his manager to stumble several times over but does not remove the stone on which his manager stumbles. For that, Cashman is the greater fool.
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