Now, it's George King, so take this with a shaker of salt:
Cashman and Torre spoke yesterday and have been in contact two of the last three days. The popular belief inside the Yankees' offices is that Steinbrenner made it difficult to fire Torre when he popped off last Saturday with the Yankees down 2-0 to the Indians in the ALDS. Had The Boss kept quiet, the Yankees could have conducted their business without having to hear the players' love for Torre.
It could be that everyone needs time to try to spin away the media attention that Big Stein's latest outburst has caused.Or, it could be Cashman is keeping Torre alive to help negotiate with the free agents while the entire Steinbrenner clan wants him outed.
Apparently, Torre made 7 million to Sweet Lou's second-place 3.5 million last year. I knew Torre was ahead, but I didn't realize it was by that much. cbeck's talk of a pay cut looks very probable in that light. Torre could come back for half of what he earned last year, still be the highest paid manager in the game, and Steinbrenner could save some face.
Could Steinbrenner finally have to show deference to one of his employees? (I'm assuming that Stein isn't using this weekend to dig up dirt on Mariano Rivera...)