Another Perspective on the Torre Affair

My past blog outlined what I thought was the dysfunctional manner in which former Yankees manager Joe Torre's contract proposal was played out. I agreed the overwhelming view that the Yankees made an embarrassing offer that constituted poor negotiation skills and even a hope that Torre was reject it. As part of the problem was the uncertain power structure the team presently has.

A contrary opinion was expressed in a column by Murray Chass of the New York Times. He noted that, despite Torre's feeling of being "insulted" by the bonus provisions, the former manager had incentive clauses in his last two contracts, which covered the last six years of his employment. According to Chass, in the 2002-4 contract, Torre earned bonuses of $200,000 for winning the division series, $300,000 for winning the league championship series and $500,000 for winning the World Series. The 2005-7 contract eliminated the division series bonus but provided $400,000 for winning the league championship series and $600,000 for winning the World Series.

With respect to the one-year nature of the contract proposal, Chass reports that Torre considered a $4.5 million one year contract extension at the beginning of last season. In so many words, Chass is wondering why Torre even considered such a deal then, but felt so put-off by a one-year $5 million offer at the end of that same season.

Chass concludes his column: "Torre never mentioned those negotiations, nor did he disclose his profitable contract incentives. Should he have talked about either? Maybe he had no obligation to unless he was asked about them, but he did have a responsibility not to make misleading claims about motivation and insult."

Chass's points are well-taken and I would like to hear Torre's take on these points. However, they still do not believe that the Yankees acted with good faith in crafting a bona fide offer under the circumstances. And Chass does not address the almost two-week delay in even getting this offer to Torre. I think that is an important piece of this puzzle.

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