The times they are becoming quite different.

In a shocking move (it was shocking for me at least) Joe Torre rejected the Yankees incentive laden $5 million, one-year offer on Thursday.  It would have been a $2.5 million pay cut for the skipper, but it still would have made him the highest paid manager in the league.  The deal also offered the opportunity for Torre to pick up more cash if the Bombers advanced through the playoffs -- $1 million for each winning round -- and would have triggered a second year if the Yanks made the World Series.

No dice.

People may look at it as fair -- the Yankees have fallen short of expectations over the past few seasons and Torre would still be making more than any other manager in baseball, but deep down, the brass must have known that Torre wouldn't accept the deal.  How could he?  The Yankees were basically asking him to prove himself all over again.  They also tried to play it both ways.  My brother shot me an e-mail as soon as the news broke.  Here's a little of what he wrote:

I must say I'm irate right now. If you want him, give him a contract, if you don't then don't. This offer is a slap in the face and I feel like they knew he wouldn't take it, and this would be the best way to get rid of him. I'd be better with the pay cut, but the incentives? That's ridiculous. We are back to the bullsh*t games in the 80's. I'm not saying they'll be bad without him. It's the way they went about this. The "Leadership" of this team is a joke. It's like a circus.

There you have it.  Some passion from one of the Yankee brood.  I can't say that I'm irate, but I'm disappointed.  Call me a Torre disciple, but I think Joe deserved better.  All the man has done since he arrived in 1996 is win.  And while you're at it, go ahead and call me crazy, but I would have given him two years at the same salary.  But I'm not in charge.  And it looks like the Steinbrenner brothers have decided to make a statement with their first big decision.  

In the end, I think both sides were just tired of each other.

And so the Joe Torre era ends.  Twelve straight playoff appearances.  Ten division titles.  Six World Series.  Four rings.

I didn't think it would end this way for Joe in pinstripes.  It looked like he was destined to retire as a Yankee.  But you can't predict baseball.  I mean who thought Torre would have had this much success when he was hired in November 1995?  Not many.

Where do the Yanks go from here?  Who knows?  Don Mattingly seems to be the leader in the race to replace Joe, but usually teams go in a different direction when they make a managerial move.  Mattingly strikes me as a guy who would be similar in style to Torre.  I don't know if that will work against him.  The other possibility is Joe Girardi who has a little fire in the belly.  But Girardi couldn't get along with the ownership in Florida.  It won't be any easier in New York.  Or maybe it will be someone who is flying below everyone's radar.

One thing is for sure, whoever takes over for the Yanks in 2008 will have some mighty big shoes to fill.