YANKEES START their

[Guest AstroBull]

Hell of a run the Yankees had ;D

[Velcro]

the yankees might not lose a game on their way to the title

the redsox need to take notes

The redsox have been taking note, on how to lose a playoff series by getting swept after having the other team on the ropes.  Yanks are getting good at that.

[___ Eats It]

Yeah, that Yankees world series run?  Not so much...

[Herman_Momart]

Joe Torre out....Lou Pinella in.  

Lou will def win a few championships with this talent.  Torre should have been let go a few years ago.  

[jg]

They will lose again  ;D

HMMMMM

[smazza]

Report: Joe Torre Expected to Be Fired

2:48 AM PDT, October 8, 2006

NEW YORK -- Yankees manager Joe Torre likely will be fired and replaced by Lou Piniella following another early exit from the playoffs, the New York Daily News reported Sunday.

According to sources the Daily News did not identify, Torre is expected to be fired unless he resigns first -- or team officials can talk owner George Steinbrenner out of making the move.

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On Saturday, the Yankees were eliminated from the first round of the AL playoffs, losing to Detroit 8-3 in Game 4. It was the second straight year New York lost in the opening round.

The Yankees have won the World Series four times under Torre, most recently in 2000. They had a record $200 million payroll this year and matched the New York Mets for the best record in the regular season.

The Yankees have made the playoffs in all 11 years that Torre has been their manager. They have won nine straight AL East titles.

The 66-year-old Torre has one year and $7 million left on his contract.

Piniella is a former Yankees star and managed them in 1986-87 and for most of 1988. He guided Cincinnati to the 1990 World Series title and later managed Seattle and Tampa Bay.

The 63-year-old Piniella took a year off from managing last season.

[smazza]

Joe Torre out....Lou Pinella in.  

Lou will def win a few championships with this talent.  Torre should have been let go a few years ago.  

players love torre

great pitching always stops great hitting

[Velcro]

doesn't matter if the players love torre... George hates losing... Herm is right on... Pinella will be hired shortly.

[smazza]

pinella wont make a difference

yankees need pitching

ho wmany times has he been fired by the boss?

[smazza]

TORRE STORY THICKENS

SOURCE: JOE IS ON HIS WAY OUT

By JOEL SHERMAN and GEORGE KING

IS THIS THE WAY TO THE EXIT?: Over the next few days, Yankees

manager Joe Torre may indeed be asking that question as management

mulls the franchise's future following the embarrasssing 3-1

series loss to the Tigers.

October 9, 2006 -- George Steinbrenner is leaning toward firing Joe Torre because he is furious at losing in the Division Series for a second straight season, largely blames his manager for this setback to the Tigers and is unsure that he can move forward in a productive relationship with Torre, sources told The Post.

Steinbrenner was described by sources as trying to cool off yesterday from the Yankees' ouster on Saturday as a way to assure that his decision about Torre is not rash. However, in a brief conversation with reporters at his midtown hotel yesterday, Steinbrenner clearly had not morphed into a Torre ally.

Steinbrenner said, "We will see what happens" when queried about Torre's future. When asked about why he is waiting to make a decision, The Boss responded, "I am going to think it over." Steinbrenner said, "No, I don't have to" give Torre a vote of confidence.

Asked if he was upset at any managerial moves made in the ALDS, Steinbrenner said, "Sheffield did [bother him], yeah." Gary Sheffield had just one hit in the series and played poorly at his new position, first base, yet after benching Sheffield in Game 3, Torre returned the righty slugger as the cleanup-hitting first baseman in the decisive Game 4.

Should Torre be fired, Lou Piniella would be the most likely replacement. But multiple sources said that no final decision has been made on Torre and that Piniella's third tour as Yankee manager is not a slam-dunk.

Reached by phone, Steinbrenner's son-in-law and Yankee general partner Steve Swindal said, "There is no truth to it [that Torre is going to be fired]. I don't know where this stuff comes from. I think we have to examine how to improve the team in all areas, but, yes, I expect [Torre] to be back because of the year [left at $7 million] on his contract. So I don't expect that to change."

Swindal said he had not "discussed the manager at all" with Steinbrenner. However, he added, "All I can tell you is we are going to discuss every option to make our team better from A-to-Z and leave it there." Torre would fall into A-to-Z.

Torre, expected at Yankee Stadium Tuesday, did not return calls. But he is 66 and, at best, will go into next year as a lame-duck manager. He has always said in the past he would not walk away from a contract. However, the potential for a return to infighting could lead him to be more susceptible to a buyout. And the infighting is key to this. The 2005 season was filled with significant internal stress between Torre and Steinbrenner and Steinbrenner's minions. Torre hated the open second-guessing and the planting of discomfiting questions for him on the YES network. He met with Steinbrenner soon after last year's first-round ouster when his job also was in peril. But Torre seemingly came out stronger, gaining assurances from Steinbrenner that the backbiting would stop and better communications between the two would flourish. And it did in 2006.

But the first-round loss this year, after staggering expectations and $200 million more in payroll, leaves Steinbrenner again openly critical of Torre and unlikely to be a quiet supporter for another year. GM Brian Cashman is perhaps Torre's biggest advocate in the organization, believing Torre's calm stewardship is more of an asset than any of his strategic deficiencies.

However, even with a stronger power base himself, Cashman would be unlikely to be able to save Torre if Steinbrenner, his family and other important Yankee executives are not in the manager's corner. Steinbrenner also was said to be more emboldened because he senses public opinion, once heavily on Torre's side, has begun to wane and that the media and fans would not be openly hostile to change.

Additional reporting by Dan Martin

joel.sherman@nypost.com

george.king@nypost.com