Make Torre A Manager Emeritus

Anytime power changes hands in a large organization, there are complications. Some people want to sweep out the remnants of the old order and rid themselves of their rivals' allies; others want to protect their power bases. It's an old story. It's not surprising, then, that two days of meetings among the Yankees' top brass in Tampa, Fla., have, according to general manager Brian Cashman, produced no consensus on whether manager Joe Torre should be offered a new contract.

It was only Sunday that the Yankees announced that owner George Steinbrenner had ceded control of the team to his two sons. Over the past few days, we have also seen a spat between the Newark Star-Ledger, which reports prospective manager Don Mattingly has admitted to a friend that he's not ready to take over for Torre, and Mattingly's agent, who says this is a lie. And looming over everything, the Yankees are going to have to either replace the irreplaceable Alex Rodriguez, or offer him so much money he'll agree not to even listen to offers from other teams.

With this level of palace intrigue going on, it would be surprising if the brass could arrive at a consensus on where to eat lunch, leave alone Torre's fate.

There are good arguments both for keeping Torre (assuming he wants to be kept) and for letting him go. He's universally respected, has done a good job breaking in young players, and wins 95 games every year, which is not as easy as it may seem. There is also no obvious replacement at hand. Still, he hasn't won a World Series in seven years, in part because of his own weaknesses at in-game tactics. The man is also 67. It may just be time for a change.

This doesn't seem like the sort of issue on which there can be compromise: Torre either will or will not be the manager next year. There is, though, a painless solution to the problem. Why not just promote Torre? It's what any university or law firm would do when faced with the problem of a tenured, successful employee whom they want to replace, but don't want to lose.

Anointing Torre as essentially a "manager emeritus" would have real benefits. It would allow the team to take advantage of what he does well without having to suffer what he does badly. Torre could serve as a liaison between the front office and the locker room to counsel players he's managed their entire careers, thus relieving his replacement of some of the burdens of the job without having to run a bullpen. It would also give both those who want to get rid of him and those who want to keep him a way to claim they'd won.

Maybe most importantly, it would be a way to acknowledge that the time for change has come while showing respect to Torre and what he's done for the team. No one should underestimate the esteem in which the public holds Torre: The team will suffer if it's seen as treating him badly.

Such an arrangement would be basically unprecedented. Butthen, everything about Torre's reign has been unprecedented, from the $200 million payroll, to the idea of a Yankees manager staying on the job for 12 years. The main objection to it is that it would be unfair to Torre and his successor to keep Torre around, casting his long shadow over the new manager, and undercutting his authority by Torre's mere presence. But in truth, this might actually do more than anything else to help the new manager succeed.

If Torre goes, his replacement is going to be working under the pressure of not being Torre unless — and until — he wins at least one World Series, and maybe more. One way to address this would be to pretend it isn't true. Another way would be to keep Torre near at hand, directly mentoring and supporting the new manager and lending him Torre's own credibility. This obviously wouldn't work if Torre were to be replaced by some old bull like Tony LaRussa. If it was, say, Mattingly — someone who isn't yet ready to manage in New York and could only benefit if everyone were to freely acknowledge that and openly help him learn on the job — the calculus would be very different.

Of course such a proposal would essentially give Torre veto power over possible heirs. This arrangement could only work if complete mutual trust and respect between Torre and his replacement were a given. That doesn't seem like a bad thing to me. Why shouldn't he have a say in the decision? No one knows better than Torre what the job takes.

If I had to bet today, I'd bet that Torre will stay, with some understanding that he will retire within a year or two, mostly because no one will have the stomach to take the blame for letting him go. The beauty of this scheme is that no one would have to do so. In fact, everyone could jockey for credit instead. It won't happen. But in a year or two, the Yankees might wish it had.

tmarchman@nysun.com