AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2007 > October > 19
Friday, October 19, 2007
Torre down, Cox still standing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s Friday afternoon, and I just finished a phone call with Bobby Cox about Joe Torre, just as Torre was beginning his why-he-rejected-the-Yankee-offer press conference before a packed room of reporters and TV and radio people in New York.
While Torre was stepping in front of the hot lights with his notes in hand, Bobby was in his old truck, driving to his farm in Adairsville and listening to Charley Steiner talk about Torre on XM radio.
The fourth-winningest regular-season manager in history (Cox) is talking about the eighth-winningest manager (Torre), whom Cox has the utmost respect for, and you can tell he has a few things he’ll keep to himself, perhaps out of his relationship with the Yankees, the team Cox played for, but probably just out of general style.
Like matters that occur in the clubhouse, Cox will always keep this stuff private.
So for the record, here’s what the current longest-tenured manager in baseball said about Torre.
(By the way, I should point out that Torre’s $7.5 million salary this year was more than double what Cox makes annually. But I should be pointed out, Torre had all the leverage when he negotiated his last contract - winning multiple World Series titles will give you that. Lou Piniella makes $3.5 mill, which is also ahead of Cox, but not by a lot; Bobby’s exact salary is tough to pin down, but I’m pretty certain it’s between $2.5 mill and $3 mill. For some comparison, Terry Francona is in the first year of a two-year, $4.5 million deal.)
Anyway, enough about managerial salaries.
Oh, wait, one more thing: Torre turned down a one-year, $5 million offer to return in 2008, which also included incentives. And while some might say he should’ve accepted a pay cut because the Yankees haven’t won a World Series in seven years, I can certainly see where Torre would see it as a slap in the face and unacceptable. After all, the man’s taken that team to the postseason 12 consecutive seasons while dealing with more pressure than anyone else in his profession on a daily basis.
OK, so Cox said about Torre: “Quite honestly, I thought he did as good job a job as you could humanly do this year. Having no pitching early on, with all the injuries they had, having to go to the bullpen in the first inning in back-to-back games….
“And he kept the team right there. I know they’re good, but I thought they had a remarkable comeback this season. They could have died easily, but Joe kept them right there. Joe’s still top-notch. I don’t know about the money and all that. It’s hard to understand all that right now.
“He’s been in an incredible situation. The last few years haven’t been as tough [in terms of pressure from the top] because George [Steinbrenner] is away from the team. But always before, Joe was the perfect guy for that job because of the demands George put on his people. George puts the same demands on his manager as everyone else; he doesn’t separate them.”
Lastly, Cox said of Torre: “He’s nothing but high-class. He’s got a great personality and character.”
Hey, like I said, it’s not Bobby’s style to throw folks under the bus, to burn bridges, to take critical shots at how any other team is doing business. He’s never done that, not that I can remember. Ever.
If you listened to the tone of players who spoke on ESPN today, past Yankees most of them, you heard the universal respect they had for Torre and their disappointment in how this transpired. I forgot which one of them said he thought Torre had earned the right to go out on his own terms, to manage as long as he wants to.
Can you imagine if a similar situation occurred in Atlanta with Cox? I can’t imagine that it would, that he’d be treated in a similar way by ownership, but then I don’t know the new owners, either. So I won’t say it’s impossible.
But let’s just say you’d have a similar outcry from past - and current - players if it did happen. Even though Bobby hasn’t had anything close to Torre’s postseason success, he’s got the same level of universal respect around the industry as Torre.
There are plenty who believe Cox should be able to manage the Braves as long as he wants. I’ll let you folks debate that if you want. I’ll keep my thoughts on that to myself.
Speaking of long tenures: Some were surprised by the unusual timing of the announcement that Andruw Jones would not be re-signed, coming as it did in the week after the season ended, long before the free agent filing period and the decision whether to offer arbitration had to be made, etc.
Some were also surprised by the timing of John Schuerholz’s move from the GM chair to the president’s office, just a couple weeks after the season ended.
But in retrospect, it all seems pretty obvious to me now, and well thought-out.
By making the Andruw announcement right away after the season, Schuerholz could clear that from the plate of his hand-picked successor, Frank Wren. That’s not something Schuerholz and the Braves wanted Wren to have to do as his first order of business, or his first press conference: “Hi folks, as my first act as GM I’d like to announce that we’re unceremoniously showing Andruw the door.”
And by then moving to the president’s role a week later, Schuerholz allows Wren to get to work and have an entire offseason to make the moves he wants to make, including one that I think is close to a sure thing: Tom Glavine.
I feel almost certain that the Braves are going to sign him now. I can’t see them possibly dropping the ball on this again. If they had no interest in Glavine this winter, they could have said so all along, not been coy about it or offered the “no comments” they have for the past couple of months.
That means they certainly do have interest, at least that’s how I see it. And I just can’t see them failing to sign Glavine for the second consecutive winter, them being outbid for his services for the third time as a free agent. Just can’t see that.
And I also don’t believe Glavine is going to rake them for every last time he can. Not at this point. He wants to be here, doesn’t want his career to end like it did with those last three starts, and certainly doesn’t want to go pitch somewhere else and leave his wife and kids back in Atlanta another season.
It’s going to happen. If it doesn’t, it means one side or the other just failed miserably in the art of compromise. And I can’t see the Braves doing that in Wren’s first offseason.
Now, if he comes out and says they’re just not interested in Glavine, that’s one thing. I’d be surprised, but at least it’d be a reason. If they say they’re just not willing to pay Glavine what he wants to be paid, to me that’s unacceptable. Both sides must compromise, and I think they will.
And then the Braves should be able to spend most of their offseason filling their other two main needs: Center fielder and one more starter. They won’t need a highly paid No. 1-caliber starter, not with Smoltz, Hudson, Glavine and possibly Hampton already in the rotation (Braves aren’t counting on Hampton, not this time, but they are hoping he’ll be ready to pitch).
Add Glavine and one more quality starter, perhaps a Blanton or Lowry or Bonderman, and the Braves have the best rotation in the National League, without question.
And with that rotation, it won’t be essential to replace Andruw’s bat with a big-power guy, just someone who can play solid defense and perhaps hit you 20-25 homers, perhaps a veteran who’d take less to play in Atlanta (I’m not gonna mention the guy from LaGrange’s name, but you know it).
To get that last starting pitcher, the Braves would probably have to do it via trade, perhaps for shortstop Edgar Renteria. Much as I know the Braves would prefer to keep him, a team like Detroit might target Renteria, and the Braves have Yunel Escobar ready to step in.
There will still be other decisions to make, including the bench. Will Willy Aybar be ready and can they count on him to stay healthy and clean? Do they want to pay the arbitration salary of Matt Diaz, who’ll probably qualify as a Super-2 guy (the guys with the most major league service just short of three years), or try to trade him if they believe Brandon Jones is ready to handle left field?
So many ways to go, so much interesting stuff to come this winter.
Big weekend of music: Bunch of good shows this weekend, including Govt’ Mule at Tabernacle tonight, and two great ones on Saturday — Vic Chesnutt at the Earl, and Jason Isbell at Variety Playhouse with the Whigs opening. Also, Over the Rhine at Eddie’s Attick on Monday.
And then there’s the Johnny Cash tribute show tonight at Star Bar. Bunch of bands playing three Cash songs apiece, no repeats allowed. “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash.”
Oh, and do yourselves a favor and try to see “Eastern Promises” while it’s still in the theatres. Great movie, overshadowed by some lesser ones recently.
”BETTY LONELY” by Vic Chesnutt
Betty Lonely
lives in a duplex of stucco
on the north bank of a brackish river
her ears omit the noise from a nearby airstrip
her mind floats beyond the snapper boats
Betty Lonely
her eyes are roughly staring
at a point through her sliding glass door
her heart lives over a drawbridge
her brain is wet like a thrownet
Betty Lonely
she will always think in Spanish
though I know
her Spanish black hair will start to fade
she sunk her past
out in the surrounding salt flats
her maidenhood was lost
beneath the Spanish moss
Betty Lonely
just talks to her grandbaby
everybody else she blots them out
but her words stick
like a flounder gig
her dry laugh is like a gaff
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