In a Shocker, Torre Turns Down Yankees' One-Year Offer

Joe Torre is departing the New York Yankees on his terms.

Manager since 1996 and winner of four World Series and six American League pennants, Torre rejected a one-year, $5 million offer from the Yankees with incentives that could have increased its value to $8 million. Had the Yankees won the World Series next year, a 2009 option would have been invoked. Torre made $7. 5 million this year in the final season of a three-year $19.2 million contract.

Photo of Joe Torre by Robert Caplin

Thus - though one can never say never in Yankeeland - the Torre era appears to be over.

Torre's 12 consecutive seasons at the Yankees helm tie him with Casey Stengel (1949-60) and Miller Huggins (1918-29), and behind only Joe McCarthy, who ran the team from 1931 through the first 35 games of 1946.

Torre has 1,173 regular-season wins, second in franchise history behind McCarthy's 1,460 and ahead of Stengel's 1,149.

"It's time for the Yankees to move forward," Yankees President Randy Levine said on a conference call. "We respect Joe Torre an awful lot; he is a great, great person and a great Yankee. All we can do as we try to go forward is make him the offer we thought was best for the New York Yankees."

Could it be the Yankee braintrust made Torre an offer they knew he would refuse?