Torre says no thanks to Yanks' 1-year offer

NEW YORK -- Joe Torre is out as manager of the New York Yankees, rejecting a substantial pay cut after the team failed to make it past the first round of the playoffs for the third straight year.

Torre turned down a one-year, $5 million contract Thursday -- $2.5 million less than he made last season.

Rather than put up with the indignity of a salary slap coupled with a performance-based contract, the man who led the Yankees to playoff appearances in all 12 years he managed walked.

"A difficult day," general manager Brian Cashman said.

Bench coach Don Mattingly is the leading contender to replace Torre, who won four World Series championships with the Yanks but none since 2000. Yankees broadcaster Joe Girardi, the NL Manager of the Year with Florida in 2006, is another top contender. Tony La Russa and Bobby Valentine also could be considered.

The 67-year-old Torre, who took over the team to start the 1996 season, made his decision after traveling from New York to the team's spring training complex in Tampa, Fla., and meeting with Steinbrenner, the owner's sons and top executives for about an hour. He was accompanied by Cashman and chief operating officer Lonn Trost.

New York's offer included $3 million in bonuses if the Yankees reached next year's World Series and an $8 million option for 2009 that would have become guaranteed if New York won the AL pennant.

Torre just completed a three-year, $19.2 million contract. The Cubs' Lou Piniella was the second-highest paid manager at $3.5 million.

"Under this offer, he would continue to be the highest-paid manager in major-league baseball," team president Randy Levine said. "We thought that we need to go to a performance-based model, having nothing to do with Joe Torre's character, integrity or ability. We just think it's important to motivate people."

Torre called Cashman on Tuesday and asked to meet with the 77-year-old Steinbrenner and the owners' sons, Hal and Hank, who have taken an increased role in recent month. They spent an hour together, and then Torre was gone.

Steinbrenner let his sons do the talking.

"The objective of the Yankees since the '20s has been to win the championship every year, just as the objective of (Vince) Lombardi with the Packers was or (Bill) Belichick and the Patriots," Hank said. "None of us think we can win the championship every year, but that's the goal. Period."

Torre led the Yankees to 10 AL East titles, but they have gone without a Series championship in the last seven and haven't even reached it since 2003.

With 2,067 regular-season wins, Torre is eighth on the career list and was third among active managers behind the St. Louis Cardinals' La Russa (2,375) and the Atlanta Braves' Bobby Cox (2,255). Torre's four World Series titles are likely to earn him a place in the Hall of Fame -- every manager with three or more has been inducted.

"Joe Torre is a great man, he is a legendary Yankee and a legendary Yankee manager," Levine said, adding: "The goal of this franchise is to win the World Series. All of us get up every day knowing that is the goal and all us take that responsibility on. Unfortunately we have not met that goal for seven years."

Torre's was the longest uninterrupted term for a Yankees manager since Casey Stengel held the job from 12 years from 1949-60.

Under Torre, the Yankees went 1,173-767. He trails only Joe McCarthy (1,460) for wins among Yankees managers.

"I hope Joe is happy," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "I think you're going to hear people in baseball, every area of baseball, say probably very, very kind, respectful things about Joe the next couple days, and they're all deserved."

Torre's departure could factor into whether potential free agents Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte and Rodriguez remain with the Yankees.

"We certainly hope that they decide to come back," Cashman said. "At the end of the day we consider them Yankees and they will have an opportunity to remain part of the Yankees."

When Torre succeeded Buck Showalter, the Yankees had not won the World Series since 1978, the longest drought since the team's first title in 1923. It was the 20th change in manager following Steinbrenner's purchase of the franchise in 1973.

The Brooklyn native was a former NL MVP and a nine-time all-star. Before joining the Yankees, he had unsuccessful managing stints with the Braves, Cardinals and Mets -- the three clubs he played for. When the Yankees hired him, one New York paper dubbed him: "Clueless Joe."

But New York won the World Series in 1996, led by a group that included Bernie Williams, rookie Derek Jeter, setup man Mariano Rivera, Paul O'Neill and Tino Martinez. With catcher Jorge Posada added in, they won the Series from 1998-2000, the first team to win three straight since the Swingin' Oakland A's of 1972-74, and advanced to Game 7 of the Series in 2001, when they failed to hold a ninth-inning lead at Arizona.