Yanks shouldn't let Torre go

Maybe it should have happened after last season.

It probably should happen following this season.

But firing Joe Torre after the Yankees inauspicious start would hurt the team far more than the Julio Lugo liner that all but ended Jeff Karstens’ season yesterday.

Think about it: How would the team react – particularly Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera, three guys that have never played for another manager? Who would take Torre’s job? Is Don Mattingly really ready to be thrown in to the fire? Joe Girardi was fine managing a bunch of kids in Florida, but how would he cope with $100 million personalities? Furthermore, he clashed with the Marlins’ ownership, how would he survive answering to George Steinbrenner?

Besides, this mess has little to do with Torre. As Billy Beane proves every year in Oakland, managers are hardly the difference between 75 and 95 win teams. I find it hard to believe any manager could win with starting pitchers that have barely thrown more innings than their bullpen.

There are a lot of problems with the Yankees right. Canning Torre would only add to the disarray.