Jeter: Let's Turn The Page On A-Rod/Torre

Joe Torre

Bryan Hoch/MLB.com:

It must be that time of year. Derek Jeter has arrived for Spring Training, discussing his relationship with Alex Rodriguez.

Jeter told The Associated Press on Wednesday that A-Rod continues to have the support of his teammates, in the wake of developments that saw Joe Torre's book paint Rodriguez as a needy, insecure presence in the clubhouse.

"Like I've said before, we all support Alex. He's our teammate," Jeter told The AP on Wednesday, after working out at the Yankees' Minor League complex. "It seems like that we keep talking about the same things over and over again.

"It's not like this is a new thing that's come up. The only thing that you'd like to see, going into Spring Training, is you'd like to see everyone talking about the excitement of the season and getting ready for the season. That's the unfortunate thing."

On Wednesday, Jeter said former Yankees bullpen catcher Mike Borzello -- one of Rodriguez's closest friends around the team and a person quoted extensively in the book -- used it in a kidding manner.

"He joked with him," Jeter said. "It wasn't like people on the team. I've never heard someone on the team say that. That never happened."

"Knowing Mr. Torre, he's never going to intentionally try to hurt somebody," Jeter said. "He's like a second father to me. Everyone knows how close we are. He's not going to intentionally go out and do harm to somebody. That's not the kind of person he is."

Torre May Not Have Accepted All Star Coaching Gig

Joe Torre

Associated Press:

"I'm with a new team now," Torre told The Associated Press Friday night after his Los Angeles Dodgers were beaten 4-2 by the Angels. " (Yankees manager) Joe Girardi is a coach for the All-Star Game, and deservedly so. They usually take the local city's managers as coaches. Besides, I'm not sure that if I got a call, I would say yes. Going over there at this point in time, I may serve as more of a distraction than to go over there and help the manager win a ballgame."

National League manager Clint Hurdle, who guided the Colorado Rockies to their first pennant last year, decided not to add Torre to his coaching staff for the game on July 15. Instead he invited San Diego manager Bud Black and New York Mets skipper Willie Randolph, who was a member of Torre's coaching staff in the Bronx for 11 seasons — one of them as bench coach.

"I have no problem with that," Torre said. "I mean, anything that happens at Yankee Stadium is a spectacle, and I'm sure that it's going to be a very special time there. But I have no emotional feelings about it at all."

"I mean, I spent so many days and games in that ballpark and so many special nights — postseason," Torre said. "I mean, I've got a bucket full of memories. The All-Star game certainly is going to be a spectacle, but I'm certainly satisfied with the time I put in there."

Yankees fans will get to cheer Torre's successor, Joe Girardi, who was chosen by AL manager Terry Francona.

Yankees-Red Sox Rivalry Is Some Serious Stuff

Joe Torre

We all know how much we hate the Red Sux, but I have to say, it can get just a bit out of hand at times.

Here is Terry Francona speaking about a friendship with Joe Torre that out of necessity lived behind closed doors.

After four years as the Boston Red Sox manager, Terry Francona can finally put his arm around Joe Torre behind the batting cage.

If Francona tried that when both led enemy squads in the intense Red Sox-Yankee rivalry, he risked the wrath of passionate fans who would gasp at such fraternization.

But on Thursday, Torre will be wearing Dodger blue instead of Yankees pinstripes. To add to the switch in sympathies, former Red Sox pitcher Derek Lowe will start for Los Angeles in Torre’s first visit to Fort Myers since he left New York after last season.

"I’m glad he’s in the National League," Francona said Wednesday. "I feel like I can go put my arm around him tomorrow and nobody’s going to start yelling at me."

He wasn’t just worried about himself. Francona, who exchanged voice mails with Torre during Boston’s postseason run to the World Series championship last year, also was concerned how any public cordiality would reflect on his counterpart.

"I never went out there to the batting cage," Francona said, "not just because of me. I just didn’t want to put him in that position. People don’t want to see that."

"I’m not complaining. I love this," Francona said. "You can downplay the New York stuff all you want. You can’t downplay it. It’s real, it’s great. The games are so great. But it’s OK."

It’s fun" to joke about the rivalry now that he’s out of it, "especially the way people perceive the Red Sox and the Yankees that they hate each other," Torre said. "As a rule, the players always have a great sense of respect for each other."

Girardi Credits Zimmer not Torre

Joe Torre

Joe Girardi was asked about how his managing strategy developed and he credited his time with Don Zimmer;

Fortunately for the new Yankee skipper, he'd spent plenty of time with a manager who had run his team the same way: Don Zimmer.

Zimmer is one of the managers Girardi recognizes as his greatest influences, especially when it came to his penchant for taking risks. How many other managers put the hit-and-run on with the bases loaded? How about a squeeze play in that same situation?

"There was a risk in Zim's game," Girardi says of the man who managed him with the Cubs from 1989-1991. "He didn't always manage from a piece of paper; he would manage from his guts and his heart. He was a gambler."

So now even a guy who served under Joe is crediting Zimmer not Joe for helping him grow. Girardi does go on to say;

"Joe Torre was great at getting the most out of people and handling people," Girardi says. "There was that calmness there every day in a world that wasn't always so calm."

Not exactly the praise a hall of fame manager would expect from the guy who replaced him. The legend of Joe has continued to take a hit this spring and it will be interesting to see how he will be remembered if the Yankees do very well this year and LA doesn't. Either way a lot has come out this year about the faults of Torre and it seems that everyone was just keeping quiet on them the last couple of years. The energy this spring combined with the almost daily 'bash Torre' news makes it clear a change was long overdue.