Los Angeles has swiped a Brooklyn treasure for the second time in half a century. Fifty years after Walter O’Malley shifted the beloved Dodgers from Flatbush to Hollywood, Brooklyn son Joe Torre is moving from New York to L.A. and brings star power the underachieving Dodgers desperately need.
A recruitment process that started before Torre turned down the Yankees on Oct. 18 ended yesterday when the Dodgers and Torre announced a three-year deal worth a shade more than $13 million.
Though the Dodgers offered Joe Girardi the job first, they firmly believed he was going to replace Torre in The Bronx. When that happened Monday, Torre and owner Frank McCourt, through a mutual friend, began discussing the details seriously and reached an agreement in principle. First reported by nypost.com Tuesday and loudly denied by Dodger GM Ned Colletti as recently as Wednesday, the deal was announced yesterday hours after Girardi was introduced at a Yankee Stadium press conference.
After agreeing in principle to the terms, Torre lobbied McCourt to increase the pay scale for coaches and requested input on personnel decisions, something Torre believed he wasn’t involved as much as he should have been with the Yankees.
Torre received both. Former Yankees coaches Larry Bowa (third) and Don Mattingly (hitting) are expected to follow Torre from The Bronx to Los Angeles. Long-time Torre confidant Lee Mazzilli is talking to the Dodgers about being Torre’s bench coach. It’s believed former Dodger Mariano Duncan, who played for Torre’s Yankees (1996-97) will remain at first and Rick Honeycutt is being considered to stay as the pitching coach.
“Joe Torre is one of the most respected men in the game of baseball,” said McCourt, who handled the bulk of the negotiations that began long before Grady Little resigned or was forced out this week. “As a player, a broadcaster, a manager and in his life off the field, Joe is a winner through and through. As we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Dodgers moving to Los Angeles, we will again have a Hall of Fame caliber manager at the helm. Joe’s dedication, desire and ability will help lead the Dodgers to our ultimate goal – a World Championship.”
Torre won four World Series as a Yankee and appeared in two more. He also won nine straight AL East titles and led the Yankees into the postseason in each of the 12 seasons he worked for George Steinbrenner. But three straight first-round eliminations in the playoffs led Yankee brass, headed by Hank and Hal Steinbrenner, to ask Torre to take a pay cut from $7.5 million to $5 million for next year on a one-year contract that had $3 million in incentives. Torre refused, calling the incentives “insulting.”
Torre, a former Angels broadcaster who has never hid his fondness for Southern California, is the eighth Dodger manager since the club moved from Torre’s home borough of Brooklyn.
“Joe Torre comes with a great resume. What he’s done the last 12 years is as powerful as any manager in recent memory,” said Colletti, who refused to say if Torre’s deal includes incentive clauses. “Not only the win-loss record but the championships, how his teams have played, his effect on the community and a city the size of New York and the way he embraces the job, the way the players respond to him, the success they have and the way a city and region support the man. I think it’s tough to find any cracks in the foundation with that.”
The 67-year-old Torre is 2,067-1,770 in 26 years of big league managing and is eighth on the all-time list among MLB managers. His 76 postseason victories are the most in history.
“Having grown up in Brooklyn, I have a great understanding of the history of the Dodger organization and I am committed to bringing a World Championship back to Los Angeles,” Torre said. “I consider it an honor to be a part of this organization, which is one of the most storied franchises in all of sports.”