TAMPA – Joe Torre just landed to Tampa, Fla., in what could be the surest sign that a new deal with the Yankees brass is imminent.
Torre, wearing a dress shirt with sleeves rolled up, departed from Westchester this morning and landed here in a private jet at the Hawker Beechcraft Services airport at 1:26 p.m. He was accompanied by GM Brian Cashman and Yankees COO Lonn Trost.
They were quickly whisked away in a white Cadillac Escalade to Legends’ Field, the Yankees spring training complex, which is just a few minutes away.
It is believed Torre will meet there with club president Randy Levine and the Steinbrenner clan.
Torre’s arrival is the first break in the ongoing saga over the manager’s fate. After two highly-publicized days of meetings of the club’s top brass here, Cashman yesterday said, “There have been no decisions made. The decision we are talking about is obviously rehiring somebody and there is negotiations if you do so. That’s a decision we have to come to if that’s the direction we choose to go.”
Torre has managed the Yankees to four World Series titles and 12 consecutive playoff appearances during his tenure in The Bronx. However, the Yankees haven’t won the Series since 2000 and the team was eliminated in the ALDS this year by the Indians.
His future burst into the headlines when Yankee owner George Steinbrenner declared he’d have to win the Indians series to keep his job.