Pitching's been gory? Time to axe Torre.

In eleven full years with Joe Torre as their manager, the New York Yankees have won 4 World Series, 10 division titles, been to 6 World Series, and been to the playoffs every year. But this year, a week before Memorial Day, the Yankees are 10.5 games out of first place, 7.5 games out of the Wild Card, with once again the highest payroll in professional sports. Despite their bullpen being on pace to pitch a record number of innings, they are also last in the league in strikeouts. They have only 3 saves as a team (all by Mariano Rivera), less than half as many as the team with the second fewest. This is indicative of a team that loses games late, and teams that lose games late are often outmanaged. Maybe it's time for a new manager.

The Yankees have become a team that sits around and waits for a 3 run homer. Then again, that's always been their M.O. Just like they've always brought in Mariano Rivera in the 8th or 9th when things got hairy, except when they had him as a setup man for John Wetteland in 1996. Now that Rivera is a shadow of his former self with an ERA of 6.75, Torre has to actually manage his bullpen and play the matchup game - not his strength.

Jason Giambi credits hitting coach Don Mattingly with snapping him out of his slump surrounding his semi-steroid-apology part 1, and maybe he could inject some life into the team (although the cynic might say he injected something else into Giambi). Torre apologists can complain about the starting pitching, but on paper the Yankees have an elite starting staff. With Clemens coming back, a change at the top would have the added benefit of taking some of the spotlight off of what could become a circus. It's time for a change.