Torre turns down Yankee offer

In a stunning development, Joe Torre has turned down an offer to return as Yankee manager. Torre flew to Tampa today with Yankee GM Brian Cashman to personally tell George Steinbrenner and his sons, Hank and Hal, that he was rejecting an offer to come back for one year with incentives that would have been worth as much as $8 million. The Yankees announced the news at a 4:00 p.m. conference call from Legends Field.

"This new agreement, he turned it down," said Yankee president Randy Levine."We respect his decision. We appreciate everything he's done. "It's now time for the New York Yankees to move forward. We will be doing that very very quickly." "A difficult day," Cashman said. “He will always be a Yankee." Continue