Yankee silence doesn't bode well for Joe Torre

Eight days after the Yankees were ousted from the postseason, nine days after George Steinbrenner was quoted as saying that Joe Torre's job was on the line if the Bombers were eliminated, the Yankee high command has still not made a decision on who will manage the team next season. Or so it said yesterday in a statement from Steinbrenner's flack, Howard Rubenstein.

There are three ways to look at this non-announcement on a day in which Yankee legions had great expectations of a momentous decision coming out of Tampa — none of which would seem to bode particularly well for Torre. No. 1 is that either the powers-that-be — and in this case that would be Steinbrenner, his two sons, Hal and Hank, his son-in-law Felix Lopez, team president Randy Levine, chief operating officer Lonn Trost and GM Brian Cashman — really haven't been able to come to a decision on Torre; No. 2 is that they have reluctantly decided to bring him back but are letting him sweat a little more, and No. 3 is they have decided to begin the Don Mattingly era but still need to figure out a seamless, kindly way to execute this transition. Continue