The offseason is here, and we’ve already seen some major shakeup in the Bronx. The Yankees decided to part ways with Joe Torre, a man known more for his ability to build trusting personal relationships with players than any knack for managing a baseball game. In the end, this reliance upon relationship building and trust to guide his team is what caused the fissure between Torre and Yankee management. It’s probably what led the front office to decide against offering him more guaranteed years on a new contract, as Torre’s ability to do what was best for the team became compromised by his need to do what was best for the individual. We all know there were “Joe’s Guys” that he trusted to the point of absurdity sometimes, and conversely there were those players that Joe didn’t trust enough and buried on the bench or in the bullpen. It got to the point where decisions were often based more on Torre’s personal relationship with a player and the comfort he had in knowing that His Guy would be giving 110% if he were placed in the game, than any blatant talent discrepancy between the choices or obvious matchup indicators. Joe’s ability to form trusting relationships eventually made it impossible for the Yankees to ever truly move past the late nineties and become an aggressive, forward-thinking organization with a young, fluid, and dynamic roster.

In addition to the loss of Torre, the Yankees appear to have lost 2007’s top Major League hitter, and candidate for the nebulous Best Player in the Game designation, Alex Rodriguez. The massive loss of A-Rod has already led to much talk of major acquisitions this winter, and the World Series has barely been over for a week. Miguel Cabrera, Andruw Jones, Johan Santana, and even Jake Peavy have been bandied about in the NoMaas forums as prospective acquisitions the Yankees could make to help fill the offensive void left by A-Rod, yet there is one avenue that needs to be explored in full before the Yankees begin any discussion with the Marlins, Padres or Twins.

The Yankees need to talk to Joe Torre.

Any deal for Cabrera, Santana, or Peavy is going to require the Brian Cashman to deal from the collection of young talent he has cultivated since gaining full power in the fall of 2005. While it is highly unlikely that he moves Hughes or Chamberlain, a deal for one of the established stars will require multiple selections from a group of Kennedy, Horne, Tabata, Jackson, Montero, Sanchez, Melancon, etc. While a deal like that could conceivably still be worth it, the Yankees should do whatever they can to improve the talent and flexibility of their roster before trading any of those guys. Joe Torre is the key to doing so.

As it currently stands, the Yankees have a couple of questions in their 2008 outfield. Bobby Abreu will play RF, Melky Cabrera in CF, and according to recent comments by Cashman, Johnny Damon is seen as the club’s everyday LF. This leaves Jason Giambi and Hideki Matsui to compete for the starting DH role, and given that they will make upwards of $30 million combined in 2008, that’s not an ideal use of resources. This is where Torre comes in, and where the Yankees need to play on his pathological loyalty. Torre inherits a Dodger club with a lot of holes, the two most glaring being a starting pitching and established, run-producing bat. His inheritance also consists of a plethora of high-end, young, relatively inexperienced talent, which we all know Joe doesn’t go out of his way to embrace and coddle. Previously Dodger’s GM Ned Colletti has been reluctant to trade away any of the young studs in his organization, and guys like Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, James Loney, Adam LaRoche, Chad Billingsley, Jonathan Broxton have all reached the Majors and shown the ability to stick around for years to come. However, a manager like Torre isn’t brought aboard to build slowly – he’s hired to win, and do so relatively quickly. To do this the Dodgers are going to have to address the two major issues outlined earlier, and the Yankees have exactly what they are looking for: Hideki Matsui.

Matsui would give them an established, “superstar” bat in the middle of their lineup. He has great perceived value in the fact that he hits around .300 every year, and collects 100 RBI like clockwork. While we all know these aren’t the best ways of measuring a player, we also know that baseball people very clearly don’t understand this to the same extent we do (especially Torre). Matsui also is signed to a reasonable deal, making $12.5 annually for the next two years. Matsui is a model citizen, and a dignified, respected player, which would be welcome a commodity to an LA clubhouse that was decidedly volatile at times last year. Most importantly, though, Hideki is one of Joe’s Guys, the type of player that Joe would play in the field despite horrendous routes, bat in the middle of the order despite more consecutive groundouts to second base than any player in MLB history, and not remove from the lineup for the sake of a streak despite obvious fatigue being exhibited.

Why would Colletti change his tune now, though? Why would he finally have his vice-grip on the blue-chip youngsters loosened? The answer is Torre. You don’t give a manager with the history and reputation of Torre the highest salary of any manager in the game and not at least give him some influence over personnel decisions. Additionally, if you go all out to bring a guy like Torre in, you aren’t going to be sitting around and waiting for young players to develop. If the seed is planted with Torre, and he feels as strongly about Hideki as we had been led to believe over the past few years, then you better believe he will make a recommendation to Colletti and push for the pursuit of the Japanese LF. Given that he is affordable, likeable, and known for being a consistently productive middle of the order bat, Colletti could very conceivably enter into negotiations with Ca$hmoney.

What would he part with, though? As much as we would love to try and pry Billingsley away, you have to figure they’re holding on to him given their need for starting pitching. However, stud OF Matt Kemp may not be out of the question, as well as flamethrowing, Joba-like reliever Broxton. With 2/3 of the OF consisting of youngsters, do you think Torre would rather replace one of them with a comforting vet like Matsui? He’s going to have LaRoche, Loney, Ethier, Marting, and a few young arms to work with,m so he would without a doubt be open to bringing in “All-Star veteran” to replace one of them. Does Colletti unknowingly give Joe enough rope to hang himself? Does he allow the vault to be opened? Does he package two guys like Kemp and Broxton for an established star like Hideki Matsui and a throw in like Andy Phillips (whom Joe is infatuated with)? Given Joe’s history with players, the hiring situation with the Dodgers, and the state of the team in LA, it could be said that there are actually decent odds of such a deal taking place. Moving Matsui would make Giambi the full-time DH, which is shaky proposition given his injury history, but you would acquire young, elite, MLB ready talent in return, yet still be able to go out and make any big trades (Cabrera) or FA signings (Jones) anyway to make the DH situation more flexible.

It fits way too logically for it not to work, and at the very least it needs to be explored. Joe Torre has power over an organization rife with young talent, a glaring hole in the middle of their lineup, and a bit of discord in the clubhouse. The Yankees have an expendable middle of the order hitter making a palatable salary and sporting a reputation of being one of the more respected players in the game. Get on the phone Ca$hmoney. Tell Joe that you don’t want to move him, but you realize you have to give to get. Plant the seed. Let Joe finally help make the right decision for the Yankees roster.