What Is Joe Torre Thinking?

(Photo by Newsday.com)
Derek Jeter put it perfectly in his post game interview: "You don't play the game on paper."

But that's exactly what Joe Torre seems to be doing.

Who cares that A-Rod has amazing career numbers against Kenny Rogers. A-Rod compiled most of those stats when he wasn't under the spotlight of the New York media.

Putting A-Rod in the clean-up spot was a terrible omen for the Yankees. A-Rod belongs in the six spot or lower.

And what in the world is Matsui doing in the bottom of the order? This man is arguably the most reliable situational hitter that the Yankees have. He should be somewhere in the 3-5 spots.

If the Yankees lose this series, I think that Yankees top brass have to take a long, hard look at trading A-Rod AND giving Joe Torre an early retirement. Joe Torre seems to be decent at managing people, but he just doesn't have the courage or the instincts to be a great manager of the game of baseball.

- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com