Joe Torre’s take on modern day baseball should send message to Yankees

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 12: Joe Torre (L) and David Cone attend Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation's 13th Annual Celebrity Gala at Cipriani Downtown on November 12, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 12: Joe Torre (L) and David Cone attend Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation's 13th Annual Celebrity Gala at Cipriani Downtown on November 12, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)

Ever since former New York Yankees manager Joe Torre started working for the MLB Commissioner’s Office under Rob Manfred, many couldn’t help feeling like he had turned into a corporate sympathizer.

Perhaps he is. Manfred is a reviled commissioner and we can’t say much of what he’s doing is improving the game. Time will tell, but the early returns aren’t so good.

That has us wondering, though, why Torre’s influence hasn’t been greater. The man still possesses a “feel” for the game in a time when that’s apparently disappeared. We have the Rays and Dodgers scripting innings 1-9 and teams like the Yankees misusing analytics, which has changed … everything.

Torre proved to us this week on David Cone’s new podcast Toeing the Slab, which is featured on the Jomboy Media network, that he thinks the game might need an injection of gut instinct. How can we magnify this message and actually make it happen?

Torre’s example, that specifically included Cone from their time with the Yankees, was from a WORLD SERIES game! And here we are, feeling like teams are hesitant to deviate from their plan during a contest in the middle of July.

Here’s what Torre said, and here’s why it should send a message to the Yankees heading into another season with manager Aaron Boone at the helm:

Joe Torres thinks the game needs more instinct, and the Yankees should listen.

Are we dismissing the idea of possessing a plan? Not at all! But plans don’t always work. You’ve made plans before, haven’t you? How many times have they fallen through? Don’t answer that, actually. We don’t want you getting upset. It’s hard to make plans sometimes.

So why would that be any different when translating it to a game of professionals who are the best at what they do? That’s why possessing a feel for the game is so important with today’s managers. So much is dictated from front offices or, at the very least, “information” is trickled down from those above. It’s easy to get distracted and abide by the bullet points.

Now, when talking about Boone, it’s hard to believe he possesses zero baseball instincts. He’s played the game. He’s been doing this for four years now. Love him or hate him, it seems possible that the Yankees front office’s potential overbearing nature has clouded his judgement in a sense. That’s not too outlandish to infer.

We’re just hoping someone in the Yankees organization listened to this. It’s coming from two Yankees legends who captured multiple World Series. Their perspective matters. A lot. We’re not asking for a complete 180 in philosophy. Let’s just blend the best aspects of every approach.

Can’t we do that? Please?

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