Last night, I noticed a pattern. Here are the major league cities Joe Torre played in:

Milwaukee
Atlanta
St. Louis
New York

And the cities Joe Torre managed in:

Atlanta
St. Louis
New York

It would be silly to read anything into this, yet it did make me consider the possibility. Would Joe Torre want to manage the Milwaukee Brewers? If Ned Yost were let go, I'd have to assume that the Brewers' talent would make them an attractive destination for most any manager looking to win.

Surely thats what Torre would want. For all the criticism he gets, his record over the past 12 years has been fantastic:

Part of the Yankees' decline (if you can even call it that) is that they gave too much money to aging players who aren't as good as they once were. The Yankees spend a lot, but they don't have unlimited money. Their roster is filled with $10m/year or more players who either never play (Giambi, Pavano, etc.) or simply aren't that good anymore (Mussina, Knoblauch), or both. They don't have any roster flexibility, and are stuck with AAAA roster filler if any of these high-priced Roger Dorn clones fail. If all of their players signed new free agent contracts today, I don't think it wouldn't add up to anything close to what the Yankees' current payroll is. Blame Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman for this, not Joe Torre. I don't think Torre's teams of the 90s overachieved, but they certainly didn't underachieve either. His teams play to their ability, no more, no less. If the Brewers have playoff-caliber talent on the team, then Joe Torre will guide them to the playoffs. I don't think he's the best option, but this recent turn of events makes it worth considering.