OPINION

By Stan McNeal

updated 5:53 p.m. ET Oct. 15, 2007

Let's start with the obvious: Joe Torre is a Hall of Fame manager. His 12 years with the Yankees have produced the best resume since Casey Stengel: four World Series championships, six pennants and 12 consecutive trips to the postseason.

Now for the not as obvious: It's time for the Yankees to move on. Even a voice as soothing as Torre's grows old, and the Yankees aren't responding to Torre the way they once did. I know he is coming off perhaps his finest regular-season job, having guided the team out of an embarrassing April and May to the game's best record from June on. His steady hand undoubtedly saved the season.

The regular season, that is. But when your team hasn't missed the playoffs since Roger Clemens was a relatively young man, what you do from April through September serves as little more than a warmup for October. Outside of the regular season, the Yankees haven't done much -- three consecutive first-round losses -- since blowing that 3-0 lead to the Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS.

Torre has enjoyed his share of champagne in October but that's now working against him, too. The Yankees, who once were so successful in the postseason, no longer seem able to play with a sense of urgency. Against a hungry club such as the '06 Tigers or the '07 Indians, the Yankees fall flat. And if Torre can't elevate the Yankees in October, what's the point?

His No. 1 managerial asset is not running a game -- how hard is it to pencil Alex Rodriguez into the cleanup spot? -- but it is simply being Joe Torre. He is a New Yorker who understands playing in New York. He is graceful but never grating. He takes the hits from Boss Steinbrenner so his players don't have to. He makes playing in baseball's biggest pressure pot as comfortable as anyone can.

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No wonder his veterans still support him. Mariano Rivera is in the latter stages of a brilliant career and wants to go out with the man who brought him along. But maybe Rivera has gotten too comfortable, and would benefit from new blood. (By the way, you can forget the talk that Rivera or anyone else would leave simply because Torre isn't managing. The next time a player chooses a manager over money would be the first.)

The Yankees should enter a new era because baseball is entering a new era. Championships no longer are being bought. The young guns are coming. The Rockies, Diamondbacks and Indians are proving that building from within is the way to go. So are the Yankees, at least with their pitching. The next couple of seasons will hinge more on Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and their other young arms than their position players with eight-figure salaries.

Sure, the Yankees could do worse than having Torre around to turn these youngsters into true pros. But perhaps someone younger, someone more intense would benefit them more by showing a little less cool and a bit more passion.

Torre is 67, has accomplished a ton and should have told Steinbrenner to take a hike last week and headed straight for his island paradise. He would be in a better place and, ultimately, so would the Yankees.

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