Why Torre said more than he probably should have said about AROD and the Yankees.

Joe Torre always struck me as a players manager. Being a former player himself, Torre most likely earned the respect of his players by simply knowing the game. Torre also does not come off as a gossiper. So why did Torre gossip about AROD in his book?

The obvious first reason is, to sell books. But I think there is a second reason as well. Torre basically lost his job after two straight years of not making the A.L. Championship finals. Factor in the infamous 3-0 fall from ahead loss to the Red Sox a couple years earliera, and the ingredients were there for Torre to be removed by simply not giving him a "respectful" contract extension.

Where it gets ugly however is that AROD apparently commented about Torre after Torre's removal. I am speculating AROD speaking about Torre in a rather non complementary way just lit a fire under Torre. The one guy who has not done so well in the playoffs, AROD, is the LAST guy who should be talking about Torre's managerial skills. One could argue that if AROD had put up the same type of production in the playoffs that he regularly puts up during the season, Torre would still be manager of the Yankees.

If a manager is going to sell out a former player, doing it after that same former player has already sold out the manager is the one scenario where I can see it happening.

On the the other hand, Torre did burn his bridge back to New York should the yankees ever start flipping through managers the way they used to in the 80's and early 90's.