The Torre Torpedo

On Thursday, the Los Angeles Dodgers hired former Yankees manager Joe Torre as their new skipper. Torre, who is the winningest manager in postseason history, accepted a three-year, $13 million contract. Now he will try to take the Dodgers to a place they haven't been to since 1988 -- the World Series.

So, yay or nay? ESPN's Gene Wojciechowski thinks Torre isn't nearly enough:

Either Torre has lost his mind, or McCourt and wife Jamie, who doubles as vice-chairman and team president, have actually decided to quit ripping off Dodgers fans and put together a team capable of winning something other than the annual National League attendance figures. I vote for Torre and lost his mind.

Torre is supposed to reverse the inertia, the irrelevancy. It isn't going to happen. Torre is indeed a future Hall of Famer, but before he came to the Yankees he had one first-place finish: 1982, with the Atlanta Braves.

The Dodgers aren't going to win a World Series in 2008. At least, they're not going to win it because Torre replaced Little.

ESPN's J.A. Adande agrees with much of what Wojciechowski said:

Torre's time in Dodger Blue will never come close to matching his accomplishments in pinstripes.

The Dodgers aren't hurting for attention. Their attendance of 3.8 million this year trailed only the Yankees. They just don't dominate the discussion any more, don't get the city's heart racing or keep Dodger flags fluttering from cars on the Santa Monica Freeway.

And no manager, Joe Torre included, is good enough to transform the Dodgers into a championship team.

However, this isn't to say Adande thinks Torre won't be a competent manager:

What will help is Torre's ability to handle the clubhouse to prevent the rift between vets and young guys that tore apart the Dodgers under Grady Little down the stretch this year.

So, no, Torre isn't a bad hire. It just seems a little extravagant for a team that wasn't supposed to be shopping in this neighborhood.

CBS Sports' Scott Miller also thinks Angelenos shouldn't be too excited about the arrival of Torre:

No question, the Dodgers' hiring of Torre is a public relations smash for an owner, Frank McCourt, who has spent most of his time in L.A. stepping on his own ... uh, toes. But for those star-loving types living in a city dominated by Hollywood, while there surely is substance to go with Torre's style, his presence alone isn't going to earn a World Series trophy.

Hiring Torre was a wise decision. Next year will be the Dodgers' 50th season in L.A., and Torre's arrival gives the L.A. fans a feeling of renewal -- a feeling that maybe this Dodgers club will compete once again after nearly two decades of silence. Torre won't single-handily solve the Dodgers' talent problems, but he will excel at smoothing out player altercations and a relatively low club morale.

And more than anything else, he's a PR hire. He knows how to handle the media. He knows how to appear wise and seasoned in all situations (most likely because he is both of those things). Old-age wisdom never hurt anybody in La La Land.