Subscribe“But I will defend to the death….Wait, never mind.
In light of Joe Torre’s new book, the Yankees are considering a non-disparagement clause in their employee contracts.
According to a Newsday article by Wallace Mathews, “The Yankees are said to feel betrayed by Torre’s book, which has been interpreted as critical of some players, most notably Alex Rodriguez, and inaccurate in its recounting of the October 2007 meeting in Tampa at which Torre and the club agreed to part ways after four world championships and 12 consecutive playoff appearances.”
Wallace also notes that such a cause is already part of certain contracts.
He quotes an anonymous Yankee source:
“Up to now, we have always operated our employer-employee relationships on a basis of trust,” the official said. “But we never expected what we got from Joe. We may have to get a little tougher on this issue.”
I heard an interesting take on this subject on a recent episode of Pardon the Interruption. Co-host Tony Kornheiser — an inductee of the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and one of my favorite sports personalities — elaborated on the Newsday piece, saying that the team wanted the clause to ensure that future Yankee books would be “positive in tone” and “do not breach the sanctitiy of the clubhouse.”
He suggested players use this as a bargaining chip. “If you can extort the Yankees for $2-5 million, which is more than you’d ever make in a book, takle the deal and don’t write the book.”
Kornheiser also pointed out that Torre is no longer associated with the Yankees and asked how long a statute of limitations should be?
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