Mattingly Not Ready

At least that's what he's telling the Steinbrenner boys. It seems to me that the only reason that conversation happens is because one of them asked Mattingly if he wanted the job, so going forward, anyone who speculates whether Torre is staying or going is behind the news. He's gone, and the team has moved on to trying to figure out who is going to replace him.

Could I be wrong? Maybe based on this passage from a different article on the subject:

Mattingly's stance could mean the return of Torre for a 13th season, since the former Yankees first baseman was the presumptive favorite to get the job.

"Could" being the operative word. And Joe Girardi "could" cease to exist tomorrow, but I doubt it, making the notion that Torre will stay on as a fallback position decidedly unlikely.

Update: Now Mattingly's agent is saying Donny never said he wasn't ready. Hurm. This story seems like post-hoc agent-spin. Mattingly, by most accounts, is a pretty normal, loyal, well-adjusted and, given those traits, probably humble fellow. He indicates that he's not comfortable replacing Torre, and probably makes some noises about not being "ready" so as to try and preserve the possibility later. I mean, he may not want to stab Joe in the back by jumping at his job, but at the same time he doesn't want to tell the bosses that he's never going to be open to it.

Agent reads about this, sees his cut of Yankee manager millions going out the door, and tries to talk it back from the ledge.