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 clause 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 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?
is available on Amazon.com,
{ 3 comments }
Hi Ron:
Were you a fan of Jim Bouton’s “Ball Four,” or Sparky Lyle’s “Bronx Zoo” as a kid?
http://darrengarnick.wordpress.com/2009/01/31/torre-first-amendment/
Best,
Darren
Bouton, yes because he was the first. Well, actually that honor historically goes to Jim Brosnan for The Long Season and Pennant Race. Pretty much everything else is a knock-off and attempts at one-upsmanship designed to be more shocking that the tell-all that was published before it. One notable and recent exception is Dave Baldwin’s Snake Jazz. Baldwin was a pitcher in the 1960s for the Washington Senators and other teams.
Good luck trying to enforce such a beast…there’s some case law to the effect that the First Amendment would bar courts from enforcing such a provision.
Has anyone who’s criticizing the book actually READ it?
Anyone?
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