Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Joe Torre. Joe Girardi. Joe Six- Pack. Joe Schmo.

When the subject is winning baseball and the Bronx, the surname, it seems, is superfluous. It just doesn’t matter.

Pick a Joe, any Joe, and I’ll show you someone who, armed with the right roster, is able to guide the New York Yankees to the postseason and beyond.

Please don’t regard this as criticism of Girardi, the current manager of the Yankees, who are one win over the Los Angeles Angels from, ho-hum, reaching the World Series. It’s just the way it is.

This season lends credence to the theory that it doesn’t really matter who manages the Yankees. Or any team. It doesn’t matter if you have the unflappable, tea-sipping Torre in the dugout. What matters is talent.

In hindsight, it would seem that Torre needed the Yankees more than the Yankees needed Torre.

There was a lot of bellyaching when the Yankees in the 2007 off-season made their take-it-or-leave-it offer to Saint Joe, who reached the postseason in all 12 of his seasons in the Bronx, qualifying for six World Series and winning four.

The Yankees, however, without a ring since 2000 (the notion of that qualifying as a drought must makes Cubs fans belly laugh) felt that a performance-based contract was most appropriate.

$5 Million Insult

Team President Randy Levine said the club’s decision had nothing to do with Torre’s character, integrity or ability. “We just think it’s important to motivate people based on performance,” he said.

The Yankees offered Torre a one-year contract with a base salary of $5 million, all of it guaranteed. Joe said no, it was an insult.

Plenty of fans and pundits agreed, contending that Torre was being treated like rubbish.

I disagreed with him then. And still do.

There’s no loyalty in professional sports, folks. If there was, then David Tyree would still be a member of the New York Giants.

You remember Tyree, right? He’s the guy who made Eli Manning a hero, not to mention the highest-paid quarterback in the National Football League, by pinning a desperation heave to his helmet en route to a Super Bowl upset of the previously unbeaten New England Patriots.

Tyree got hurt. Then he was unemployed.

Play For Pay

Sports is a business where, especially in these economic times, cheaper alternatives are the best option. On the field. And off.

The best thing that could happen to sports fans is for every general manager, manager, coach and player to operate under revolving one-year contracts.

Play for pay. Every night. No more lollygagging to first base or loafing for fly balls.

Had Torre felt so tethered to his core of Jeter, Rivera, Posada and Pettitte, then he could’ve swallowed his pride and given it one last shot with an aging roster needing reinforcement.

If the Yankees have a Most Valuable Person it’s General Manager Brian Cashman, who, contrary to any manager’s wishes, made it clear that he wouldn’t trade young assets for established players. That meant no Johan Santana, which turned out pretty well for the Yankees.

Girardi, a former Yankees catcher, gladly took the gig for $2.6 million a year.

System Upgrade

The Yankees missed the playoffs last year while Torre took the Los Angeles Dodgers to the National League Championship Series, where they lost to the eventual World Series champion Phillies.

The Yankees, meantime, spent lavishly during the off- season, upgrading their pitching staff with A.J. Burnett and C.C. Sabathia, who happens to be 3-0 with a 1.19 earned run average during this postseason. The Yankees also added Mark Teixeira, the best position player available.

And just like that Girardi’s a genius. It doesn’t hurt that Alex Rodriguez is playing so well that opposing players are saying they wished he played for their team.

“He’s been as clutch as anybody could’ve hoped for,” is the assessment of Angels manager Mike Scioscia.

Meantime Torre’s big star, Manny Ramirez, who walloped everything a year ago, was hitting just .276 with one home run entering last night’s game against the Phillies, who are one win shy of their second straight Series appearance.

Torre said he doesn’t plan to manage after his contract expires after the 2010 season, prompting Jamie McCourt, the Dodgers chief executive officer, to say she plans on making it hard for him to walk away.

Torre walked away from the Yankees. Girardi was thrilled for the opportunity. So much so that he chose uniform No. 27, which represents the team’s next championship.

The Yankees are five wins from never having to answer another question about their willingness to part with the supposedly irreplaceable Joe what’s his name.

(Scott Soshnick is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

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To contact the writer of this column: Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 21, 2009 21:00 EDT