Steve Lombardi has a good post on Joe Torre this year.

This Yankees team loves and respects Torre - and he feels the same way about them. Yes, Joe makes mistakes with line-ups, pitching choices, game calls, you name it. He's not the smartest manager in the world. But, because the players care about him, and vice versa, they will do what he asks from them without question. And, in this case, that means play like a pro, don't get distracted, play hard, and don't give up.

There were many times this season where I thought that Joe Torre should be fired. And, in retrospect, that was wrong. Because of his standing with the players, he was able to keep this team together and working hard.

My comment over there:

I agree. Anyway, who is the smartest baseball manager in the world? And does it really matter in the grand scheme? Not really. Torre makes decisions you or I may or may not agree with on a daily basis. Everytime we disagree, someone else agrees, so our disagreement is meaningless. Sometimes when we disagree, his way works. Sometimes when we agree, his way doesn't work. It doesn't particularly matter. When all is said and done, Torre's great.