Joe Torre has turned down an offer from the Yankees brass to return as manager next year, ESPN.com reports.

The Yankees offered Torre a one-year deal with a base salary of $5 million and incentives that would have increased his salary to $8 million based on postseason performance. Under that offer, if Torre reached the World Series in 2008, an option for 2009 would have vested.

Torre traveled to Tampa from New York on Thursday with general manager Brian Cashman and chief operating officer Lonn Trost. The manager was at Legends Field for about an hour and then left for the airport.

Team president Randy Levine said that the two sides were "working on it" and expected more meetings. Wow, we have no idea what to think! And we thought this was the first playoff season we weren't going to spend all our time worrying about what was going on with the Yankees.

Torre Turns Down Offer to Return As Yanks' Skipper [ESPN]