TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 13 — George Steinbrenner shuffled down the AstroTurf carpet that covers the concrete walkway to the Legends Field clubhouse. Steinbrenner, the Yankees’ principal owner, wanted to sit in on Manager Joe Torre’s first meeting with his coaches.
In the past, Steinbrenner might have marched in, gesturing confidently while predicting a championship. But there was none of the old gusto on Tuesday. He tried to shoo away cameras and seemed uncertain with his answers to questions. He mumbled a few words and lurched away.
Clearly, it was not the same raging Steinbrenner of popular caricature. One answer might have been revealing, or it might have been meaningless. When asked if Torre “had to win” this season, Steinbrenner replied in a word: “No.”
The fiction around the Yankees is that Steinbrenner, 76, demands a championship every season. The Yankees have lost 10 of their last 13 playoff games over the last three years, yet Steinbrenner has retained Torre every winter.
Now, Torre is in the same position as some of his stalwart players: like Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada, he is unsigned past this season.
Torre, 66, did not sound ready to retire. But he made no promises, either.
“I don’t know yet,” he said, when asked if he wanted to manage in 2008. “The way I feel now, I’d say yes. It’s exciting. I’m looking forward to it. Every year is different and that’s what keeps it stimulating.”
Torre said he had not thought at all about initiating talks on a new contract. He spoke with Steinbrenner after flying here Monday, but did not speak to him during the lengthy coaches meeting.
“I think I’d probably know during the year if it’s as much fun as I expect it to be,” Torre said. “It’s the challenge, the excitement. I was pretty proud of what we did last year. Sure, it ended abruptly, and you can’t control it.”
The Yankees’ playoff series with the Detroit Tigers ended in just four games. The Yankees then traded two starters from that series, Randy Johnson and Jaret Wright, as well as the slugger Gary Sheffield.
They have a standing offer to Bernie Williams to return on a minor league deal, although Williams does not have an obvious spot on the 25-man roster.
“We’d love to have him,” General Manager Brian Cashman said. “I respect the fact he’s not interested in doing that.”
Williams’s corner locker was given to a young pitcher, José Veras, but Posada said Williams had not ruled out accepting the offer. Torre said he would keep trying to reach Williams by phone, but he could offer no guarantees.
“Obviously, he has to know he’s got to come in here and make the team,” Torre said. “That’s something he’s never had to do before.”
Torre said he would limit Rivera to pitching only the ninth inning, a sign that the Yankees want to protect an arm that needed three weeks of rest last September. That is one reason the Yankees see no urgency to address Rivera’s wish for a contract extension.
“My preference is to wait until the end of the year,” Cashman said. “We have a lot of people up. But I have to talk to Mariano. I talked to him once this winter, and this subject didn’t come up.”
Another sensitive issue is the clubhouse credibility of Carl Pavano, who has not pitched for the Yankees since June 27, 2005, because of a series of injuries. Pavano threw at the minor league complex on Tuesday, but he must regain the trust of his teammates, who questioned his competitiveness last season.
“I think it’s sizable,” Torre said, referring to the work Pavano must do in the clubhouse. “I don’t think it’s all based on results, either. I think it’s based on being here every day and being part of it, and that’s something that sort of got disconnected.”
Pitchers are scheduled for physicals on Wednesday, with the first formal workout on Thursday. Torre said he had nothing he needed to speak about with Alex Rodriguez when the full roster reported next week.
Torre dropped Rodriguez to eighth in the lineup for the final playoff loss in Detroit. Rodriguez went hitless in the game and finished 1 for 14 in the series.
Torre did not talk with Rodriguez over the winter, but he heard plenty about the lineup. It was such a hot topic, Torre said, that an opposing player at his daughter’s soccer game even asked about it. He was ready for the question on Tuesday.
“Do I know where he’s going to hit? No, not yet,” Torre said, smiling. “It won’t be eighth.”
INSIDE PITCH
The left-hander Ron Villone re-signed with the Yankees on Tuesday and said he expected to compete to be the second left-hander in the bullpen. “I wouldn’t come here unless there was an opportunity,” said Villone, who is not on the 40-man roster but will earn $2.5 million if he makes the team. Villone made a career-high 70 appearances last season, but his effectiveness waned under a heavy workload in August. He said he turned down multiyear offers from other teams. ... The Yankees did not assign No. 30 out of respect for pitcher Cory Lidle, who died in an October plane crash. ... Proof that spring training is big business: The Yankees are installing three rows of premium seats behind home plate at Legends Field. The cost of a box of eight a year is $22,800, an average of $190 a ticket over the 15-game spring schedule.
