Torre will return for another season with Yankees
When Joe Torre arrived to board a private plane that would take him to his meeting with George Steinbrenner, he wasn’t sure of his future.
“If I sensed that they were thinking something different than I was, we were going to have to find a way to split up,” he said Tuesday.
Then, while Monday’s takeoff was delayed for an hour by mechanical problems, Yankees president Randy Levine told him: “We want you back.”
“That sort of broke the ice,” Torre said.
After meeting with Steinbrenner for 45 minutes to an hour in Tampa, Fla., Torre was sure he wanted to return for his 11th season as Yankees manager.
“We didn’t use the word ‘love,’ but it was pretty warm,” Torre said. “It was something more than cordial.”
Leaving New York’s minor league complex Tuesday, Steinbrenner praised Torre.
“It makes me feel very good. It really does,” Steinbrenner said. “He’s a good man. I like him. I understand him. I understand what he’s after. I’m very happy to have him.”
Steinbrenner hopes general manager Brian Cashman stays, too. Cashman’s contract expires at the end of the month.
“We want Brian to return if we can get him,” he said.
Torre led New York to four World Series titles in his first five seasons, but the Yankees have not won the World Series since 2000.
Around the league
Florida could know as soon as today whether Joe Girardi will be their next manager. According to a source close to Girardi, he is mulling whether to accept the Marlins’ offer or remain the New York Yankees’ bench coach in anticipation of the Chicago Cubs’ job coming open. … Atlanta hitting coach Terry Pendleton canceled his interview for the Los Angeles Dodgers managerial job, citing family reasons. Pendleton had been scheduled to meet with Dodgers officials today. … New York Mets ace Pedro Martinez hopes to represent his native Dominican Republic in the inaugural World Baseball Classic after rehabbing an injured toe. The three-time Cy Young Award winner also said he’d like to play professionally in his homeland for the first time since 1996. … Mets reliever Felix Heredia was suspended for the first 10 days of next season for violating baseball’s steroids policy. Heredia became the 11th major league player suspended for steroids. … Pittsburgh pitcher Bryan Bullington, the overall No. 1 pick in the 2002 draft, had surgery this week to repair his right shoulder and probably won’t be ready to play until mid-June. … Longtime Oakland Athletics radio voice Bill King, whose signature call of “Holy Toledo!” was a household phrase for decades in the Bay Area, died at age 78.