Torre Asks Steinbrenner For $1 Million-A-Year Extension

With a World Series won, New York Yankees manager Joe Torre has told team owner George Steinbrenner that he wants a $1 million-a-year contract extension, a newspaper reported Friday.

The New York Times, quoting an unidentified friend of the manager, said Torre was irked that Steinbrenner’s only offer was for $750,000, a $200,000 increase from the current two-year, $1.05 million deal.

The newspaper also said it was unclear whether the $750,000 was intended to replace the final year of Torre’s contract or cover a one-year extension through 1998.

Torre told associates he wants a two-year, $2 million contract extension, and told Steinbrenner that they should not bother discussing an extension unless the owner thought he was worth $1 million a year, the Times said.

Million-dollar managers are becoming more common in baseball. Jim Leyland recently signed a five-year, $7.5 million package with Florida, Tony La Russa has a two-year, $3 million deal with St. Louis and Buck Showalter has a seven-year, $7 million contract with the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks.