Torre Gets Expected Blowback

You knew that Joe Torre wasn't going to get a pat on the back after excerpts from his latest book hit the wires on Sunday. And while Brian Cashman may have had a good talk with "St. Joe", most people are not seeing the tome in a positive light.

Tom Verducci, who penned the book with Torre, wants you to read the book before seeing segments out of context and jumping to conclusions.

Verducci is quoted as saying the book is written in third person and is not a tell-all book.

"Smart people will judge the book upon actually reading it and not reading preliminary reports prior to its publication. Once you understand the context of the book you understand the information. It's not a tell-all book. Anybody who reads it will understand that."

But as Newsday's Jim Baumbach points out, if someone gets slammed in the book, doesn't that mean they are being slammed by the authors? In this case, Torre and Verducci?

Brian Cashman, who Torre said didn't support him during his final contract negotiation, spoke with Torre via phone (from Hawaii) Sunday and felt good about their relationship afterwards.

"I'm comfortable with my relationship and how we interacted throughout the entire process," Cashman said, adding that Torre led him to believe "our relationship is strong."

Cashman, while admitting Alex Rodriguez changed the make up of the clubhouse, did not feel he was a distraction or disliked by his teammates. Torre had said players called A-Rod, "A-Fraud", behind his back.

Cashman said that when Rodriguez became a free agent after the 2007 season, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Pettitte all urged him to re-sign A-Rod.

"That was real," Cashman said. "It was offered up."

While we are sure Cashman is telling the truth, we don't doubt Torre's words on the matter either. Andy Pettitte, however, did contradict Torre during his quickly called contract press conference today.

"I have never one time heard of the term `A-Fraud' until I saw that rolling on the TV, I guess this morning or whenever they started reporting it," said Pettitte, who rejoined the Yankees for the 2007 season. "If it did go on, it went on before I was there."

It has to be remembered that Joe Torre loves money. There's no hiding that fact. Money would be the only reason to right such a book at this time.

Here's what some others are saying:

Wally Matthews, as many of us do, wonders about the timing of the book.

Here's the Boston Globe's take.

Tyler Kepner of the Times says, "there are no easy answers".

...and Peter Abraham says, "Nothing ever ends well".

photo courtesy of Random House and SI.com