SAY IT AIN'T SO

Both Mike Lupica and Bob Klapisch have columns on Joe Torre's tenuous job security.

According to Klap:

Torre isn't afraid to oppose Steinbrenner in public, but he's smart enough to keep the rhetoric polite and carefully muted. There's virtually no chance he and The Boss will engage in the type of war that cost Martin his job so many times. If Torre and Steinbrenner ever quarrel, it'll be in private.

...Those who are close to Torre say he has a healthy and realistic approach to his tenure in the Bronx: He knows that, sooner or later, everyone gets fired by The Boss. Everyone. Certainly, Steinbrenner isn't taking direct aim at Torre, but the manager is already armed with the knowledge that, no matter what happens to him, history will regard him kindly.

...The Boss believes it's his money that propelled the Yankees to the top. He can't understand why Torre instead gets so much of the credit. Steinbrenner has had to remain silent on this issue for the better part of seven years, but now that the Yankees have gone two seasons without a championship, he seized the opportunity to travel in his personal time tunnel, all the way back to the '70s and '80s

A more pressing issue for the Yankees could be their lousy team defense. John Perricone, who just surpassed the 40,000-hit mark at Only Baseball Matters, thinks that the Bombers' lack of defense will be lead to their demise in 2003, just as it hurt them against Anahiem in the playoffs last fall.

The New York Times has an article this morning about the Yankees' defensive concerns. Joe Torre, for one, isn't sweating yet:

"I don't think it's a terminal problem," he said

..."Soriano has been learning the position, and Jeter has had little nagging injuries the past couple of springs; they didn't have a chance to get used to each other," [third base coach, Willie] Randolph said. "I look at this spring training as a chance for them to work hard, work together and get accustomed to each other.

"It has to be like clockwork, be automatic. It's like dancing. It's a groove. Like Bucky Dent and I, we knew what each other wanted to do. They haven't arrived at that yet."

..."He can do all the things at second base that you need done," Torre said. "He's not afraid of guys sliding in, he's got real good range to his right, behind the bag, and he's an accurate thrower. He struggled somewhat going to his left because he's getting used to it, but he has the wherewithal to be an outstanding second baseman."

When spring training started, General Manager Brian Cashman called Soriano the one player whose defense could significantly improve. The others, he said, are who they are.