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Cashman: Yanks Should Rally Around A-Rod

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The Associated Press

Published: January 27, 2009

NEW YORK - Brian Cashman thinks the Yankees should rally around Alex Rodriguez following a book in which former manager Joe Torre portrayed A-Rod as a divisive figure in the New York clubhouse.

"I think we've gone through so much of the Alex stuff that, you know, if anything, maybe this brings people closer together," Cashman said Monday.

In "The Yankee Years," scheduled for publication Feb. 3, Torre says "Alex monopolized all the attention" and that "he needs people to make a fuss over him."

"We never really had anybody who craved the attention. I think when Alex came over, he certainly changed the feel of the club," Torre said.

The book, by Torre and Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci, details how some teammates referred to A-Rod as "A-Fraud" after he joined the team for the 2004 season.

"There's always going to be some controversy that surrounds this club," Cashman said. "The best way to try to deal with it is, I guess, rally around each other the best you can if there's real feelings there."

Torre was hired before the 1996 season and led the Yankees to four World Series titles in his first five years. He left after the 2007 season, insulted he was offered a $5 million, one-year contract with performance bonuses.

Cashman said Torre, now manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, telephoned him Sunday from Hawaii following reports on the book's contents.

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