Rumor Digest from The Good Old Days (May 2007)

From 5/21/07, mentioning the Randy Levine question: (NY Daily News, Raissman):

"All the talk about Joe Torre's Yankee future, or lack thereof, is like gum stuck to a shoe - annoying and hard to get rid of. The story goes beyond the obvious speculation. It's not good enough to just predict whether the manager will stay or get the boot.

Who will make the decision? And who are Mr. Torre's detractors inside the organization? That's the direction ESPN's Peter Gammons was headed Sunday night in the fourth inning of Yankees-Mets.

Jon Miller asked Gammons if Torre could lose his job. Gammons said it's "not impossible" and reported that George Steinbrenner likely would have something to say following the Bombers' current series with Boston.

• "There are some problems (for Torre). Randy Levine, the club president who apparently is back in power, is no Joe Torre fan," Gammons said. "There is no question there is pressure coming from George Steinbrenner and some other people in the organization who question Joe Torre despite his resume of remarkable achievement."

Bringing Levine into the equation is curious. Or is it? In recent years Levine's role with the Yankees has been clearly spelled out. He is in charge of the business side, so it must have been surprising for him to hear he is back in power.

• It really does not matter what Levine thinks of Torre. Even in Steinbrenner's weakened state, he - or the family member running the Yankees that particular day - is not going to place an urgent call to Levine and get him involved in pure baseball decisions.

For Gammons to leave the impression Levine has enough juice to pull the plug on Torre is a huge reach. As usual, there could be more here than meets the eye, ear, nose or throat.

For many years - and this is not a well-kept secret - there has been animosity between Levine and Gammons. They don't speak. The bad blood came as a result of Levine taking issue with a Gammons report about the Yankees acquiring a player for major dough. Levine called an ESPN executive directly, telling him Gammons' report was not accurate.

Needless to say, Gammons was not thrilled about this.

So, could Gammons' attempt to cast Levine as the heavy in this Torre drama be payback for Levine showing him up, and going over his head?

Gee, does that kind of stuff really happen?"

From NY Daily News, 5/21/07 by Bob Raissman, "Ax Swings Over Torre Story,"

• Then, we have Cashman, mainly, "on a big hook," from an AP Report published widely, 5/27/07:

"Despite constant speculation about manager Joe Torre's job, New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner says someone else also needs to deliver as the team looks to reverse its floundering start: general manager Brian Cashman.

• "He's on a big hook," a spirited Steinbrenner told The Associated Press in a rare interview from this Tampa office. "He wanted sole authority. He got it. Now he's got to deliver."

Steinbrenner's comments came with the Yankees' record at 21-24, sitting 9½ games behind the American League East-leading Boston Red Sox.

"The boss is the boss,'' Cashman said before Friday night's game against the Los Angeles Angels. "There are no surprises here. He's said this to me privately."

Cashman agreed with Steinbrenner's assessment.

"I'm on the hook. You can't describe it any better than that," Cashman said. "It's my job to figure it out.""

• 5/27/07, AP report on ESPN.com, "Boss: Cashman's "on big hook" for Yankees' 2007 performance"

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