The Boss more likely to fire manager than Cashman

	The jobs of Joe Torre, left, and Brian Cashman are both in peril as the Yankees' skid continues. Mike Ehrmann/WireImage.com

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Brian Cashman might well be "on a big hook." But that doesn't mean Joe Torre is off the hook.

Just because Yankees owner George Steinbrenner didn't fire any high, hard ones Torre's way in his recent interview/diatribe, that doesn't mean it's guaranteed that Torre is staying indefinitely. While Steinbrenner suggested Torre's safe in those recent remarks to a Tampa AP writer, those around the team believe he meant to add the words "for now." That could mean for months, weeks or days.

One reason Steinbrenner went soft on Torre, I suspect, is that he wanted to highlight his criticisms of his general manager. If that was the Boss' strategy, it worked; as soon as Steinbrenner's words were known, the debate in New York on Cashman really got rolling.

However, Steinbrenner's first public words in weeks shouldn't be taken to mean that he is pleased with Torre. Steinbrenner has long been reticent to say how he really feels about Torre, since the manager has near-deity status in New York. Behind the scenes, Steinbrenner actually has been just as negative on Torre, criticizing the manager for his bad bullpen moves and the team's moribund appearance.

While Steinbrenner is annoyed by several of Cashman's decisions (Carl Pavano, Kei Igawa, the conditioning guy, etc.), in terms of job security, in all likelihood Torre's position is more tenuous than Cashman's; the GM has another year to go on his contract and will almost assuredly be kept around, if only to be berated. It doesn't help that the Yankees have lost another four games since Steinbrenner spoke and fallen into a last-place tie with Steinbrenner's longtime laughingstock neighbors, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Torre is arguably the most successful manager over the last half century (no one else has four rings). But if Torre does keep his job, the reasons will have little to do with anything that Torre has done right.

These are the top three reasons why Torre may wind up keeping his job for a few days, weeks, months, or even the remainder of the season:

• Steinbrenner doesn't want to pay Torre his $7 million salary to sit at home in Westchester.

• Steinbrenner wants Torre to suffer this season.

• Steinbrenner likes bench coach/heir apparent Don Mattingly too much to subject him to this, and he isn't sure Mattingly, or anyone else, for that matter, is up to the task, anyway.

I believe Torre has earned his spot on the hot seat by failing to inspire his team. It is a flawed roster for $200 million (that's the price tag once Roger Clemens is promoted). Yet, it almost has to be better than this.

While the trend clearly is against in-season firings, here are the managers whose seats appear to be hot, or at least warm:

1. Torre.

2. Sam Perlozzo, Orioles.
Baltimore is actually in second place now, and it's tough to fire anyone over one mistake, albeit a glaring one (Perlozzo's removal of Jeremy Guthrie after 8 1/3 scoreless innings that preceded a six-run Red Sox rally in a 6-5 loss on May 13). Besides, Perlozzo is actually said by Orioles insiders to be doing better than last year, when he was pretty darned bad. But stories such as a recent one in the Baltimore Sun, in which Orioles players didn't exactly rally to his defense (for instance, Brian Roberts and Miguel Tejada declined comment), don't help. And GM Mike Flanagan's statement, "We evaluate out manager and players all the time,'' wasn't exactly a glowing endorsement, either. The only two who are known to support Perlozzo are pitching coach Leo Mazzone, Perlozzo's longtime friend who doesn't exactly look like the magician he was in Atlanta, and owner Peter Angelos, the long-time dunce who hand-picked Perlozzo. Although, if you're going to have the support of a few, one of them may as well be a meddlesome, overbearing owner.