Boss upset with Torre over A-Rod; Piniella irks Cubs

	Once again, Joe Torre failed to back up his star third baseman, Alex Rodriguez. AP

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Two of baseball's most high-profile managers -- Joe Torre and Lou Piniella -- got themselves into some trouble within their own organizations this week.

Torre's recent criticism of Alex Rodriguez's controversial "Ha!" play against the Blue Jays last week earned George Steinbrenner's wrath and an uncomfortable phone call, courtesy of the Boss, SI.com has learned. General manager Brian Cashman did the honors on Steinbrenner's behalf, but it was the owner who most disapproved of Torre's failure to support Rodriguez over A-Rod's screaming strategy.

Meanwhile, Piniella's recent tirade directed at anyone currently playing for the Cubs and his suggestion that they may need to get new players who can "catch the damn ball and run the bases properly," is said to have earned the wrath of most everyone else connected to the Cubs, from the players to the coaches to front-office personnel. Piniella's rant was criticized in this space on Monday, and word is that most current residents in star-crossed Cubdom agreed that the new manager shouldn't be looking for outside culprits in the team's awful start, but rather, a mirror.

Word that Torre was taken to task at Steinbrenner's behest might explain Torre's uncharacteristic over-reaction to a New York Daily News back-page headline, "Joe to A-Rod: Shut Up." Perhaps Torre thought the strong headline contributed to his airing out, so he lectured the media and recruited a couple TV types to support his fairly unworthy cause. While the headline certainly wasn't literal and somewhat exaggerated Torre's reaction to A-Rod's tactic, one of Torre's greatest strengths as Yankees manager has been to deal maturely with the tabloids.

For 12-plus years, Torre also has done a magnificent job protecting everyone else in his clubhouse, but curiously seems to have a different standard for the imported superstar. A-Rod's play -- in which he screamed to distract inexperienced third baseman Howie Clark, causing Clark to mistakenly let Jorge Posada's popup fall for a single in the Yankees' 10-5 victory -- received mixed reviews. Understandably, however, Steinbrenner didn't think any of the negativity should come from A-Rod's own clubhouse. Torre called A-Rod's act "probably inappropriate," and asserted it was "probably something he shouldn't have done."

The same could now be said for Torre's critical remarks; they're something he probably shouldn't have said. After being chastised, Torre explained to his bosses that he didn't mean to demean A-Rod, then apologized to them and to Rodriguez. Torre hasn't always seemed to be in Rodriguez's corner, such as when he batted the superstar eighth during the playoffs last year -- another move his bosses disagreed with.

The back story is that Torre's chances to return as manager are down to miniscule, while Yankees people don't want to provide any extra incentive for A-Rod to opt out of the landmark contract that has $81 million and three years remaining on it.

There's no real talk of Piniella's Cubs tenure coming to an end anytime soon, but his characteristic tirade brings into question how well Piniella can endure his new lot as a Cubbie. Their losing has been going on 98-plus years, but they were barely a third into the season when he unleashed his emotional criticisms following a bad defeat that was lowlighted by star pitcher Carlos Zambrano's dugout/clubhouse TKO of catcher Michael Barrett.

While Piniella got away with public tirades in previous more out-of-the-way stops, they were usually better timed than this one (no one's going to argue when a man with three rings and a great rep tells the Devil Rays they stink -- although the new bosses in Tampa eventually wanted him out almost as much as he wanted to go). But in this case, the Cubs had just spent $300 million on free-agent talent, not to mention another $10 million to bring in Piniella to make it work. The team has played better during Piniella's ban for another tirade, that one aimed an umpire. But once he returns, Piniella has some making up to do.