Offer was no trick

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I do believe that Torre was right about the lukewarm feelings of his bosses. He read the support in the Tampa meeting to be thin, and that indeed was probably the case. Yankees management didn't exactly appear crestfallen when he turned them down. As one Yankees underling said, "It didn't look like they were shedding tears," in their press conference.

Torre suggested at his news conference that he felt general manager Brian Cashman was his "one ally" in the room, yet did nothing to quash the misguided notion, advanced by Torre's supporters, that club president Randy Levine was the force behind his ouster. ("I don't deal with Randy Levine," Torre said, coolly, when asked about the club prez.) But in reality, as Cashman pointed out, Levine not only endorsed this extension offer but also voted to keep Torre in May when outsiders were calling for his scalp after a slow start. So Levine actually was 2-for-2 this year in voting to keep the Torre regime going.

While Levine was in favor of keeping Torre only under the right circumstance (a one-year deal), just like the others in Tampa, some other Yankee officials were less enthusiastic. Another official said of Torre, "How many chances does he get?"

While Cashman won a stay for Torre a year ago and was his most ardent supporter for 11 of 12 years, the GM said he agreed that the one-year deal was the right offer. And I don't believe he's only saying that now to be a team player. Every Yankee exec -- Cashman, included -- started to wonder about Torre's strategies, especially the overuse of some relievers and the under-use of some young position players. (The Joba Rules, after all, was Cashman's invention, and they didn't exactly scream confidence in Torre.) And of course, they were all tiring of playoff failings in recent seasons after Torre's remarkable start of four World Series titles in five seasons.

A few Torre supporters in the media (and I was one for years, right up until the $190 million team didn't show in Detroit last October, and his solution was to bat Alex Rodriguez eighth) even suggested Levine or someone else set up Steinbrenner's call for his win-or-else pledge with the Bergen Record's Ian O'Connor, a ridiculous accusation that O'Connor and Levine both denied. Levine called the claim "disgraceful and despicable." The Yankees were involved in the playoffs at the time, and Levine and O'Connor both have said they hardly know each other, understandable since O'Connor is a general sports columnist, not a baseball writer.

Besides, if those ill-timed remarks by Steinbrenner were a setup to make Torre look bad (and I don't believe it was anything more than good reporting by O'Connor), it was a worse strategy than batting A-Rod eighth. All it did was rally the outside support for Torre and transform him into a martyr.

Despite their misgivings about Torre's strategies and the recent postseason flameouts, I do believe the executives all wanted Torre to take the deal they offered. They still got hammered for offering him $5 million, plus reachable incentives that would have doubled Cubs manager Lou Piniella's pay. So they had to know the reaction to a firing would have been five million times worse for them. But nobody offers $5 million and a chance to make $8 million if they don't mean it. It wasn't the offer Torre wanted, but it was no trick.

Indians pitcher must think we're Byrd brains

Paul Byrd's claim that he took HGH for a pituitary condition might carry more weight if he didn't use an online dentist to write two prescriptions for him.

Byrd, who was reported by the San Francisco Chronicle to have spent $25,000 on HGH and related supplies, is smarter than that. We're smarter than that (at least, I hope so).

If someone has a serious pituitary condition, they check themselves into a hospital. They see a real physician. They get medical treatment. They don't dial up a shaky Internet dentist to get them some HGH.

Byrd wouldn't reveal when his condition was diagnosed. Or whether it was diagnosed by the dentist of the net.

Byrd is used to fooling hitters with his delivery and stuff. But I don't think he's fooling too many folks with his excuse.

Around the Majors

• The Rangers will first try to acquire a center fielder in trade before looking into the four primo free-agent center fielders. Coco Crisp is one center fielder almost sure to be on the move.

• Texas offered to keep Rudy Jaramillo as baseball's best-paid hitting coach at something close to $500,000 annually. But with his contract expiring at the end of October, he told the team he would look around. Speculation continues to center on the Mets, whose GM Omar Minaya once was a coach on Jaramillo's minor-league team.

• The Mariners aren't messing around, adding Mel Stottlemyre and Jim Riggleman to their big-league coaching staff.

• There doesn't seem to be much chance that Aaron Rowand returns to the Phillies, not with them possessing a cost-effective alternative in Shane Victorino.

• Terry Francona took some hits for employing Tim Wakefield in Game 4. But Fox broadcaster Eric Karros brought up an interesting point when he suggested Wakefield's knuckleballs threw off Indians hitters the rest of the series.

• The Indians actually did remarkably well to make it to Game 7 considering they got nothing in the ALCS from three of their best -- C.C. Sabathia, Fausto Carmona and Rafael Perez.

• Early World Series pick: Rock and roll. Rockies in seven.