BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE MAJORS : Showalter Says He Won’t Return

Buck Showalter told the New York Yankees he will not return as manager next season.

Showalter, whose contract expires Oct. 31, met twice this week with owner George Steinbrenner to discuss an extension.

He called Steinbrenner on Thursday, rejecting what the Yankees said was a $1.05-million contract covering two years. The Yankees called the parting “amicable.”

The Yankees announced their split with Showalter an hour before Game 5 of the World Series. Major league baseball asks teams to refrain from announcing personnel moves on game days of the World Series. In this case, Steinbrenner had permission from acting Commissioner Bud Selig.

Yankee officials, speaking on condition they not be identified, have said the owner wanted to fire at least two coaches, including first base coach Brian Butterfield.

Steinbrenner said Showalter was satisfied with the contract offer, even “flattered” by it. The owner also said he offered to give the manager the right to select his coaching staff “almost in total,” and to discuss the possibility of lengthening his contract.

According to the owner, Showalter said he “didn’t want to get into a negotiating thing.”

Showalter is the 13th manager since Steinbrenner bought the team in 1973. He managed four years, the longest uninterrupted stretch for a Yankee manager since Ralph Houk’s seven seasons (1967-73).

Showalter now becomes a leading candidate to fill Detroit’s managerial opening. But that hiring probably won’t come until the Tigers name Randy Smith their general manager after the World Series.