Yankees Seem Eager to Settle Score

The New York Yankees have returned to the scene of their October demise, and if they want to say they aren’t still thinking about how the Angels took them apart in the division series or aren’t motivated by their unexpected elimination, well, fine, but it’s safe to assume that the man who pays the bills has never stopped thinking about it, or as Jason Giambi was saying, “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. Mr. Steinbrenner loves to win and loves to motivate, and it had been a long time since the Yankees were out [of the playoffs] in the first round.”

Indeed, it’s safe to assume that the decision to scoff at the luxury tax and spend $53 million to sign Hideki Matsui, the Japanese outfielder, and Jose Contreras, the Cuban pitcher, was rooted in the four-game loss to the Angels, as were those needling remarks by the Boss about Derek Jeter’s night life and the need for Joe Torre and his coaches to work a little harder.

Now, the Yankees have returned to Anaheim amid the best start in their storied history -- “machine-like,” first baseman Giambi said of the way the Yankees are steamrollering the opposition -- but as always they are never far from the intrusive shadow of George Steinbrenner.

It had surfaced again Sunday, even as the Yankees were about to complete a four-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins, surfacing in the form of uncharacteristically angry remarks by Torre. He suggested that his authority and credibility had been undercut by Steinbrenner’s decision to send Contreras to the club’s training base in Tampa, Fla., to work with organization pitching guru Billy Connors after Steinbrenner had left the decision up to Torre and Torre had told Contreras that he would be going to triple-A Columbus, Ohio, to get game ready.

As it now stands, Contreras, a $32-million investment who had been getting limited work out of the bullpen (of course, the important thing is that the Yankees may have overpaid, but they at least prevented the Boston Red Sox from signing him) will work with Connors for a week and then make his first start for Columbus on Tuesday.

As it now stands, Torre is biting his tongue.

“I’ve had a great day, don’t bother me,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone to no one in particular as he walked through the clubhouse several hours before the first game of the Yankee-Angel series at Edison Field.

Later, during his usual pregame briefing with reporters, he said that he had yet to discuss the incident with Steinbrenner, that his communications were strictly with General Manager Brian Cashman (who had also not been informed of the initial change in itinerary for Contreras) and that his remarks Monday represented “my farewell, my swan song” in regard to discussing it publicly.

Among those farewell comments, Torre had said:

* “I’m over it, but I can’t pretend it never happened.”

* “Everybody knows when you work for the Yankees, you pretty much have to be ready for anything. I’ve always been loyal to the people I work for, and to me, I feel good about that part.

“But I’d like to believe loyalty’s a two-way street too.”

Everybody knows one other thing about working for the Yankees: Loyalty may be a two-way street, but there’s always a SigAlert around the next corner.

So, what to think of this latest collision?

What does this latest bit of discord mean (oh, yes, there’s also noted author and pitcher David Wells telling Yankee broadcaster Michael Kay that if the Yankees don’t pick up his contract option he will consider joining the Red Sox or New York Mets next year)?

Well, it’s hard to get a grasp on the meaning and significance, but if there’s a temptation to read too much into it, to suggest that the relationship between Torre and Steinbrenner has frayed beyond repair, certain aspects of it breed temptation.

As many times, for instance, as Steinbrenner has interfered with his managers and baseball people, the decision to tamper with his current manager’s credibility, to undercut the respected Torre, at a time when the Yankees are at the top of their game despite the absence of Jeter and Mariano Rivera and a .197-hitting Giambi leaves one to wonder what he will do if they stumble or fail to win the World Series for the third consecutive year.

Similarly, the caustic response by Torre, already known to be upset over the Steinbrenner comments about Jeter and his coaches and the failure of Steinbrenner to step in when the Wells book flap disrupted his team’s spring preparations, seemed to suggest that his celebrated ability to ride with the intrusions could be approaching the end of that two-way street.

Two things are certain:

* Steinbrenner has generally admired people who stand up to him, and those four World Series rings give Torre the clout to do it and the credentials to find other work if it comes to that.

* None of this has or will disrupt the impervious Yankees, who are “deeper than we’ve ever been in every aspect,” Torre said, and also 17-3 after their 8-3 trouncing of the Angels and the troubled John Lackey and Scott Schoeneweis in the opener of the three-game series.

Machine-like?

“I never like to take the human aspect out of it, but we’re not doing anything unusual or more than we’re capable of,” Torre said on an April Tuesday when both the Yankees and Angels were a long way from the division series of last October.