Cashman: Torre tough on relievers, too

Long overshadowed by George Steinbrenner and even Joe Torre, Brian Cashman has burst out of his pinstripes this year as the singular -- and unpredictable -- voice of the Yankees.

There's no longer competition for media attention inside this organization -- not from the current owners or manager -- so the public forum is all Cashman's. And yesterday he once again used his platform for his own personal truth-telling mission, vigorously defending himself against those -- citing Scott Proctor's 2006 workload for the Yankees -- who called him a hypocrite for saying the Mets "abused" reliever Pedro Feliciano.

Forget Charlie Sheen. The real "Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat Is Not an Option" tour is airing daily in the Bronx, starring the suddenly unpredictable former intern- turned-general manager.

Because while discussing Pedro Feliciano's shoulder injury, Cashman responded to his critics by pointing out that Jerry Manuel isn't the only former New York manager who has abused relievers.

Cashman invoked Torre's name, explaining in detail the efforts by the general manager to keep Torre from burning out relievers such as Proctor, Ron Villone, Paul Quantrill and Tanyon Sturtze.

"I met with all those individual players and said, 'You are hurting your career.' I covered all the bases on my end. There's no hypocrisy here."

Cashman said he met repeatedly with Torre, pitching coach Ron Guidry and trainers, called agents and even went directly to the players.

"I remember telling Proctor, 'Dude, you haven't even made money yet,' " Cashman said. " 'You're hurting your career. While you're helping us, you're hurting your career.' "

Cashman insisted that he was not criticizing Torre, though clearly he still is not over Torre's literary digs. Instead, Cashman brought up the past because he wanted to "tie up all the loose ends" from the aftermath of his comments earlier this month that the Mets abused Feliciano.

Stung by those in the media who called him hypocritical for criticizing the Mets when several relievers were abused on his watch, Cashman came back swinging, as he has been known to do lately.

Cashman said that every time he implored Torre to not use Proctor so often, Torre said he would ask Proctor if he was good to go. And Proctor invariably said yes.

At this point Cashman grew animated, saying he told Torre that wasn't a fair question because no young player would say no to him because "you're Joe Torre!" Cashman wanted Torre to decide availability based on usage patterns rather than hot hand, but Torre never budged. (Hence, the '07 Joba Rules.)

Cashman even invited reporters to call Torre, confident the former Yankees manager would confirm those conversations from years ago. Torre, now a Major League Baseball executive, did not return a message seeking comment.

Cashman, meanwhile, did not back off his original Feliciano comments from two weekends ago, saying he was simply responding to a reporter's question honestly.

And, finally, Cashman happily reported that he no longer worries about the Yankees abusing any more relievers now that Joe Girardi is firmly entrenched in Torre's old job.

One of Girardi's greatest strengths as a big-league manager is bullpen management, and Cashman now has a big say in the process. "That stuff," he said, "I don't have to worry about going forward."

And that concludes the latest installment of Cashman's barnstorming truth-telling tour. Surely, it won't be the last.