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I'm thinking you must have heard it firsthand, right? Otherwise why would you write such a meaningless article? Knowing reporters though you probably heard it through the grapevine! Either way Torre's a Dodger and Williams can play his guitar anywhere he'd like to. Both are gone! Williams career was finished, should I say is finished and I personally hope Torre wins the NL Championship and we kick his butt in the WS.

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I'm going to start off the I'm not a yankee fan quote but from my years of observing baseball as a fan it does not shock me to hear this but I don't believe that Torre did this. I was shocked that nobody grabbed BW when he was done as a yankee. His arm had been gone for a while but there were numerous teams that could've used his services as a DH or a reserve/ph. I really have no respect for Cashman due to the fact he has had the luxury of having basically an open check bood for a long time and wsan't smart enough to get players to keep the dynasty going for many more years. To me, and this is from the outside looking in I always thought that BW was a solid professional and I didn't hear the rumblings of music taking away from his team and game back when this situation happened. Keep riding your so called high horse Brian, I have a hunch that Hank won't have the patience that his dad did.

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If this is a true statement from Cashman, then everyone in the Yankee organization must have had reasons based upon facts. There wasn't anyone in the organization that felt that Bernie couldn't play, so there must have been some concern over his studio time and his commitment to baseball. Maybe he could've played in AAA with the Devil Rays or Pirates, but not at the level of the Eastern Leaders..Yanks or Sox. I was surprised that with all the Yankee injuries early last spring that he wasn't signed for 1 yr as a bench player. I also agree with Kevin that Cashman should've made a lot more moves than he did $$$ when certain players were available. Even now the Yankees could pkg a deal with Matsui for a Konerko, but here we go again....Cashman thinks that they are set with injury prone players..ie:Damon/Abreau/Matsui/Giambi. This mind set has us set up for a replay of 07. I leave you with this... I think the Yankees have completely spent too much time on the pitching staff and not enough time with positional players. If the Rays had more $$ in 08, the Sox and Yanks would be looking over their shoulders from April to Sept and I am a die hard Yankee fan.

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Yes, I'm a Yankee fan. I don't know Bernie Williams but have met Brian Cashman. Brian is very professional but demands 100 percent. I have read many articles about Bernie Williams being in the clubhouse playing guitar while other players have been out practicing in the field. If you're getting paid millions of dollars, you should be out on the field practicing not guitar playing, but hitting, fielding, and other baseball drills. It would be like me at work going online chats instead of doing work. Every boss, no matter what profession, expects that of his employees. Those many articles about Bernie's guitar playing made me question his work ethic as a Yankee fan. If he had given it more effort, maybe he'd be a hall of famer instead of a former all-star.

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Yep, you can always count on guitar playing to make your shoulder give out.....

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I know one thing, I like Bernie williams, better than I like the jew brian cashman. If steinbrenner wants to can someone, my vote goes to cashman. He has no business wearing a WS ring. He didn't contribute one iota to their winning a WS.

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If the things in this article are close to the truth, once again, the attitude in this clubhouse is brutal. Bernie has been a Yank all his life, and felt like he was snubbed last year. After all the great years which included world series victories he was as to take a non-roster postion and earn his way onto the team...the same team he has devoted his life to...needless to say, he felt humiliated. Irregardless, I'm more suprised by Cashmans supposed quotes. The arrow to Torre. This is the second quote this weekend that left me scratching my head in relation to Cashman when I heard he vetoed Mattingly as head coach and recommended Giardi instead. I guess maybe Cashman was less on Torre's side than we were lead to believe and perhaps wanted Torre and his influences out of the clubhouse. In all the years, I have never heard of any problems with Williams or guitar playing lessening his committment or causing problems in the clubhouse...a clubhouse that has a lot of reporters in it reporting a lot of stuff. I think if true, Cashman is showing little respect for someone who was a great player....maybe if Bernie spent his time like some others on that dynasty team shooting up steriods and HGH, or pain killers he would have been a greater player longer...No he was just a gentle giant who played great baseball the old fashion way.

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This article is complete BS ..All the Yankees always speak of Bernie in the utmost respect..

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Is Cashman an idiot or what??? The little man never played...Did he watch ALL those playoff games by Bernie over the years? He constantly had the best stats on the teams...in fact, maybe his guitar playing helped him.....

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If Brian's comments are accurate, Bernie has every right to be offended and upset. To us true yankee fans, Bernie represented what it means to wear the pinstripes, with class and tremendous talent. For many of his years, he was the best player on the team and a very instrumental part of bringing glory and rings back to the Bronx. The fact that he is multi talented and gives back to the community should be celebrated not dissed - the Steinbrenner family should honor him and speak out.

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I've watched 145 games/year for 5 or 6 years. Bernie played up to his ability and his efforts were never questioned by teammates. Paul O'Neill also played the symbols, but no one questioned him. The bottom line as I see it is that Cashman was under-qualified when he got the job and remained that way. Torre was a washed-up loser mgr when he was in Atlanta, St. Louis and the Mets. He was like a Bucky Showalter waiting for the big inning but without the analytical ability. He refused to play small ball when it was necessary and he was a non-entity during the game, sitting there sleeping and belching. One has to look beyond the apparent facts. For example, everybody blames Mariano Rivera for the Yankees loss to AZ in 01. The fact is that Torre's refusal to sacrifice bunt in the 7th inning to obtain a 2-run lead instead of a 1-run lead, led to their demise.

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I've been a Yankee fan since 1977, and one of the things I have appreciated most about the team is their commitment, integrity, and professionalism. Bernie Williams has exemplified that, as well as having the stats to be a borderline Hall of Famer, (certainly more likely if he had played for another team, the air is thick with greatness on the Yankees). His .342 batting average season, his 2,000 plus hits, he is high up the totem pole of Yankee legends, and he deserves more respect than that. Brian Cashman, if you are trying as hard as he was, you still have had less success. "Bern baby Bern! "

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i'm a big yankee fan, and i loved bernie when he was here....but, he was done during his last year. he slowed down in the outfield, could not throw and his power and batting avg. were dwindling. also , he could not come off the bench, his pinch hitting numbers were terrible.
an although i don't think Cashman is a genius, so one has to see a players ability dwindling an make the tough decision of letting them go, regardless of the players loyalty or standing with the team.
as for Torre, he is not a special manager at all. if you have the best players , your supposed to win.

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