A second day of Tampa-based executive discussions shed no further light on Joe Torre's fate as manager, which remained uncertain as club brass departed Legends Field on Wednesday.
Reached by telephone by MLB.com as he prepared to fly back to New York, general manager Brian Cashman said that the Yankees are continuing dialogue but have yet to reach an official conclusion on the situation.
"There has been no decision," Cashman said. "There is no timeframe. We'll continue dialogue with all of the appropriate parties, and when we have something to report, we will do so."
That means a ninth day will pass without Torre knowing if he will return for a 13th season, having guided the Yankees to a 94-victory campaign this year but falling in four games to the Cleveland Indians in the American League Division Series.
"The decision that we're talking about is obviously re-hiring somebody, and there's a negotiation if you do so," Cashman told reporters in Tampa. "Those are the decisions we have to come to, if that's the decision we choose to go [with]. That takes time.
"... We hold Joe Torre in the highest regard. Obviously, that's why we're taking the time and the process that we have in place to determine what's best for us as we go forward and whether he's a part of that."
On behalf of the Yankees, spokesman Howard Rubenstein released a statement at 4:20 p.m. ET, confirming that the club had completed discussions for Wednesday but saying that no decisions had been made regarding Torre. Rubenstein said the discussions will continue.
When they do, they will be largely by telephone, following two days of face-to-face meetings in Tampa. The ending of the Floridian wing of the organizational meetings was anticlimactic, as many had anticipated the Yankees would at least announce if Torre was their choice to be their manager in 2008.
If he was not to be brought back, as principal owner George Steinbrenner warned he might not if the Yankees did not progress past the ALDS, many speculated that bench coach Don Mattingly or former Florida Marlins manager Joe Girardi would be pursued as candidates.
Cashman said that expectations of a major development may have been premature. The GM said that the managerial decision had not precluded the organization from handling other business during the two-day summit, which began with meetings on Tuesday at Steinbrenner's home.
The meetings on Wednesday included a "who's who" of club brass, including Steinbrenner, sons Hank and Hal, son-in-law Felix Lopez, team president Randy Levine, chief operating officer Lonn Trost, senior vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman, scouting director Damon Oppenheimer and special advisor Gene Michael.
"We've just started the process," Cashman said. "We've stayed consistent with what we said at the end of the season, and that is that we were going to have a cool-down period, and then start the process. That began [on Tuesday]. It's not as simple as people make it out to be. There is a process that our club has to adhere to as we enter the offseason."
The only items on the agenda that would be held up by extending the Torre decision, Cashman said, would revolve around the coaching staff.
Reports have speculated that if Torre returns, pitching coach Ron Guidry could be among those replaced. Guidry completed his second season working with the Yankees' staff in 2007, but the organization is very pleased with Triple-A pitching coach Dave Eiland, even inviting him to travel with the club in September, assisting such young pitchers as Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes.
Cashman said that the Torre decision, as well as other moves the Yankees must plan going forward, can and will be handled via teleconference from New York.
"Ninety percent of my dealings take place that way anyway," he said.
Torre has managed the Yankees since 1996 and was baseball's highest-paid manager this season, earning more than $7 million. He is the first manager to guide the Yankees to 12 consecutive postseason appearances, and his 1,173 victories with the franchise rank second on the club's all-time managerial wins list, trailing only Joe McCarthy.
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