NEW YORK -- Joe Torre doesn't want George Steinbrenner to blame his coaching staff for the New York Yankees' failure in last year's playoffs.

The Boss said in December that he expects more from his manager and the coaches this year following New York's first-round playoff elimination by Anaheim last October.

"My coaching staff worked very hard,'' Torre said Thursday. "If you want to drop blame on somebody, here I am.''

New York went a major league-best 103-58 last season, but lost 3-1 to Anaheim in the playoffs. The Yankees' 8.21 ERA was the highest in any of their 57 postseason series going back to 1921, and Anaheim's .376 batting average set a record for a postseason series.

"I expect a lot out of myself and a lot out of my players,'' Torre said. "I don't look at the bottom lime, I look at the effort I'm getting, because you are playing on the field with another team and sometimes they do it to you.''

Steinbrenner told the New York Daily News in December that he expects more this year.

"I just want his coaches to understand that just being a friend of Joe Torre's is not enough,'' he said. "They've got to produce for him. Joe Torre and his staff have heard the bugle.

"Joe is the greatest friend I've ever had as a manager. ... I don't want to destroy that, but I will tell you this: I want his whole staff to understand that they have got to do better this year.''

Torre, who got back home Saturday following a six-week vacation in Maui, doesn't think there's greater pressure on him heading into the start of spring training Tuesday. Since October meetings in Tampa, Torre has spoken to Steinbrenner just once, when he returned from Hawaii to attend the Hideki Matsui news conference last month.

"George is pretty vocal. He knows what he wants,'' Torre said. "He wants to be on top. He's dedicated to the city of New York. ... I don't see anything different in my relationship.''

Notes
Torre and Zim, a 3-year-old colt named after Torre and bench coach Don Zimmer, is entered in Saturday's $75,000 Whirlaway Stakes at Aqueduct. The horse, which has raced three times, is coming off a win in an allowance on Dec. 19. Torre and Zim is owned by Sanford Goldfarb.