TAMPA, Fla. -- New York Yankees manager Joe Torre is more comfortable about David Wells' use of ephedra after talking with him on Sunday.

Wells occasionally uses an over-the-counter supplement containing the substance, which a medical examiner linked to Bechler's death.

"He seems to have a grip on it as far as what he knows he can do,'' Torre said. "That's all you ask for. Just as long as you know what you're doing.''

Bechler died Monday, a day after collapsing at spring training with heatstroke. While ephedra is banned by the NFL, the NCAA and the International Olympic Committee, use of the substance, which is available without prescription, is allowed in baseball.

Torre said it's hard to tell someone not to do something when you can go into a drug store and buy it.

"He just told me it's something that he does from time to time,'' Torre said.

Ephedra was one of the topics discussed during the Yankees spring training team meeting on Tuesday. The team advises players not to use it.

Wells was hospitalized in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for an irregular heartbeat during spring training 1996 while with the Baltimore Orioles. Treatment included stopping his heart and then restarting it with a defibrillator.

At the time Wells said he was using a product called Ripped Fuel, which has ephedra.

"I took too much,'' Wells said Saturday. "I was dieting, doing a lot of cardiovascular and taking that stuff. Those three don't mix.

Wells does not believe ephedra should be banned.