TAMPA, Fla. -- David Wells will not be traded or released because of his autobiography, New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Saturday.

	David Wells Starting Pitcher New York Yankees Profile
	2002 SEASON STATISTICS GM W L Sv K ERA 31 19 7 0 137 3.75

Wells still might be punished by the team for a book Cashman has said "tarnishes the Yankees' image.'' Team president Randy Levine conferred Friday with Cashman, assistant general manager Jean Afterman and Wells' agent, Gregg Clifton.

Levine spent Saturday on the telephone with Gene Orza of the players' association, Rob Manfred of the commissioner's office and Wells' agent, Gregg Clifton, to discuss what penalty, if any, would be assessed.

"This situation is not one where I'm looking to release a player,'' Cashman said. "You can rule out those two areas I guess. I'm concentrating on other aspects, but not that.''

The Yankees were still deciding Sunday whether to punish Wells.

Wells has a no-trade clause in his contract and has said he won't waive it.

"We have not asked or approached him to waive it,'' Cashman said.

Copies of Wells' book, "Perfect I'm Not! Boomer on Beer, Brawls, Backaches & Baseball,'' began arriving in New York area bookstores Friday. In galleys to the book, Wells claimed he was "half-drunk'' when he pitched a perfect game in 1998 and discussed steroid and amphetamine use in the major leagues.

"I'd like to put it to bed sooner than later,'' Cashman said. "There's a lot of issues to go through and determine what we believe, in our opinion, is our rights. There's a lot of stuff certainly that concerns me.''

Wells declined comment Saturday.

Cashman said he has not talked with Wells about the matter since he started reading the galleys of the book last Monday.

"I know he's waiting I'm sure, and I know he would like to put all this stuff behind him,'' Cashman said. "This is an issue we shouldn't have to be dealing with. He knows it. We all know it. I believe if he could pull a mulligan on this one he would, but he can't.''

Cashman is not in favor of athletes writing books while still playing.

"Generally, everybody knows that writing something like this in season or while your career is still going on isn't the smartest thing to do,'' he said.

Cashman also didn't rule out the possibility of adding specific language in future contracts about writing books.

"There's always an evolution that takes place,'' Cashman said. "We upgrade our language on a yearly basis based on circumstances that arise.''

The Yogi Berra Museum in Little Falls, N.J., postponed Wells' scheduled April 8 book-signing appearance. Museum director Dave Kaplan would not elaborate on why the appearance was delayed, but stressed to the Daily News in New York that there is a possibility it might be rescheduled.

"It's an individual choice that Yogi Berra's museum made,'' Cashmam said. "All you can do is respect that decision. My decision is based on the facts of that book. The fact they have withdrawn has no bearing whatsoever on what we're doing.''

The 39-year-old left-hander has been hit hard in two spring training starts, and sprained his left ankle Wednesday while trying to avoid a grounder in a 12-2 loss to Atlanta.

Wells threw off a bullpen mound Friday for 10 minutes and is slated to follow starter Sterling Hitchcock to the mound Monday against Cleveland.

Hitchcock is one of three pitchers competing for the fifth spot in the rotation.

"We want to make Hitchcock comfortable getting his innings," manager Joe Torre said.

Wells had no comment when asked about his injured ankle Saturday.