Torre Backs Players’ Assn. in Rocker Case

New York Yankee Manager Joe Torre, an instrumental part of the players’ association when he was younger, said the union had no choice but to assist suspended Atlanta Brave pitcher John Rocker.

“That’s their job, not necessarily defend what he has said, but I still have to believe he has some rights that they have to support for him,” Torre said Sunday at the Yankees’ spring training camp in Tampa, Fla. “They have to. . . . They just can’t leave him out there by himself.

“It’s a very touchy situation obviously because of what he said, who he offended and the whole thing. The scary part is not what he said, it’s how he thinks. We’ve all said some things we’re sorry we’ve said, but go on and on, and then that’s where you mind works.”

Yankee pitcher David Cone, a strong union supporter, also defended the players’ association.

“The union is trying to do its job,” Cone said. “Everybody deserves representation. Everybody deserves to have due process.”

Rocker was suspended until May 1, fined $20,000 and ordered to undergo sensitivity training by Commissioner Bud Selig for offensive comments against minorities, homosexuals and foreigners. The union appealed the decision to arbitrator Shyam Das, who is expected to rule by the end of the month.

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Closer Billy Koch of the Toronto Blue Jays agreed to a $3.5-million, three-year contract, and outfielder Jose Cruz Jr. agreed to a $395,000, one-year deal.

Koch, 25, gets a $250,000 signing bonus, $250,000 this season, $650,000 in 2001 and $2.35 million in 2002. He set an American League rookie record for saves last year with 31, going 0-5 with a 3.39 earned-run average in 56 games.

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Steve Cox, the International League’s most valuable player last season at triple-A Durham, agreed to a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

The 25-year-old first baseman-outfielder batted .341 with 25 homers and 127 runs batted in at Durham last year. He doubled in his first major league at-bat for the Devil Rays in September and finished with a .211 average in six games.

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Boston Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez missed the club’s first spring training workout for the second consecutive year. And, for the second year in a row, Manager Jimy Williams shrugged it off.

“It’s not a big deal,” Williams said.

The Red Sox voluntary reporting date for pitchers and catchers was Saturday, with the first workout Sunday. But the mandatory reporting date under the collective bargaining agreement is March 1.