General Manager Brian Cashman believes that the Yankees should rally around Alex Rodriguez in the wake of Joe Torre's published claims that portrayed the third baseman as a divisive figure. "I think we've gone through so much of the Alex stuff that, you know, if anything, maybe this brings people closer together," Cashman said Monday. In The Yankee Years Torre says "Alex monopolized all the attention" and that "he needs people to make a fuss over him." "There's always going to be some controversy that surrounds this club," Cashman said. "The best way to try to deal with it is, I guess, rally around each other the best you can if there's real feelings there." Cashman also said that when Rodriguez became a free agent after the 2007 season, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, and Andy Pettitte all urged him to re-sign the third baseman.