The New York Yankees have decided not to pick up the $15 million club option for next season on Bernie Williams, their steady center fielder on four World Series title teams. The club had until Aug. 1 to exercise their option on the 36-year-old, who signed with the Yankees in 1985. "I've talked to Bernie and I think he's comfortable with it," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "Emotionally, he is fine with it. It is just that the last day of July was the day it had to be done. It was in his contract." Williams wasn't surprised by the move, and he didn't rule out the possibility of returning to the only club he has ever played for. "It's something they felt they had to do," Williams said during batting practice for Tuesday night's game with the Cleveland Indians. "I'm still playing for this team and I'm going to do all I can to help this team win." Williams didn't want to speculate about his future. The Yankees entered the series with Cleveland 2? games behind first-place Boston in the AL East and two games behind wild-card leading Oakland. "It wouldn't be fair to talk about it at this point in the season," Williams said.