In an explosive new book called The Yankee Years, Torre gets most personal in his attacks against Alex Rodriguez, who he says was called "A-Fraud" by his teammates after he developed a "Single White Female"-like obsession with team captain Derek Jeter and asked for a personal clubhouse assistant to run errands for him.

Torre, who left the Yankees and became manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers after the 2007 season, says Cashman never told the brass that the manager wanted a two-year deal and instead remained silent during Torre's tense final sitdown with the bosses.

The book also reveals that, during spring training in 1999, team doctors revealed to owner George Steinbrenner that Torre had prostate cancer — even before informing the manager himself.

The 477-page tell-all, which The Post purchased from a city bookstore last week, is written by co-author Tom Verducci, a longtime Sports Illustrated reporter.

Torre recounts his 12-year career in New York through interviews. It is being published by Doubleday.

In a brief interview with CNNSI.com, Verducci said it the book was is based on a lot of his own reporting as well and that "Joe Torre doesn't go around ripping people and he doesn't do that in the pages of this book."

At the annual New York baseball writers' dinner Sunday night, Cashman told reporters that Torre called him earlier in the day.

"I woke up today and saw the newspapers and I was surprised. My first reaction is to wait to hear or see what's in the book," Cashman was quoted as saying on Newsday's Web site, adding that he was "comfortable" with his relationship with Torre. "I'm glad Joe gave me a call from Hawaii. It certainly made me feel better about what I was reading today."

A father figure in the dugout, Torre became the second-winningest manager in Yankee history, bringing the team into postseason play every year from 1996 to 2007.