April 30 (Bloomberg) -- New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said he won't fire manager Joe Torre and General Manager Brian Cashman, and that the last-place team needs to start winning.

``It is time to put excuses and talk away,'' Steinbrenner said in a statement distributed by his publicist, Howard J. Rubenstein. ``It is time to see if people are ready to step up and accept their responsibilities.''

Steinbrenner's comments come after the team dropped eight of its last nine games, including five loses to the rival Boston Red Sox, bringing up questions about Torre's future with the club.

The Yankees, whose $190 million payroll is the biggest in Major League Baseball, are in last place in the American League East Division with a 9-14 record after the first month of the season. It's the franchise's worst April in 16 years.

``The season is still very young, but up to now the results are clearly not acceptable to me or to Yankee fans,'' Steinbrenner said. ``Brian Cashman our general manager, Joe Torre our manager and our players all believe that they will turn this around quickly. I believe in them. I am here to support them in any way to help them accomplish this turnaround.''

`The Boss'

Steinbrenner almost didn't bring Torre back for this season after the team's first-round playoff loss to the Detroit Tigers last year. Cashman persuaded Steinbrenner, who earned the nickname ``the Boss'' for his tendency to fire managers, to let Torre return for his 12th season with New York. Still, Steinbrenner warned Torre that responsibility of the team's fortunes falls on the manager.

``I expect a great deal from you and the entire team,'' Steinbrenner said in a statement last October.

Torre has won four World Series titles with the Yankees, the last one in 2000. Each season without a championship is deemed a failure by Steinbrenner.

The Yankees have had injuries to three of their five projected starting pitchers. Chien-Ming Wang, Mike Mussina and Carl Pavano have missed time with injuries, along with reliever and emergency starter Jeff Karstens and outfielder Hideki Matsui.

The team has used nine different starting pitchers through the first 23 games, including five rookies. Cashman was criticized for promoting 20-year-old right-hander Phil Hughes when he repeatedly said that the team wanted to keep the prospect in the minor leagues this season.

The Yankees don't play today and begin a three-game series against the Texas Rangers in Arlington tomorrow.

``Let's get going,'' Steinbrenner said. ``Let's go out and win and bring a world championship back to New York. That's what I want.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Danielle Sessa in New York at dsessa@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 30, 2007 13:46 EDT