MLB

In honor of The Boss, Hardball lists 10 folks already on hot seat

These days the Yankees go to elaborate extremes to keep a fading George Steinbrenner away from prying eyes. On the rare occasions when The Boss comes to the Stadium now, Yankees security will close down stairwells and whole stretches of corridor just so no one learns the secret that an older man is dealing with the issues of being an older man.

But if Steinbrenner is all but hidden from view these days, his influence on the game is as present as ever. And we are not just talking about the Yankees’ willingness to take their payroll north of $200 million.

Impatience certainly existed before Steinbrenner arrived to baseball. But his impetuous, football mentality took it to a new extreme. The virus has been spread way beyond The Bronx, fueled by the daily, relentless rants from talk radio and the Internet.

It used to be only a Steinbrenner-owned team would have fostered a 24-hour managerial firing watch in April. But the ejection button was being readied for Jerry Manuel and Baltimore’s Dave Trembley before Tax Day. The ironic fact is that under Boss Jr. — Hal Steinbrenner — the Yankees are rather serene. They had a vanilla spring training followed by a mostly carefree opening to the season, save for a Javy Vazquez worry or two. Seminal players Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera have expiring contracts, as does manager Joe Girardi, and it hardly causes a pinstripe to ripple.

Meanwhile, panic and knee-jerk decisions that would make an elder Steinbrenner proud have become fashionable throughout the sport’s landscape. Two closers (Toronto’s Jason Frasor and Texas’ Frank Francisco) already have lost their jobs and two others (Baltimore’s Mike Gonzalez and the Angels’ Brian Fuentes) probably were going to lose them before being placed on the disabled list. It is not even May, and yet it feels the pulse is being monitored daily on players such as Alfonso Soriano, David Ortiz and Dontrelle Willis.

In honor of Steinbrenner, Hardball brings you the 10 folks in baseball enduring the hottest seats in April:

1. Manuel — He did not set the budget or obtain the players. But he will be the first sacrificial lamb if the 2010 Mets season heads south as Memorial Day approaches. What, you were expecting Jeff Wilpon to fire himself?

Manuel has made dubious in-game decisions and postgame comments. So we already are hearing a lot about Bobby Valentine (and he would get my vote). But ownership has been there and done that, and might prefer the more mild Bob Melvin, who was hired as a scout in the offseason.

2. Trembley — The Orioles went on a bit of shopping spree to make an assault on .500, but imports Gonzalez, Garrett Atkins and Miguel Tejada have been underwhelming, plus Brian Roberts needed to go to the disabled list.

On Monday, the Camden Yards crowd was lower than five figures (9,129) for the first time in its 19-year history. Baltimore lost 11 of its first 12 games overall. General manager Andy MacPhail is patient, but Trembley is in trouble.

3. Ortiz — He got off slowly last year, too, before rallying to produce 28 homers and 99 RBIs. But his .794 OPS still was underwhelming for a designated hitter. This year he struck out in more than half (15) of his first 29 plate appearances without producing a homer.

And now he is more vulnerable because he is in the final year of his contract. Boston wants to be loyal to a leader and champion, but will not destroy this season out of memories of seasons past.

4. Soriano — Before this season, you would have gotten a good debate on which team had the worst five-year commitment left: San Francisco’s $94 million with Barry Zito, Toronto’s $97.5 million with Vernon Wells or the Cubs’ $90 million with Soriano. But Wells and Zito have both gotten off well. Meanwhile, Soriano’s always poor left field defense has deteriorated, costing the Cubs games and putting his playing time in peril.

The bad defense was more tolerable when Soriano was a power hitting, base stealing force. But one homer, no steals and as many errors as RBIs (3) has the Cubs pondering location of the escape hatch.

5. Brandon Wood — He hit a minor league-high 43 homers in 2005, and was a top-16 prospect by Baseball America every year from 2006-08. But none of his Angels cameos went well, and the organization never fully committed to him in the majors. Until now.

With Chone Figgins departed as a free agent, Wood was made the regular third baseman. He had 11 strikeouts, no extra-base hits and a .088 average in his first 34 at-bats. The Angels are a patient organization, but they have doubted Wood before, so patience might not be here now.

6. Alex Gordon — He has a similar story to Wood. Both were third basemen of promise. Gordon was the second overall pick by the Royals in 2005, and was seen as the next George Brett. But injury and mediocre performance have hounded him.

He is rehabbing from a broken thumb incurred in spring training. He is approaching last-chance territory to show that he can be a KC mainstay.

7. Willis — His spring training continued through two regular-season starts, because they were both against the Royals. In the spring, Detroit decided to eat all the money on the bad contract of Nate Robertson and go with Willis. But Willis is in the final year of his ill-fated, three-year contract, so either he pitches well or the Tigers will go in a different direction.

8. Trevor Hoffman — He allowed two homers last season, but three in his first five innings this season. The 42-year-old Brewers closer had yielded runs in four of his first five appearances and blown two saves. He didn’t blow his second save last year until July 10. Is this a hiccup or the beginning of the end?

9. Pat Burrell — The Rays were contemplating waiving him in spring training, so a homer-less, .185 start to his season is only going to further motivate the organization to find alternatives. Tampa Bay thought it was getting a lefty masher, but he was 0-for-6 vs. southpaws this year after hitting .202 last year vs. lefties with no homers in 119 at-bats.

10. Cliff Lee — Roy Halladay signed and then Josh Beckett, which left Lee as the lone high-end starter available in the next free-agent class. Simple supply and demand suggested he was heading toward a huge payday. But an abdominal injury will cost him the first month of the season, putting a lot of pressure on the Mariners southpaw to maximize the rest of the year.

joel.sherman@nypost.com