In the galley proofs, Wells estimates the use of steroids at 25 to 40 per cent of players. Yesterday, he said that estimate will be lower in the book's final version, more like 10 to 20 per cent.  

\"No beat writers in any town that I've ever played in are as ignorant, muckraking or relentlessly negative as the guys in Toronto,\" he says in the book. \"In a region where baseball is just slightly less popular than hockey, football, basketball, curling, tobogganing, ice fishing and snowshoe racing, the local sports hosers have absolutely no idea what they're talking about. Writing about cigarettes, beer and ugly woollen hats, they'd win Pulitzers, but baseball seems entirely beyond their reach.\"  

\"Honest to God, the Toronto fans suck,\" Wells writes (or so we think). \"Even though this underpaid, understaffed, under-loved little team is right in the thick of the hunt, right into the last week of 2000, these mouth-breathers in the stands have no idea what we've accomplished. The wool-hat wankers just boo relentlessly. I've never been so happy to end a season on the road.\"  

Bill W:
Can Wells even read?

After reading the book, general manager Brian Cashman concluded discipline was in order because ``some of those things in the book ... did tarnish the Yankee image.''

``The image of the Yankees is something we, and I personally, am intending to protect on a daily basis,'' Cashman said.

After a weekend of negotiations, Wells agreed not to contest the fine. The Yankees originally proposed that Wells be fined 10 days' pay of his $3 million salary, which comes to nearly $165,000, but Wells' agent, Gregg Clifton, objected.

The team wanted a fine with six figures, which is among the highest ever for a baseball player, but lower than the penalties imposed on Keith Hernandez, Dave Parker and Joaquin Andujar, who agreed to give up 10 percent of their 1987 salaries after the Pittsburgh drug trials.

``David understands it was our opinion he would have been successful on appeal,'' Clifton said. ``He wanted to bring closure for himself and his teammates.''

``I don't think anybody familiar with the landscape thinks this penalty would be upheld,'' said Gene Orza, the union's No. 2 official. ``But it's his decision to make under the rules and it reflects the degree he wants to put this behind him. We have absolutely no problem with his decision.''

The deal was negotiated by Cashman and Yankees president Randy Levine with Clifton, Orza and Rob Manfred, executive vice president of labor relations in the commissioner's office.

Commissioner Bud Selig said he intends to meet with Wells to discuss the book, but major league baseball will not impose any additional discipline.

As part of the deal, Wells agreed not to promote the book on television or radio, one management official said on condition of anonymity. In addition, the Yankees must approve any signing appearances he makes in bookstores.

Wells backpedaled Monday on some of the more outrageous passages in the book, saying now he wasn't ``half-drunk'' when he pitched a perfect game against Minnesota in 1998.

``When I took the mound the day of my perfect game, I was ready to pitch. I certainly wasn't drunk,'' he said. ``Anyone who knows me understands that I only intended to write this book in the spirit of fun. I am sorry that the book hasn't been taken in that vein.''