The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Joe Torre insists he's not worried about Alfonso Soriano's slump. The Yankees' manager thinks once his second baseman adjusts his mechanics everything will be fine.

Soriano is struggling through a 7-for-41 drought. Torre has dropped him in the order, and Soriano was to bat eighth Tuesday night for the opening game of a three-game series against Texas.

"If it was just him concerned, he could be back to leadoff tonight," Torre said. "But if I move him back to leadoff then I have to hit (Derek) Jeter second and do something with Bernie (Williams) and I would like to leave Bernie where he is for the moment."

Williams has been hitting in the No. 2 spot since he returned from the disabled list July 9. He is hitting .241 since he came back.

Last season, Soriano batted .300 with 39 homers and led the AL in stolen bases with 43. He missed a 40-40 season by one homer. His 39 were the most homers by an AL second baseman.

He was the AL Player of the Month in April, hitting .371 with nine homers, 46 hits and 26 runs. Since then, he has skidded considerably, batting .229 in May, .268 in June and .245 since July 1. His average has dropped to .280.

Torre thinks Soriano mighthave fallen into bad habits at the plate.

"He may not even know he's doing it," the manager said.

Torre thinks that Soriano is "flying open" with his left shoulder. That is, his shoulder is getting past the hitting zone before the pitch arrives at the plate.

"He did it so easily," Torre said, referring to Soriano's early successes. "You get into the habit of pull, pull, pull and then pitchers start doing other things and it throws you off."

When he hits in the No.1 slot - and he's on his game - Soriano is one of the most productive leadoff hitters. He has 17 career game-opening homers - tied for second in Yankees history behind Rickey Henderson (24).

Torre is not caught up in the numbers. But he knows what he'd like to see from his second baseman.

"I'd like to see more quality at-bats from him," he said.