After five years in exile, Wally Backman is making a return to a Major League Baseball affiliate with the Mets, the club that originally drafted him and brought him into professional ball. The Mets will name Backman, their fiery former second baseman, as manager of the Brooklyn Cyclones, their Single-A affiliate, early next week. According to a baseball executive with knowledge of the situation, who was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter, an announcement of Backman's return to the Mets' organization should come by Tuesday. A former minor league manager of the year, Backman will be working for a major league affiliate for the first time since 2004. In November that year, Backman was hired to manage the Arizona Diamondbacks, but he was fired four days later after the team discovered he had been charged with domestic violence and drunken driving and never informed them of it during the interview process. Backman did not find a job in baseball again until he was hired to manage the South Georgia Peanuts of the independent South Coast League in 2007. A year later, he moved to the Joliet JackHammers of the independent Northern League; he was fired last July because of the team's on-field performance. Known for his passionate, aggressive style both as a player and a manager, Backman was considered a serious major league managerial candidate for three teams. He was a rising star in the White Sox organization but was fired for campaigning for Jerry Manuel's job in 2003 while Manuel was still there. Backman will again be working a few rungs down from Manuel, who is the Mets' manager. After one season managing Single-A Lancaster of the California League to an 86-54 record, Backman was named minor league manager of the year by The Sporting News. The Mets planned to interview him in 2004 after they fired Art Howe, but Backman withdrew as a candidate to pursue the Diamondbacks job. When he was hired, an article in The New York Times detailed his troubled past. During a four-year span before his hiring, Backman had been arrested after a domestic dispute involving his second wife and for a drunken-driving incident, and he filed for bankruptcy. The Arizona Republic reported that Backman's first wife filed a restraining order against him in 1995. A native of Oregon, Backman was drafted by the Mets in 1977 and broke in with the major league club in 1980. In nine years with the Mets, he hit .283 with 106 stolen bases and was part of the hard-charging 1986 club that won the World Series. TORRE MULLS EXTENSION Joe Torre is discussing a one-year contract extension to manage the Dodgers, he said Friday night. He said he spoke to General Manager Ned Colletti on Friday morning and asked for a few more weeks to think about it. But he seemed receptive to managing beyond 2010. Torre is under contract for one more year and had previously said that would be it for him. 'The reason is that's still fun,' he said. 'L.A. is getting more comfortable, and there seems to be progress.' Torre and a host of championship Yankees attended an event at Chelsea Piers on Friday night on behalf of his Safe at Home Foundation, which raises money and awareness for domestic abuse issues. Torre's mother, Margaret, was a victim of domestic abuse at the hands of his father. 'She was very private about it and wouldn't be happy if she knew I was here discussing it,' he said. 'But it's very important that we raise awareness and that people don't have to whisper about it anymore. People have a right to feel safe.' As for the Yankees, Torre said he reached out to the owner George Steinbrenner to congratulate him in the wake of the team's 27th World Series title. 'Oh, yes, definitely,' he said. He said it was 'surreal' watching the team he managed for 12 years win the World Series without him, but he was happy for all of them, especially younger players like Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera, who were not part of the four championship teams he managed. He also said Alex Rodriguez had removed 'the monkey off his back,' referring to the notion that Rodriguez had previously not performed well in the latter stages of the postseason. Among the guests were Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter, who said he would like to see the 2009 team return intact for 2010, although he understood business considerations might preclude that. PRAISE FOR PIERRE The Mets continued to examine possible trades involving second baseman Luis Castillo. One such deal that has been discussed is a trade for Dodgers outfielder Juan Pierre. Torre said he had not heard of that but praised Pierre. 'He still has a couple of years left on his contract,' Torre said. 'He was very important for us, even though he wasn't one of our starters. This year he settled into how much he could help this ball club, and he did, especially when Manny Ramirez missed those 50 games.' 