NEW YORK--Billy Martin was named manager of the New York Yankees for the fifth time yesterday, replacing Lou Piniella who was promoted to general manager.

Piniella replaced Woody Woodward, who had asked to be relieved of his duties in that area, the club said in a statement.

"I'm anxious to return as Yankee manager and I'm looking toward bringing an exciting and winning team to Yankee fans," Martin said in the statement.

Piniella said in the statement, "I feel this is a step forward in my baseball career and gives me the opportunity to learn a new facet of the game."

The Yankees finished fourth in the American League East, nine games behind first-place Detroit, in Piniella's second season as manager. The Yankees were second in his first year.

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner had met with Piniella last Thursday and there had been reports that Piniella would be fired and replaced by Martin.

On August 8 in Detroit, Steinbrenner issued a two-page statement in which he admitted that maybe he made a "mistake" by hiring the inexperienced Piniella as manager. He later reminded everyone that what counted was the "bottom line."

The bottom line was that the Yankees, who led the American League East by three games at the All-Star break, finished fourth with an 89-73 record.

"Nothing Lou did hurt us in any way," Yankees first baseman Don Mattingly said. "He did what he could. He put the best players on the field every day and made the right moves. We just didn't produce. We didn't play well when we had to. But we never lost respect for Lou. Never. We played hard for him."

Piniella had one year remaining on his two-year contract--though Steinbrenner's decisions have never been affected by that.

"I had a job to do and did it to the best of my ability," Piniella said in the last week of the season. "I just would've liked to have seen this club if we stayed intact. But we've talked enough about injuries. We're not making excuses. It's just a shame."

The Yankees suffered major injuries to their first two hitters in the lineup--outfielder Rickey Henderson [right hamstring strain] and second baseman Willie Randolph [torn knee cartilage and eventual surgery], who missed a combined 109 games.

Piniella did not talk with Steinbrenner for almost a month after missing a scheduled call from his boss on August 3. Piniella later apologized for not being in his hotel room to accept the call.

He was 90-72 in his first year as manager, and his two-year record was 177-145.

Martin is the Yankees' 15th manager since Steinbrenner bought them from CBS 15 years ago.