Yankees Close to Deal to Send Hernández to Expos

By JACK CURRY

 

 

he Yankees inched closer to trading Orlando Hernández to the Montreal Expos as part of a three-way deal involving Bartolo Colón last night. But they would not be receiving the prized Colón in return.

 

Instead, the Expos would trade Colón to the Chicago White Sox, who would send Montreal at least one player and an unspecified amount of cash to help offset Hernández's salary. The Yankees would receive two minor leaguers from the White Sox to complete the trade.

 

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One baseball official involved in the discussions said the teams "were not at the finish line yet," but that the trade could be completed soon. The Yankees have eight starting pitchers for a five-man rotation. Hernández, who could make as much as $5 million through salary arbitration this year, is expendable.

 

The Yankees almost traded the right-hander Hernández, first baseman Nick Johnson and outfielder Juan Rivera to Montreal for Colón last month, but they balked when the Expos asked them to include enough money to cover Hernández's salary. Since then, the Yankees have signed starters Roger Clemens and José Contreras, so they have become more interested in subtracting salary than in adding Colón.

 

General Manager Brian Cashman declined to comment on the likelihood that Hernández could be dealt to the Expos. But another American League executive said Cashman had been speaking to several teams in a furious effort to trade Hernández. Cashman has been adamant about not paying any part of Hernández's salary and about receiving quality minor leaguers in any deal.

 

While Cashman would not discuss the potential three-way trade, he answered, "There's no doubt about it," when asked if he was trying to reduce the logjam in his eight-man rotation. At Hideki Matsui's news conference in Manhattan yesterday, Manager Joe Torre emphasized how difficult it would be for him to try to squeeze eight pitchers into five spots. He said that melding Matsui, the Japanese outfielder, and Contreras, the Cuban pitcher, into the clubhouse would be easier than handling a crowded rotation.

 

 

"Sure, it's nice to say you have eight starters," Torre said. "Here's five and put three in the bullpen. You're not dealing with playing cards in the basement. You're dealing with people. I have no idea until we get there."

 

Torre seemed especially concerned about Jeff Weaver. If Clemens, Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte and David Wells are given the first four spots, and Hernández is traded to the Expos and Sterling Hitchcock is also traded, that will leave Weaver and Contreras battling for the fifth spot.

 

That would be a delicate duel because Torre has promised Weaver, a reliever in 7 of his 15 Yankees appearances last season, that he will be in the rotation in 2003.

 

"I told Jeff Weaver last year that he's going to be starting for a long time with this club," Torre said. "How do you go back on that? I don't have a clue how we're going to put this together."

 

Weaver, who threw off a mound yesterday for the first time this off-season near his home in Simi Valley, Calif., did not seem concerned about fighting for a rotation spot.

 

"I'll help make the decision easier for Joe by showing up and being ready," Weaver said in a telephone interview. "I'll go out there and do anything I have to. I have confidence in my abilities to pitch. I'll make it an easy decision for him and I'll be in the rotation."

 

Last month, Torre said he would prefer having five starters. But the team's principal owner, George Steinbrenner, signed Clemens to a one-year, $10.1 million deal and Contreras to a four-year, $32 million contract.

 

Even if the Yankees make the deal for Hernández, they will still have seven starters. Eliminating Hitchcock would not be difficult; he pitched only 39 1/3 innings last year, and the Yankees would like to move at least part of his $6 million salary. That would leave Weaver or Contreras for the fifth spot.

 

"I look at him as a starter," Torre said about Weaver, a starter in Detroit until the Yankees obtained him last summer. "But, again, everybody can't start."

That is interesting, thanks for posting -

 

npw does anyone have a clue which minor leaguers we are putting on the block? Borchard would be one thing, Dallerero (spelling) would be another.

This deal makes much more sense than the one reported in the Chicago Tribune, because the Yankees get a few decent prospects and the Sox (not the Yankees) pay El Duque's salary for the Expos.

why was ny so set on getting rid of hernandez. For them i think it worked out well getting a decent rp. would the trade have gone through w/o the yanks in it?

why was ny so set on getting rid of hernandez. For them i think it worked out well getting a decent rp. would the trade have gone through w/o the yanks in it?

Because they had 8 starting pitchers and its real hard to compete when you have so many people out of there typical roles.