Another team interested in Garcia

[DBAHO]

From Newsday.com,

 

The Yankees opened a three-game series against Anaheim last night at Yankee Stadium, their obvious top priority. But over in Columbus, George Steinbrenner deployed not one, but two of his top "baseball people" in an effort to solve the team's top problem - the lack of a dependable fifth starter.

 

Jose Contreras, the man most qualified to fill that void, took an upward turn in his roller-coaster Yankees career, picking up the victory for Triple-A Columbus yesterday in his first minor-league start since his May 5 demotion. Nevertheless, the Yankees appear inclined to leave Contreras in the minor leagues for now, thereby leaving the fifth starter's job in the hands of injury-prone Donovan Osborne.

 

If Contreras can't ultimately right himself in the minor leagues and pitch consistently for the Yankees, general manager Brian Cashman conceded yesterday, "Then I'd probably have to go out and get somebody else."

 

Contreras pitched 6 2/3 innings in the 4-3 win and allowed seven hits, three runs and a walk and struck out seven. Though he permitted a pair of homers, the Yankees said that they received positive reports from their officials on site, vice president of player personnel Billy Connors and senior vice president of player personnel Gordon Blakeley.

 

"It's definitely a step in the right direction, there's no doubt about that," Cashman said. "He had good velocity [as high as 98 mph]. He was aggressive. He had good control. He maintained his delivery the entire game."

 

"I know they scored three runs on two homers," Contreras, through his interpreter Leo Astacio, told the Columbus Dispatch. "But if I can throw seven innings every start and give up three runs, I'm going to be very successful."

 

The Yankees wouldn't announce definitively what Contreras' next step would be. But both Cashman and Joe Torre indicated a desire to see Contreras start again for Columbus. Cashman said, "I'd like to see him put together a string of successful performances."

 

With Osborne slated to pitch Saturday, the Yankees could roll the dice with Osborne for one more outing, pitch Contreras Sunday and - if he pitches well enough - reinsert the Cuban refugee into their rotation May 22.

 

For now, the Yankees have little choice but to be patient with Contreras. The season is too young for struggling teams to give up on their fans and shed payroll. Orlando Hernandez encountered a recent setback in his recovery from May 2003 right shoulder surgery, delaying his timeline. El Duque, who had been pitching in minor-league games, will throw off flat ground today, at the Yankees' minor-league complex in Tampa.

 

If Contreras can't produce - or for that matter, if one of the other Yankees starting pitchers suffers a serious injury - a number of veteran starting pitchers should become available. Arizona's Randy Johnson is the most obvious target. The five-time Cy Young Award winner is due $16.5 million this year and next, and the financially strapped Diamondbacks could try and convince Johnson to waive his no-trade clause for the right deal. The Yankees have some concerns about Johnson's health, however.

 

Pittsburgh showed last year that it wouldn't hesitate to unload payroll. Yankees officials generally don't think highly of righthander Kris Benson, but the Pirates have another interesting veteran starter in Kip Wells.

 

If the Seattle Mariners continue to play poorly, they could deal impending free agent Freddy Garcia.

 

Such a trade would relegate Contreras, and his four-year, $32-million contract, to mop-up status. The Yankees used Contreras as a setup reliever in last year's playoffs. But now they have superior, experienced setup men in Tom Gordon and Paul Quantrill.

 

The first time Blakeley saw Contreras pitch - in either 1995 or 1996, he once said - the Yankees' international scout said that he projected the hard thrower as a second or third starter on a big-league staff. Now, the Yankees are just hoping that Contreras can somehow find it within himself to be a mere fifth starter.