The New York Yankees were mentioned earlier on Tuesday after it was made known they held a private workout for Cuban prospect Yoan Moncada. Since then, more of their offseason activity has been reported.
For starters, the Yankees are still interested in Johan Santana, which was intitially made known last week after the left-hander said he plans to return to the MLB in 2015. However, they'll have some competition, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, who reported earlier today that the Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres and three other teams are also considering Santana's services.
The 35-year-old began his comeback for the 2015 season last week when he pitched for Navegantes del Magallanes of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. He tossed two perfect innings, during which his fastball hit 90 miles per hour and his changeup appeared to be effective. Santana is expected to start again for the Venezuelan club on Thursday and that may perhaps better define the market for him as spring training gets closer.
The former Minnesota Twin and New York Met last pitched in the MLB in 2012 and was held out in 2011, 2013 and 2014 due to injuries. He underwent a few surgeries on his left shoulder, and his comeback was derailed last year when he tore his Achilles tendon.
While the Yanks remain interested in both Santana and Moncada, they traded reliever Gonzalez Germen to the Texas Rangers earlier on Tuesday in exchange for cash, according to the team's Twitter account. New York acquired Germen from the Mets earlier in the offseason, but then designated him for assignment when they acquired reliever Chris Martin in a trade with the Colorado Rockies.
The 27-year-old Germen owns a 1-2 record with a 4.31 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 64 strikeouts in 64 2/3 innings in his career (2013 and 2014). He'll now join the Rangers, who also acquired starter Yovani Gallardo from the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday. The team is likely looking to improve their 28th-ranked ERA (4.49) from 2014.
We'll be keeping an eye on the Yankees, who look to be positioning themselves to make more moves before spring training.
