According to George King of the New York Post, the White Sox have scouts watching the Single-A Tampa Yankees. Outfielders Austin Jackson and Jose Tabata are the big names from that team, far as I can tell.
Which White Sox players interest the Yankees? They’ve already had a go with Javier Vazquez and Jose Contreras, which leaves Jon Garland. It seems the Yanks might want lefty reliever Matt Thornton as well, according to King. Thornton had a breakout last year by developing decent control, but he’s regressed this season. His strikeout rate is down as well. Rather than go year-to-year with Thornton the Sox decided to lock him in cheaply for 2007-09.
Despite some early indications to the contrary, it’s really starting to look like Garland is in play. Does he become the best available starter? Depends on how available Joe Blanton and Ian Snell really are. The Yankees won’t give up Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes for Garland. Given Chicago’s desire for MLB-ready players, I wonder if the Yankees would surrender Robinson Cano. Going after A ball players, no matter how promising, doesn’t seem like Kenny Williams’ style.
The other question: how does Garland fit into the Yankees’ rotation? He makes sense next year, but I can’t see him bumping Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Chien-Ming Wang, or Phil Hughes in 2007. Wouldn’t make much sense for the Yanks to dump one of the five, unless they decide to become sellers.
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