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Yankees courting Nomar
New York Yankees manager Joe Torre on Tuesday confirmed a New York Post report that the club has made overtures to free agent infielder Nomar Garciaparra.
"It was more of a general call, that he could be a benefit to us, no question. I think he could be very important for us," Torre told New York's WCBS-TV. "I wanted to let him know we're interested." Reports say the team would want Garciaparra to play first base, possibly platooning, as well as serving as a backup to Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter on the left side of the infield. Garciaparra is also being courted by the Dodgers (as a full-time third baseman), the Indians (to play right field) and the Blue Jays. Garciaparra, limited to 62 games last season because of a serious groin injury, batted .283 with nine homers and 30 RBIs at shortstop for the Chicago Cubs. A-Rod was asked about the possibility of playing with Garciaparra in an interview on WFAN Radio. "That would be kind of weird," Rodriguez said. "I remember almost 10 years ago we made the cover of GQ, us three as the premier shortstops in the game coming up. And now all of us may be in the same infield. I think that's kind of funny."
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman met Tuesday with the team's international scouts and Tampa-based officials, including senior vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman.
Cashman is scheduled to meet with major-league scouts on Wednesday. The sessions are part of Cashman's expanded role following his agreement on a new three-year contract.
New York is still searching for a starting center fielder and bullpen depth. Among the players being discussed for potential trades are Gary Matthews Jr. of Texas and Mark Kotsay of Oakland.
Matsui torn between Yankees and Japan
Still undecided if he'll take part in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, Japanese star Hideki Matsui is torn between an obligation to an entire nation and the New York Yankees.
In a country that places a premium on duty, there is tremendous pressure on Matsui to represent Japan at the World Cup-style tournament in March. Just about everywhere he goes these days, the Yankee outfielder is asked why he has yet to agree to play.
"I'm also a Yankee," Matsui said told reporters Tuesday. "Is it my goal to become a World Series champion in 2006? Of course it is."
Adding to the pressure is that legendary home run hitter and former Yomiuri Giants star Sadaharu Oh is Japan's manager and has personally appealed to Matsui to join the team. Oh reportedly was able to convince a reluctant Ichiro Suzuki to take part.
Suzuki may be Japan's best player, but Matsui comes closest to matching the power of baseball's top hitters.
Japan failed to win a baseball medal at the Sydney Olympics and vowed to do better in international competitions by using its top players. It won the bronze medal in Athens with a team of professionals but, as major leaguers, the likes of Matsui and Suzuki couldn't take part. Japanese baseball fans are eager to see how their best players would stack up against the top players from the United States, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.
Matsui has said that he wants to make a decision soon and that it would be rude to keep Oh and Japanese fans waiting too long.
At a press conference last week, Oh said he is 100 percent sure Matsui will be joining the team and has left a roster spot open for the Japanese star.
Matsui last month agreed to a $52 million, four-year contract with the Yankees and has repeatedly said he wants to improve on his statistics from last season, when he batted .305 with 23 homers and 116 RBIs.
Japan will be home for the first round of the tournament, March 3-5 at the Tokyo Dome. Japan is part of Group A, with South Korea, China and Taiwan.
Matsui is also tremendously proud of his consecutive games streak and is reluctant to jeopardize that. He has played in 1,737 consecutive professional games (1,250 with Yomiuri). His streak of 487 consecutive games with New York is the longest streak by any Yankee since Lou Gehrig's 2,130-game streak.
Japan was reluctant at first to take part in the March tournament, which is being organized by Major League Baseball and the MLB players' association, and comes at a time when local players are getting ready for the regular season.
New York teammates Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez plan to play, and MLB representatives have stressed that Matsui's failure to give a definite answer at this point has nothing to do with the Yankees not wanting him to take part.
