Johan Santana drawing interest from the Yankees, among other teams

Johan Santana had the chance to be a Yankee in 2006, and it's possible that it could be coming a reality this offseason.

Santana is coming off shoulder surgery that kept him out for all of the 2013 season -- the second full season in three years that he's missed -- and now he's drawing interest from about eight teams, including the Yankees, says Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com.

Santana's representatives are willing to work out a deal with any team now, but in case that doesn't happen, as teams might be worried about how healthy he is, Santana will throw in a showcase for teams in January.

Along with the Yankees, the other teams showing interest in the one great lefty are the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates.

As mentioned earlier with the rumor that the Yankees are interested in trading for Cleveland Indians ace Justin Masterson, the Yankees are trying to find a forth starter that can help fill out the rotation behind CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova and Hiroki Kuroda, with David Phelps, Michael Pineda and Adam Warren competing for the fifth spot.

The Yanks might be willing to take the risk on Santana, who could prove to be a reliable starter is healthy -- and that seems to be a big if.

They haven't been too intrigued by the market for starting pitchers, a the prices for guys like Matt Garza, Ubaldo Jimenez and Ervin Santana are too high for the Yankees' liking.

Obviously the Yanks have been banking on Masahiro Tanaka to be posted, and even then, the competition for him will be very tough. You could also look for them to sign a guy like Paul Maholm. While trading for a starting pitcher isn't entirely out of the question, it's not looking likely.

The Yankees tried trading for Santana before the 2007 season when he was with the Twins, but New York was not willing to part ways with Phil Hughes, who signed with Twins on a three-year, $28 deal a couple weeks ago.

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