Neagle

CINCINNATI -- Two weeks after they traded for David Justice to put some thump in their lineup, the New York Yankees snagged left-hander Denny Neagle, one of the top starting pitchers available as the trade deadline nears.

Neagle can become a free agent after the season and had rejected a below-market offer from the Reds, who decided to trade him rather than lose him to free agency.

Neagle to start Tuesday

NEW YORK (AP) -- The New York Yankees have gone from a desperate search for a starting pitcher to having too many. Not that manager Joe Torre is complaining. "I'm excited about this," Torre said Thursday, one day after New York acquired left-hander Denny Neagle from Cincinnati for four minor leaguers. "A couple of weeks ago, we had to shift people around just to get a starting pitcher. This is a whole lot different for us right now." The Yankees had been shuffling rookies Ben Ford, Jake Westbrook, Ed Yarnall -- one of the players traded for Neagle -- into a rotation depleted by injuries. Those three combined for an 11.32 ERA in 20 2/3 innings. With Orlando Hernandez and Roger Clemens once again healthy, the Yankees appear to have a deep rotation to rely on in the second half. Neagle, who arrived in New York on Friday, is scheduled to start Tuesday against Philadelphia's Curt Schilling. "I am pleased we were able to get a quality starting pitcher, especially a left-handed one to balance our staff," Torre said. "He's had success and been through the wars, and he sounds excited about being here." There's more help on the way. Ramiro Mendoza should be back from the disabled list later this month and will help solidify a bullpen that was overused in the first half of the season. "It's a lift to get somebody else's No. 1 starter," reliever Jeff Nelson said. "He's been around the league and proven that he can pitch." The trade means Dwight Gooden will move to the bullpen after making a successful start last Saturday against the Mets. "I have no problem with it," Gooden said. "I pitched in the bullpen last year with Cleveland and that taught me that I could do it. When I signed here, they said it probably would be in the bullpen." General manager Brian Cashman said he hoped the team would be able to sign Neagle before he becomes eligible for free agency after the season. But the Yankees hadn't held any talks yet with Neagle or his agent, Barry Meister. "We'll let Neagle get here and soak it all in," Cashman said. "I haven't talked to George (Steinbrenner) yet. I don't have any marching orders."

Cincinnati sent Neagle, their top starter, to the Yankees on Wednesday as part of a six-player deal that essentially ends the Reds' chances of contending and strengthens New York's.

The Yankees also got outfielder Mike Frank while giving up minor league third baseman Drew Henson, outfielder Jackson Melian and pitchers Brian Reith and Ed Yarnall.

The Yankees were willing to give up some of their top prospects for perhaps the best pitcher available in a trade.

"We have a chance to threepeat -- at least a chance to try to make that happen. Now's the time to make a stand and go for it," general manager Brian Cashman said.

Reds general manager Jim Bowden said seven clubs were interested in Neagle, who was 8-2 with a 3.52 ERA in 18 starts this season.

"There was not a deal out there in our opinion that was close to what we got from the Yankees," Bowden said. "We didn't want to get into the situation where if we waited for two weeks from now, we couldn't get the Yankees' deal because they wanted to go in a different direction."

The deal, announced by the Reds at a news conference a day after the All-Star game, gave the Yankees' struggling pitching staff another starter for the second half of the season but stripped New York's farm system of some top prospects.

It also presented the Yankees, with baseball's only $100 million payroll, with another big salary and a player who becomes a free agent after this season. Neagle's current salary is $4.75 million.

Neagle wasn't interested in the Reds' offer of a three-year, $18 million extension, well below what he could make as a free agent. He said Wednesday he was concerned that the Reds might sign him, then trade him anyway.

Neagle said he would discuss an extension with the Yankees.

"I'm definitely open-minded," Neagle said. "I would be foolish not to entertain offers from the Yankees. Let's put it this way: They were on my short list of teams I would consider in free agency."

Neagle has pitched in four NL championship series, appearing in eight games, and faced the Yankees in the 1996 World Series for Atlanta.

Neagle sounded delighted to be joining a Yankees team that's struggling but still contending.

"I think you still fear the Yankees because they're the defending champs, because they've been there. They're still the team to beat," Neagle said. "My challenge is to get them right over that edge."

Three days after the Reds told Ken Griffey Jr. to sit out the All-Star game because they wanted his sore knee better for a second-half pennant run, they essentially gave up on their season. They trail the St. Louis Cardinals by eight games in the NL Central.

It's similar to 1998, when they traded top starter Dave Burba to Cleveland on the eve of the season opener as part of a package for top Indians prospect Sean Casey.

The Reds are on target to set a franchise record for attendance after winning 96 games in 1999 and trading for Griffey. The consensus pick to win the NL Central is now essentially conceding.

"We're concerned about how it's going to be taken by the fans, by the players and by the media," Bowden said. "You want to trade for more Denny Neagles, you don't want to trade Denny Neagle. But it's a business."

Frank, 25, played in 28 games for the Reds in 1998, hitting .225, and has been at Triple-A since.

Henson was the key to the deal from the Reds' perspective. Henson, hitting .287 for Double-A Norwich, hasn't decided whether to try to play major league baseball or pursue a career in the NFL. He's expected to be the starting quarterback at Michigan this year.

"Henson is the wild card in the deal," Bowden said. "If in the future he plays major league baseball, I think in the end this is a real good deal for the Reds. If he does play football, I still think it's a good deal considering the circumstances."

Melian, 20, hit .252 with nine homers in 81 games at Norwich this season. Reith, 22, went 9-4 with a 2.18 ERA for Class A Tampa. Yarnall, 24, was 2-1 with a 4.56 ERA in 10 minor-league appearances for the Yankees this season.

The Yankees are getting a pitcher who missed the first half of last season with a weak pitching shoulder, then was Cincinnati's most dependable starter down the stretch.

Neagle's been healthy and effective again this season, striking out 88 and walking 50 in 117 2/3 innings. The Reds got him after the 1998 season in a trade that sent second baseman Bret Boone to Atlanta.

On June 29, the Yankees traded outfielder Ricky Ledee and two players to be named to the Indians Justice.

The Yankees had a tentative deal for Detroit's Juan Gonzalez fall through because they couldn't agree to a contract with the outfielder and their bid for Sammy Sosa ended when they couldn't agree on players with the Chicago Cubs.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.