Apparently, the Yankees have DFA'd reliever Steve Karsay.
Karsay was signed by the Yanks in the 2001 offseason to a four year deal for somewhere around $5 million per year, a deal that was generally viewed as vastly overpaying for a guy who was a pretty good setup man. Karsay ended up being useless for most of his stint in New York, with the Yanks finally eating the last year of his deal.
What's worth noting with Karsay is that he is (or at least was) a hard-throwing righthander with Hart ties. Hart traded for Karsay, bringing him to the Indians in exchange for Mike Fetters, and then later dealt him to Atlanta in the first of his two ill-fated John Rocker trades.
Karsay's rotator cuff problems seem to have robbed him of some of his heat, but given the state of the Ranger pen, and Hart's love of bringing in former Indians, he's someone who could end up in Arlington sooner or later. The Yanks have 10 days to trade, waive or release Karsay, and while I don't imagine the Rangers would trade for him (at least, not without the Yankees picking up his whole contract, and even then, Texas would likely not want to give up much in return), they could sign him to a minor league deal and give him a chance in Oklahoma to show that he could fortify the pen.
Karsay was DFA'd to make room for Robinson Cano, the former potential Ranger (the Rangers, remember, could have chosen Cano instead of Joaquin Arias in the ARod deal, and in retrospect, probably should have) who was tearing up the International League, and who has now been promoted to the bigs to takeover at second base for the Yanks. Tony Womack is apparently moving to left field, Hideki Matsui to centerfield, and Bernie Williams to DH (in a job-sharing arrangement with Jason Giambi and Ruben Sierra).
The Williams-to-DH move was rather overdue, but I have a real hard time believing that Tony Womack is really the long-term solution in left field. Given Alfonso Soriano's open pining for the Big Apple, his continuing problems here in Texas (most recently, whining over hitting 5th), and King George's general foulness over the Yanks' slow start, could a Soriano back to New York trade be a possibility in the near future?
Remember...Tony Womack is a former Showalter guy, someone he started in Arizona and who the Rangers were supposedly pursuing this offseason. Could the Rangers be tempted by, say, a Soriano for Womack and Eric Duncan deal, with the Yankees then moving Soriano to left field -- a move Soriano would probably find more attractive if he were doing it in pinstripes?
And please understand...I don't want Tony Womack here. I think he's a terrible player, and would prefer he stay far away from Texas. But given the state of the Rangers and the Yankees, I wouldn't be shocked if the Yankees dangled Duncan for Soriano, with the Rangers demanding Womack back to fill some sort of supersub role in return.