Yankees Say Signing Cliff Lee Not a Necessity, Possibly Pursuing Jorge De La Rosa As Plan B

It’s no surprise that the Yankees want Cliff Lee, but now the Yankees may be the ones playing hard to get.

The Yankees have also shown interest in lefty Jorge De La Rosa, according to the New York Daily News, and have said that signing Cliff Lee isn’t a necessity.

"I don't feel like we are in a desperate situation here," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said on the YES Network, according to ESPN.com. "I think we have a lot of quality players on this team that won 95 games and fell two games short of a World Series."

But De La Rosa is no Cliff Lee. Lee owns a 3.85 career ERA, while De La Rosa is far behind with a 5.02.

However, De La Rosa has improved drastically over the past three seasons with the Rockies posting his lowest single-season ERA last year at 4.22. He was 34-24 in 75 starts with the Rockies. 

Cashman refused say whether De La Rosa is one of the free agents the team is pursuing.