Le Duc?

The NY Times reports that the Yankees are close to sending Orlando Hernandez to the Expos in a three-way deal that would also involve baseball's newest holy grail, Bartolo Colon. The Yankees would not be the recipients of the much-pursued Colon, however.

That honor would fall to the White Sox who would send three prospects (one to Montreal and two to the Yankees) and cash to cover Duque's salary.

The Yankees would then be left with seven starting pitchers. They are still trying to trade Sterling Hitchcock, but no one believes he is an option for the rotation if he remains. That means that the Yankees would probably go back on Torre's promise to keep Jeff Weaver in the rotation or assign big-league newcomer Jose Contreras to the pen. Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina, Andy Pettite, and David Wells seem set for the top four spots. Of course, with two forty-year-olds in the rotation, the one left standing when the music stops will probably get ample opportunity to work his way into the rotation during the season.