SECOND BASEMAN Robinson Cano has received a "significant" offer from the Yankees, according to general manager Brian Cashman.
"We've made an offer to him. We've made a significant offer to him," Cashman said Thursday, though he refused to elaborate.
The GM was under the impression that managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner had said as much to reporters earlier in camp. But Steinbrenner merely disclosed that there had been a preliminary discussion with agent Scott Boras about his client.
Cashman declined to say whether the Yankees' offer was rejected or remained on the table.
Cano did not play Thursday, and he's due to join the Dominican Republic team on Sunday in preparation for this month's World Baseball Classic.
Whenever he is signed, Cano could wind up in the neighborhood of $250 million.
In other Yankees news, closer Mariano Rivera pitched an inning of a simulated game Thursday morning and was happy with the results, according to ESPN.com. Rivera had already thrown to hitters last week, but had yet to field a ball off the mound, one of the last hurdles in his recovery from surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee last May.
"That's what I wanted to do, field some bunts, go after some balls in between first and the mound, and just plant and throw," Rivera said. "It feels good, guys, it feels real good. It was perfect."
Cincinnati's project to turn hard-throwing Aroldis Chapman into a starter got off to a near-perfect start in the split squad Reds' 4-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies.
"No. Nothing different," said Chapman through a translator after a spring debut in which he hit 94 mph with his fastball. "I tried to do things as before [as a reliever]. Throw hard and look for spots."
Chapman has 16 starts in the minors but was derailed by injuries when he tried to make the conversion to starter last spring. He has never started a major league games in his three seasons but seemed comfortable in the role.
* New York Mets reliever Pedro Feliciano has been cleared to resume baseball activity while wearing a heart monitor. Feliciano, 36, was with the Yankees for the last two seasons but didn't pitch because of shoulder trouble.
* Jon Garland pitched for the first time in nearly 20 months, helping the Seattle Mariners to a sixth spring win. Garland was 1-5 with a 4.33 ERA in just nine starts for the Los Angeles Dodgers before labrum and rotator cuff surgery ended his 2011 season in July. He tried to make it back last year with Cleveland but suffered complications.
* Orioles righthander Jair Jurrjens admitted nagging problems with his right knee. Jurrjens, who threw two innings in his spring debut Sunday, lasted just one frame Thursday. Jurrjens - signed to a minor league deal due to questions about his knee - said he his mechanics are "out of whack" from his release point to flying open in his delivery.
* An Iraq war veteran who lost part of his leg in an explosion has tried out for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Daniel "Doc" Jacobs was among 80 hopefuls at the team's spring-training complex. He was encouraged to attend by Hall of Famer and former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda.
Jacobs was a Navy corpsman and assigned to a Marine division in 2006 when he was injured by an improvised explosive device. He lost his left leg below the knee and also sustained foot and hand injuries.
