Report: Wei-Yin Chen seeking 5-year deal; Yankees expected to be in mix

After four solid seasons in Baltimore, free-agent left-hander Wei-Yin Chen could spend the next stage of his MLB career with one of the Orioles' division rivals.

The New York Yankees could make a serious run at Chen, a source told Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News, who also heard the 30-year-old is seeking at least a five-year deal in free agency. Despite Chen's lofty demands, the Taiwanese expatriate is expected to have plenty of suitors this offseason.

"A lot of teams are going to be in on him," the source said. "But the Yankees are going to be one of them."

Though, ostensibly, the Yankees already have their 2016 rotation figured out - Masahiro Tanaka, Luis Severino, Michael Pineda, Nathan Eovaldi, and CC Sabathia - general manager Brian Cashman insisted earlier this week he's "not guaranteeing" any pitcher a starting job just yet. None of the aforementioned starters, after all, made 30 starts in 2015, while the Yankees' rotation fashioned the sixth-worst ERA (4.25) in the American League.

Chen, meanwhile, fashioned a career-best 3.34 ERA (124 ERA+) with a 1.22 WHIP over 31 starts this season, albeit with his worst fielding independent pitching (4.16) since his 2012 rookie season. Still, Cashman is prepared to vie for Chen's services, even though signing him would force the Yankees to forfeit their top unprotected pick in the 2016 draft.

"You'd like to always keep your draft picks if possible, but depending on the talent, I've given enough draft picks over the years to prove that I'm not afraid to give that one up, either," Cashman said. "We just have to wait and see how the winter shakes out."