from the New York Daily News

CLEARWATER, Fla. - If the season began today, an injury-plagued former phenom who hasn't made a major-league start since 1999 would be the final, improbable piece of the Yankees' star-laden, expensive rotation. Donovan Osborne's spring story is a tale of an odd sort of poetic justice. An injury, of all things, is what has given the 34-year-old lefthander a chance to make the team, something neither he nor the Yankees envisioned when he signed a minor-league deal in February.

Jon Lieber, the Yanks' projected fifth starter, will begin the season on the disabled list with a groin injury, GM Brian Cashman said yesterday. Though the Yankees won't need a fifth starter until April 10, Osborne seems to be the favorite, especially with prospect Jorge De Paula hurting with a back injury. Osborne, who is 2-0 with a 3.24 ERA, will start a Grapefruit League game Friday and work the rest of camp as a starter.

"I didn't know how he's going to fit, but his chances keep getting better," Yanks pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre said. "I hadn't heard from him in a long time. He had some physical problems, but he doesn't right now. He's pitched real well."

If Osborne is in the rotation, it also will mean the Yankees will begin the season with a lefthanded starter in the fold. A lack of one had been a possible point of concern following the departure of Andy Pettitte and David Wells.

The Yankees have been spoiled - Joe Torre's word - for the past few seasons by the number of starting pitchers they have been able to bring to camp. There was always another pitcher if someone got hurt, including last year when they had seven starters.

Without that safety net this year, "I never felt totally secure, knowing how things can pop up," Torre said. "I always felt this was an area we had to keep an eye on. We all know, the two World Series we were beaten, was by pitching."

The Yankees will continue to monitor the trade market, though a deal seems unlikely.

"(Lieber) has a groin problem, but if this happened in June, you obviously don't make a trade if a guy hurts a groin and is out two weeks," Cashman said.

Osborne had contemplated quitting and getting into coaching. He did not pitch in 2000, 2001 or 2003 and has appeared in only 11 games - all in relief in 2002 - since 1999. One of those relief appearances, in fact, was for 1-2/3 scoreless innings in Pittsburgh to help Lieber earn a victory for the Cubs.

The last year that Osborne was in the majors and did not go on the disabled list was 1993; that December, he had reconstructive surgery on his left shoulder. His injuries have ranged from a torn groin to a hernia to broken ribs in a car accident to tendinitis in his left shoulder.

Even in his major-league debut, on April 9, 1992, Osborne had to be removed after two scoreless innings because he sprained his left ankle fielding a bunt.

Osborne spent last summer at home with his wife, Herah, who gave birth to twins. He decided to give pitching another try over the winter and went to Puerto Rico. His body felt good, his arm strong, and he figured if he could pitch quality innings, some team, somewhere, would notice. Maybe he'd get one more chance.

Osborne got it after impressing the Yankees in a workout in Miami in January, the same one in which they scouted Orlando Hernandez. Teams such as the Indians, Phillies and Mariners were interested, but Osborne signed a minor-league deal with the Yanks that would be worth $450,000 if he makes the team.

"They called me and said they wanted to sign me and I said, 'Where's the paper?'" Osborne said. "With this team, the lineup, the history, there was no way I could turn it down."