Wells, a 44-year-old free agent, told the New York Post on Thursday that he has been working out near his home in San Diego and could help a Yankees rotation that has suffered from injuries and inconsistency in the season's first five weeks.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he could not speculate if Wells would -- or could -- be ready to pitch in the big leagues again, but said he understands where Wells' heart must be.
"It's hard not playing this game -- I'm sure he wants to pitch again," Girardi said. "He was very successful in New York. He loved being a part of New York and the history of New York, and the passion that people have in New York.
"I'll tell you what -- I think all of us would like to still play. We'll see what happens. I don't know if he's capable of still pitching, but none of us really ever want to take our uniforms off."
Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner told the Post that the idea of Wells returning to pinstripes for a third stint crossed his mind when he saw the lefty on a recent television program, but that option has not escalated to the baseball operations department.
"You never know," Steinbrenner said. "[Wells] hasn't come up in conversation, but I've had so much ... to deal with lately."
Wells was 9-9 with a 5.43 ERA for the Padres and Dodgers last season and went unsigned during the winter. He told the Post that he has dropped to about 245 pounds and has tried to keep in shape by pitching to his son's high school team.
"I'm in shape -- I'd just have to fine-tune a couple of things," Wells said. "I'd need a little bit of time, but not much. Physically, I feel fine -- real good."
The Yankees opened the season with two promising rookies, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, in their starting rotation, but both went winless in April and exited -- Hughes with a fractured rib in his right side that could keep him out until July, and Kennedy was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in part to help rebuild his confidence after enduring a sequence of shaky outings.
Despite the changes, the Yankees are hopeful they have found ways to plug the holes from within. Right-hander Darrell Rasner was 4-0 with a 0.87 ERA in five starts at Triple-A before winning his first big league start of the season last Sunday against the Mariners, and Girardi said that left-hander Kei Igawa -- called up on Friday to start in Kennedy's place -- is expected to make at least one more turn through the rotation.
Wells, who will turn 45 on May 20, has 239 career victories and pitched for the Yankees in 1997 and '98, and again in 2002 and '03. He threw a perfect game for the Yankees against the Twins at Yankee Stadium, but the 10-year anniversary of that splendid afternoon is coming up on May 17, and no one is quite sure how much magic Wells' left arm has in it.
"In your mind, if you can't really give it up, you might as well try [to continue your career]," Girardi said. "What's the worst that can happen?"
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