Sanderson Signs With Yankees

The New York Yankees acquired pitcher Scott Sanderson from the Oakland Athletics Monday and appeared to intensify their efforts to re-sign Mike Witt, one of their two new-look free-agent pitchers.

Sanderson, a 34-year-old right-hander who was 17-11 last season with a 3.88 earned-run average, agreed to a two-year contract worth about $4.75 million. Sanderson will join a rotation expected to include Pascual Perez, Tim Leary and Andy Hawkins.

“We want to sign Mike Witt,” Yankee General Manager Gene Michael said. “We think we have a chance to sign him. We want him. He’s a big part of our pitching staff.”

Sanderson became a free agent after the season and surprised the A’s on Dec. 19 when he agreed to salary arbitration, which is the equivalent of re-signing. But A’s General Manager Sandy Alderson did not want to keep him.