CC Sabathia has struggled this season, but the New York Yankees are keeping him in the starting rotation.

Brian Cashman said there is no chance the 34-year-old former Cy Young Award winner will be removed from the team's starting rotation.

"That's not something that we're considering at this moment," Cashman said. "We're going to continue to give him every opportunity to work through this for the foreseeable future."

Sabathia is on pace to lose more games than he ever has in any one season of his 15-year big league career; he went 14-13 in 2013.

The New York Yankees are moving Adam Warren back to the bullpen.

Warren was informed by the Yankees following their 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels that he would not make his scheduled start Wednesday in the finale of this three-game series, but would instead report back to the bullpen.

The right-hander is likely to work as the setup man to interim closer Dellin Betances while the Yankees wait for Andrew Miller to come off the disabled list.

Warren has outpitched Nathan Eovaldi, CC Sabathia and, at times, Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda, but he is the only starter capable of performing in relief as well.

Yankees center fielder Jacoby Ellbury will begin a minor league rehab assignment Monday with the anticipation he could return to the major league lineup by the end of the week.

"I'm excited to be playing in games sometime this week, and I can't wait to get back with the big league club," Ellsbury said in a statement.

Ellsbury has been out more than five weeks with a right knee sprain.

Maikel Franco, who has been a sensation for the otherwise struggling Philadelphia Phillies, nearly signed with the New York Yankees as an international free agent.

According to one report, Franco signed with the Phillies because they offered him $5,000 more than the Yankees.

Franco confirmed Wednesday that he nearly signed with New York in January of 2010, when he was a free agent prospect out of the Dominican Republic.

The Yankees offered a $95,000 signing bonus while the Phillies offered $100,000. Franco also said he spent two or three weeks at the Yankees complex in Santo Domingo before making his decision.

"It's tough. I know I was almost close to coming here and almost close to signing to the Yankees," he said.

The New York Yankees haven't ruled out making a trade offer for Cole Hamels, who is guaranteed $86.2 million through the 2018 season, according to a source.

Hamels took the mound at Yankee Stadium for the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday and struggled. He allowed five runs on eight hits in five innings of work after having his start delayed because of a hamstring injury.

"Nothing has heated up yet on the Hamels front between the two teams, but that could change quickly, as Fox Sports reported that the Rangers are having "ongoing dialogue" with the Phillies about their ace," writes David Lennon.

"Hamels does have a no-trade list of 20 teams, but the Rangers and Yankees are not on it. In other words, they already have been pre-approved as potential destinations."

CC Sabathia insists that he is healthy, but his 5.65 ERA has raised questions about his future with the New York Yankees.

Joe Girardi tried to downplay any doubts, stating that Sabathia will remain in the rotation.

"You are asking me a question, I just walked in here from two minutes ago, we played the game," Girardi said. "He is a starter for us. That's what he is and that's what we are paying him to do and that is what he is going to do."

Right-handed hitters have a .924 OPS against the left-hander this season.

"It comes down to mistakes," Girardi said. "It comes down to there has to be consistency in pitches and, right now, he is missing location."

Sabathia, who turns 35 next month, is owed $25 million for next season.

The market for Cole Hamels is heating up and potential destinations are beginning to appear.

Hamels wants to accept a trade that will help his career and also fortify the Philadelphia Phillies system.

The left-hander would accept a trade to the New York Yankees for a number of reasons, but mostly because he knows the Yankees will put themselves in position to contend for the length of his contract, which runs through 2018.

"The opportunity to play for a team that could ultimately get to the World Series is what every guy hopes for and what every guy works for, starting with the offseason and spring training," Hamels said.

Cole Hamels has blocked a potential trade to the Houston Astros, according to a report by KHOU-TV.

The Philadelphia Phillies left-hander can block a trade to 20 teams of his choosing each season.

The New York Yankees are negotiating with the fan who caught Alex Rodriguez's 3,000th hit ball, according to sources.

Zack Hample recovered Rodriguez's 3,000th hit, a solo home run against the Detroit Tigers on Friday.

Hample said that after the team's head of security offered some items for the ball, he declined, and then met with Randy Levine and Lonn Trost in Levine's office.

Levine had asked Hal Steinbrenner if the Yankees had an interest in pursuing Rodriguez's ball. Steinbrenner said they did, but a deal was not struck on Friday.

On Monday, the two sides met again. Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo said "substantial progress" had been made in finding common ground with Hample, who works with a charitable organization called Pitch In For Baseball.

"I'm flattered," Rodriguez said.

The fan who wound up with Alex Rodriguez's 3,000th hit Friday night knows a thing or two about catching home run balls.

He also knows he has no intention of giving it back to the designated hitter.

Zack Hample, a 37-year-old from New York City who has caught more than 8,000 baseballs, was sitting in the right-field seats when Rodriguez reached the milestone with a first-inning solo home run off Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander.