ARLINGTON, Texas — Now that Alfonso Soriano has informed the Cubs he is open to being traded to the Yankees, the clubs will attempt to finalize the deal quickly.
Having spent the past few days contemplating whether he wanted to waive his complete no-trade clause, Soriano told reporters in Phoenix yesterday he spoke to Theo Epstein and he appears ready to join the Yankees.
“I am 37 and I want one more chance to go to the World Series,’’ Soriano said.
Presently, the Yankees’ chances of reaching the World Series are remote and adding Soriano’s right-handed bat wouldn’t automatically make that happen.
The Yankees, who lost 3-1 to the Rangers last night, are a season-high seven games behind the Red Sox in the AL East and 3 1/2 games in back of the Orioles for the second and final wild-card slot.
Nevertheless, Soriano would be an upgrade over the frigid Travis Hafner as the DH.
Because Soriano is owed $18 million next year and has a little more than $6 million remaining this season, the Yankees want the Cubs to pay most of the remaining dollars.
The Cubs are looking for young pitching, but the Yankees aren’t willing to offer upper-end arms such as Preston Claiborne.
With Soriano telling the Cubs he would accept a deal to the Yankees, the team he broke into the big leagues with in 1999, it’s likely the deal can be completed before the end of the week and possibly in time for Soriano to be a Yankee by tomorrow when they open a three-game series against the Rays at Yankee Stadium.
Monday night a person with knowledge of the talks told The Post a deal was close. Tuesday, the Cubs backed off a bit and said they had other clubs involved.
That was confirmed yesterday. Originally, the Rangers, for whom Soriano played in 2004 and 2005 after being traded for Alex Rodriguez, had an interest but that fizzled. Another club entered the picture before the Yankees surfaced.
The other club could be the Orioles, who are looking for a designated hitter and managed by Buck Showalter, who had Soriano with the Rangers.
It is not known if Soriano told the Cubs he would accept a deal to Baltimore.
Yankees scout Tim Naehring has been following Soriano recently and was in Arizona Tuesday night when the Cubs played the Diamondbacks. The fact the Yankees remain interested in the free-swinging outfielder is a sign Naehring, who is a trusted aid to general manager Brian Cashman and Billy Eppler, head of pro scouting, has filed positive reports.
Soriano started play last night hitting .254 with 17 homers and 51 RBIs. He was not in the Cubs lineup last night.
If Soriano lands in The Bronx, he likely would be used as a DH because the Yankees expect Curtis Granderson back from a second trip to the disabled list in the first week of August, possibly sooner.
When Granderson returns, the Yankees will have an all-left-handed hitting outfield of Ichiro Suzuki, Brett Gardner and Granderson. It’s possible Soriano, who isn’t in the defensive class of those three, could play left field against lefties.
Nevertheless, with Hafner slumping, and the Yankees unsure what they are going to get from Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez or Granderson when each comes off the disabled list — if he comes off in Rodriguez’s case — the team is trying to add a bat to stay within striking distance.