While Jeff Karstens has finished up a rehab stint and been assigned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre, Jose Valentin has started his own at Single-A St. Lucie. Karstens, who has missed the last couple of months with a strained groin, probably needed some more time to get himself prepared to pitch in the majors … however, it also is likely that he didn’t really have a spot on the roster on this point, especially now with Joba Chamberlain moving into the starting rotation.

We’ll keep an eye on him here over the next few weeks, and he certainly will become one of the Yankees potentially rotation options later on this season, along with Dan Giese, Steven White, Alan Horne, Jeff Marquez and Daniel McCutchen.

– Valentin has played the last two games for Single-A St. Lucie, going 4-for-7 with two doubles and an RBI. It seems like Valentin will be back in Flushing sometime soon, especially given all the injuries the Mets have recently endured.