"If the Yankees want to substantially upgrade their suspect rotation (more suspect now after Bartolo Colon's huge implosion Thursday and Freddy Garcia's smaller one in last night's 7-1 loss to the Blue Jays) by trading for the Rockies' Ubaldo Jimenez, they will have to re-think their philosophy regarding top prospects being untouchable.

Thursday night, Yankees scout Jay Darnell was in Denver to watch the right-handed Jimenez pitch well against the Brewers. He was one of six Yankees talent evaluators in major league parks Thursday watching the work of starters Matt Garza of the Cubs, Francisco Liriano of the Twins, Anibal Sanchez of the Marlins and Jeremy Guthrie of the Orioles, and Padres reliever Heath Bell.

The Rockies, who have extensively scouted the Yankees' Double-A and Triple-A teams, had Dave Holliday, a special assistant to general manager Dan O'Dowd, at Rogers Centre for last night's Yankees-Blue Jays game.

Darnell was sent to Denver before Colon couldn't get out of the first inning of a 16-7 loss to the Blue Jays on Thursday night. Afterward, Colon said he has been hesitant to fully test his left hamstring.

Manager Joe Girardi looked at tape of Colon's outing and said he didn't see evidence the leg hindered the pitcher. The manager said Colon would start Tuesday against the Rays.

Colon and Garcia aren't the only question marks."