Yankees Get Leiter; He’ll Start Today

The New York Yankees acquired left-hander Al Leiter -- and most of the money to pay him -- from the Florida Marlins on Saturday and scheduled him to start today’s series finale at Boston.

The Yankees will be responsible for about $400,000 of the $2.8 million left on Leiter’s 2005 salary, General Manager Brian Cashman said. There were no other players involved in the deal.

“We’ll take a chance,” Cashman said. “It wasn’t going to hurt us in terms of player talent, and it wasn’t going to cost us a lot.”

The Yankees, with four starters on the disabled list, have been looking for pitching help. Kevin Brown, who has been sidelined since June 16 because of a back strain, will return to start Monday.

“It’s a very thin market,” Cashman said. “In the next two weeks, we need to hold serve, or tread water ... until our reinforcements can come back.”

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Tampa Bay designated right-hander Hideo Nomo for assignment.

Nomo, 37, lasted only 2 2/3 innings in Friday’s 11-6 loss to Toronto, giving up seven runs, nine hits and three walks.

It was the third time in the last five starts that Nomo (5-8, 7.24 earned-run average) had given up at least six runs.

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Boston signed outfielder Gabe Kapler, who was released by the Yomiuri Giants of the Japanese Central League, and put him on the 15-day disabled list because of a lower-back strain.

Kapler was a backup outfielder with the Red Sox in 2004. He signed a one-year contract with Yomiuri in November but struggled in Japan.

He re-signed with Boston on Friday.