NEW YORK -- The New York Yankees are one of several teams that have contacted Cuban defector Jose Contreras' agent, The New York Times reported Thursday.

The star pitcher defected to the United States this month and wants to play in the major leagues.

"Most of the organizations I thought were going to contact us have contacted us, and that includes the Yankees,'' Jaime Torres, Contreras' representative, told the newspaper.

The 6-foot-4 right-hander rose to prominence with his performance against the Baltimore Orioles in a 1999 exhibition in Havana. He pitched eight shutout innings, allowing two hits while striking out 10.

The 30-year-old Contreras is considered by many major league scouts to be Cuba's best pitcher. He was last seen with the Cuban national team during the America Series tournament in Monterrey, Mexico, on Oct. 1, then defected one day later.

Torres told The Times he soon expects to establish residency for Contreras in another country, which would make him exempt from baseball's amateur draft and available to all 30 big league teams as a free agent.

"We are in the process of securing the necessary documentation to declare him a free agent as soon as possible,'' Torres said.

Cuban defectors often have wound up starring in the major leagues.

Orlando "El Duque'' Hernandez helped pitch the New York Yankees to three championships and his half brother, Livan Hernandez, was the 1997 World Series MVP before helping the San Francisco Giants reach this year's World Series.

The Times said Contreras will probably seek more money than the $14.5 million Cleveland gave pitcher Danys Baez, another Cuban defector, when he was 22 in 1999.

"I'm of the opinion that Jose Contreras is a much, much better player than Danys Baez was at that time,'' Torres said.

Contreras frequently was allowed to travel outside Cuba to play and has pitched in Canada and Taiwan. He had a 13-4 record and a Cuban league-leading 1.76 ERA this year.

There were 10 teams -- Arizona, Boston, Cleveland, Florida, Milwaukee, the New York Mets, the New York Yankees, San Francisco, St. Louis and Texas -- with a Cuban-born player on their opening day roster this season. Florida had two; all others had one.

Texas first baseman Rafael Palmeiro and St. Louis catcher Eli Marrero both grew up in Miami; the other nine native Cubans on opening day rosters defected between 1993 and 1999.