Montreal pitcher Bartolo Colon has joined the Chicago White Sox in a three-team trade also involving the New York Yankees.

The Sox dealt reliever Antonio Osuna and minor league righthander Delaris Lantigua to the Yankees for Orlando Hernandez.

Chicago then sent Hernandez with outfielder Jeff Liefer, right-hander Rocky Biddle and cash to Montreal for Colon and minor league infielder Jorge Nunez.

Colon, 29, returns to the American League Central after being traded by the Cleveland Indians to Montreal last June.

The hard-throwing righthander was 20-8 with a 2.93 ERA in 33 starts last season..

Colon is 84-49 with a 3.85 ERA in 179 games, all but two of which are starts.

Battled

He has thrown at least 200 innings in four of the last five seasons and has 502 strikeouts over the last three years.

His eight complete games in 2002 tied Arizona's Randy Johnson for the major league lead.

Colon was 10-4 with a 2.55 ERA in 16 starts with Cleveland before being traded.

Hernandez has battled injuries the last two seasons, and was 8-5 with a 3.64 ERA in 24 appearances in 2002.

The Cuban, who is the half-brother of San Francisco right-hander Livan Hernandez, is 53-38 with a 4.04 ERA in 124 career appearances. In 16 post-season outings, he is 9-3 with a 2.51 ERA.

The Yankees have an abundance of starting pitchers after acquiring Jeff Weaver from Detroit last season and signing another Cuban, Jose Contreras, in December.