According to Jerry Crasnick, the Yankees have signed veteran left-hander Wade LeBlanc to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training. The deal will pay him $1M at the big league level. LeBlanc can also opt-out of the deal at the end of camp if he doesn’t make the MLB roster.
The 33-year-old LeBlanc was very briefly a Yankee back in 2014, allowing two runs in one inning in his only appearance with the team. He spent last season with the Pirates, throwing 68 relief innings with a 4.50 ERA (4.28 FIP) and okay-ish strikeout (19.1%) and walk (6.0%) rates. Lefties hit .216/.270/.389 (.279 wOBA) against him.
The Yankees have six relievers (Aroldis Chapman, David Robertson, Chad Green, Dellin Betances, Tommy Kahnle, Adam Warren) for seven bullpen spots right now, so LeBlanc will compete against Chasen Shreve and a bunch of youngsters (Ben Heller, Jonathan Holder, Domingo German, etc.) for that final reliever roster spot.
So far the Yankees have signed LeBlanc and utility man Jace Peterson to minor league contracts. More are on the way, no doubt. The Yankees could use a Triple-A first baseman — free agent target Ji-Man Choi signed with the Brewers over the weekend — plus another infielder or two.
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