I knew they weren't done with leftfield. The Yankees have signed outfielder Marcus Thames according to SI.com's Jon Heyman (
via Twitter). The money has not yet been disclosed but Thames will compete with Jaime Hoffmann for the 5th OF spot on the Yankees. It would make sense to bring in Marcus Thames on a minor league deal or the league minimum and then just to let go of whichever one of Hoffmann and Thames don't make the roster after Spring Training.
Thames was once a Yankees' prospect who hit his first major league home run off of Randy Johnson and was traded for Ruben Sierra (the second time). Now Thames comes back to the place where it all started. Thames is now the third Yankee to be reacquired by the Bronx Bombers this off-season (Javier Vazquez and Nick Johnson the other two). Here's
what I said about Thames a month ago:
Marcus Thames:
- Pros: Once a Yankee and the Yankees seem to be in the habit of acquiring their former players. Has pop from right side. Has career .845 OPS vs. lefties.
- Cons: Not a good fielder. Has posted a UZR of -16.7 in 1766 innings in LF. His career OBP is .306. .233/.281/.461 against righties make him only a platoon option.
MLBTradeRumors writes that Thames "hit .263/.326/.541 against lefties over the last three years." Thames would seem to be a good bench bat with some pop who could play in place of Curtis Granderson when the Yankees face a tough lefty.
Rebecca at This Purist Bleeds Pinstripes says that it's a good time use FanGraphs fancy new splits, though I'm more interested in his righty/lefty ones. And for that reason, this signing makes sense.
Update: Some financial numbers from The New York Post's Joel Sherman
via Twitter:
@nyp_joelsherman: #Yankees sign Marcus Thames to minor league deal, gets $900,000 if makes team. That's what I was talking about when I said the Yankees needed some cheap competition for Hoffmann.
Picture from homeruncards.com
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