The New York Yankees added another outfielder Saturday, and no his name is not Bryce Harper.
While the New York Yankees await a decision from Manny Machado, general manager Brian Cashman made a smaller move signing outfielder Billy Burns to a minor league deal according to Fancred’s Jon Heyman.
Yankees sign Billy Burns. Minor league deal.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 5, 2019
The speedy 29-year-old Burns has been in the league for four years seeing time with the Oakland Athletics and, most recently, Kansas City Royals. He’s a career .270 hitter but, has just seen 843 plate appearances. He spent all of 2018 playing in Triple-A where he hit .255 with four home runs and 10 stolen bases.
Burns provides the Yankees some insurance in case something were to happen to Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks, Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Clint Frazier this season. If 2018 taught New York anything with their outfield depth, it is that having insurance at any position is extremely important.
Cashman said earlier in the offseason that he has a full roster in the outfield, which is why they are not interested in super-star Bryce Harper. Don’t let the addition of Burns fool you, he most likely will not have an impact on the major league roster until perhaps September when rosters expand, he will spend most of the season with Scranton.
With Burns, the outfield is even more crowded making a run at Harper even more unlikely than it already was.
The Yankees will now shift their focus to working on their bullpen after David Robertson left for Philadelphia. New York has been linked to Zach Britton along with Adam Ottavino who are two of the top three relievers still on the market.
New York is still waiting on Manny Machado to make his decision which most people around the league feel it will be the Yankees according to Fancred’s Jon Heyman.
Yankees are working on pen as they await word on Machado. Chisox and Phillies also waiting. No team is believed at 300M. If all are in 200-250 range and that’s possible (perhaps philly is a little higher, tho that is unknown), fwiw most around game still believe Machado picks NYY
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 5, 2019
The baseball season is quickly approaching as pitchers and catchers report in just 39 days and there is still so much more to do.
