The Yankees are in agreement with veteran outfielder Randal Grichuk on a minor league contract, reports Jack Curry of The Yes Network. The Paragon Sports International client will be in camp as a non-roster invitee.
Joel Sherman of The New York Post reported this week that the Yankees continued to look for a righty-hitting platoon bat. Grichuk fits the bill without commanding a guaranteed roster spot. The 34-year-old will try to play his way into a spot on Aaron Boone’s bench during Spring Training. If he does, he’d take at-bats from Trent Grisham against left-handed pitching. Cody Bellinger is one of the best left-on-left hitters in MLB, so he’d play center field with Grichuk drawing into the corner opposite Aaron Judge.
Grichuk isn’t coming off a great season. He’d hit at a league average level for the Diamondbacks and was traded to the Royals at the deadline. His bat cratered in Kansas City, leaving him with a .228/.273/.401 slash line across 293 trips to the plate. That included an underwhelming .227/.273/.430 mark in 183 plate appearances with the platoon advantage.
The 11-year MLB veteran had destroyed lefty pitching in the three preceding seasons. Between 2022-24, he put up a .317/.367/.573 mark against southpaws. He connected on 25 home runs, 34 doubles and four triples in fewer than 500 plate appearances. He had the fifth-highest OPS against lefties over that stretch (min. 450 PAs).
That version of Grichuk would obviously be an excellent piece to have off the bench. His strikeout rate against lefties climbed nearly seven percentage points a year ago, so there’s no guarantee he’ll get back to his 2022-24 form. He’s not going to get a huge sample of short side platoon at-bats during Spring Training, leaving the Yankees with an interesting call in whether to have him round out their bench.
Jasson Domínguez already looked likely to begin the season in Triple-A. If Grichuk makes the team, that’s an inevitability barring multiple Spring Training injuries. It’d leave the Yankees with a very right-handed bench. Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario are locks, leaving backup catcher J.C. Escarra as the only lefty bench bat in that scenario. Oswaldo Cabrera would either start the season in Triple-A or on the injured list, while out-of-options Jorbit Vivas would be traded or placed on waivers.
The Yankees probably need to carry Grichuk on the Opening Day roster to keep him in the organization. He’s an Article XX(b) free agent — a veteran who finished last season on an MLB roster. Those players who sign non-roster invites have three guaranteed opt-out dates under the collective bargaining agreement: five days before Opening Day, May 1, and June 1. Grichuk can return to the open market at the end of Spring Training if he doesn’t break camp with New York.
