Minor MLB Transactions: 1/5/19

We’ll use this post to track today’s minor moves from around the baseball world…

• The Yankees have signed former Oakland and Kansas City outfielder Billy Burns to a minor league deal, per Michael Mayer of MetsMerized (Twitter link). Last season was the first season since 2013 that Burns, 29, didn’t see playing time at the major league level. With the Royals’ Triple-A club, the fleet-footed outfielder hit just .255/.314/.316, stealing 10 bases but getting caught eight times. Burns’ heyday came in 2015 when he finished fifth in Rookie of the Year voting, slashing .294/.334/.392 while swiping 26 bags as the A’s primary centerfielder. Unfortunately, Burns’ offensive output cratered in his follow-up campaign as he was demoted by July before eventually traded to Kansas City in a deadline deal for outfielder Brett Eibner. Specifically, Burns hasn’t come close to duplicating the already-below-average power output of his rookie season, when he knocked 18 doubles, nine triples and five home runs.