The Yankees have a minor league deal in place with center fielder Ender Inciarte, according to the team’s transactions log at MLB.com (hat tip: Lindsey Adler of The Athletic, on Twitter). Their transaction log also indicates that right-hander Vinny Nittoli, outfielder Blake Perkins and infielder Wilkerman Garcia have signed minor league deals (or, in Garcia’s care, re-signed). Inciarte was able to sign a minor league deal because he did not finish the 2021 season on a team’s 40-man roster or 60-day injured list.
Inciarte is the most recognizable name of the bunch — a former All-Star center fielder and three-time Gold Glove winner with the Braves. Acquired by Atlanta alongside Dansby Swanson in the heist that sent Shelby Miller to the D-backs, Inciarte was outstanding in his first three seasons with the Braves, hitting at a .287/.342/.391 clip with elite defense and plus speed that provided plenty of value on the basepaths. His 2016 season was impressive enough that the Braves wasted little time in inking him to a five-year, $30.525MM contract extension that bought out all four of his arbitration years — Inciarte was a Super Two player — and one free-agent year, with an option for a second.
Unfortunately for both Inciarte and the Braves, by the midway point of the contract, things turned south — though not necessarily through any fault of Inciarte. While he largely replicated his 2016 production in 2017-18, Inciarte went down with a lumbar strain early in the 2019 season and missed more than two months while nursing that back injury. He returned from the IL in mid-July but was back on the shelf less than a month later, this time owing to a hamstring injury that kept him out for the final six weeks of the season.
Inciarte’s bat cratered in the 2020 season, and he didn’t rebound much in 2021 before another hamstring injury cropped up. Atlanta eventually designated him for assignment and released him this past summer, in what was the final year of that five-year extension. While Inciarte latched on with the Reds on a minor league pact, he didn’t return to the Majors last season. On the whole, since that strong run from 2016-18, Inciarte owns a meager .223/.306/.338 batting line through 450 trips to the plate at the MLB level.
The Yankees’ outfield mix is already rather crowded, with Joey Gallo, Aaron Hicks, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton all locked into outfield/designated hitter time next season. It’s not certain whether Brett Gardner will return to the Bronx once again, but if he signs elsewhere or calls it a career, that’d greatly improve Inciarte’s odds of breaking camp with the Yankees and earning an Opening Day roster spot.
As for Nittoli, the 31-year-old righty made his MLB debut this past season after an eight-year odyssey that included stops in Seattle (where he was a 25th-round pick), the then-independent St. Paul Saints (now a Twins affiliate), the Blue Jays and the D-backs. Nittoli found his was back to the Mariners in minor league free agency last season, and while his call to the Majors was exceedingly brief — just one game and one inning — it nevertheless marked the type of feel-good story of hard work paying off that so many sports fans love to see.
Nittoli returned to the Saints after being cut loose by the Mariners, this time as a member of the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate rather than a team in the independent American Association. He did not, however, end up pitching in the big leagues with Minnesota. Nittoli was quite home run prone in 2021, leading to a bloated 5.05 ERA in Triple-A, but he also posted an outstanding 51-to-10 K/BB ratio in 41 innings. Overall, he carries a career 4.61 minor league ERA with a 25.2% strikeout rate and a 7.3% walk rate.
Perkins, 25, was one of three players sent from the Nationals to the Royals in 2018’s Kelvin Gutierrez trade. The former second-round pick (2015) never really found his footing in the Royals organization and became a free agent after a 2021 season that saw him hit .202/.319/.332 in 280 Double-A plate appearances.
Garcia, 23, has spent his whole career in the Yankees organization and batted .234/.288/.318 in the low minors. He spent the 2021 season on the minor league 60-day injured list and hasn’t played in a game setting since 2019, when he spent the bulk of his time in Class-A Advanced.
Ender can still play in the outfield. His bat however has mysteriously faded away. Maybe the Yankees can help bring his bat back. Ender looked great for a couple years after the Braves traded for him. Low risk potential high reward signing. Maybe Ender just needs a change of scenery. I like this move.
His exit velos are some of the worst of any position player – yet, he still has a good short for double-digit HRs with the short RF porch.
Seems like a phenomenal move given the low risk cost.
Even with the short porch, I don’t know if he’ll be capable of posting double digit homeruns. Ender puts the ball on the ground a lot, and like you werr saying about his poor exit velo…
I like Ender. I’m happy some team is giving him a chance. He could be a late game defensive replacement. Unless the Yankees discover some magic, I’d expect nothing of the bat. Low-risk move, however.
I think the Yankees just did this so they could have insurance for center field whenever Aaron Hicks goes down with another injury. I could never figure out why the Reds of all teams decided to sign Inciarte last season. They already had a surplus of outfielders which made it clear he would never get called up. I always thought some terrible team with no outfielders would have given him a major league roster spot just to finish out the season. I think Inciarte now is what Kevin Kermier will be in the future. I hope not for KK’s sake but he definitely has the feel of a player who’s going to age into a light hitting defensive specialist center fielder.
Hammer, it’s funny that so many teams ask them about Kiermier, but nothing ever comes to fruition. If I were Tampa I’d trade him before the interest wains.
Inciarte isn’t going to turn into anything. The guy frequently has exit velo’s in the 70’s. He might be the only baseball player I know of who has figured out how to consistently slow the ball down with his bat. I remember seeing games where one player would come up and his exit velo would be 110. Way harder than the pitcher threw. Then Inciarte would come up and try to hit the fastball and his exit velo would be 77mph. He would be a better hitter if he were a wall the pitchers were throwing against.
He had double-digit home runs two years in a row in Atlanta, so why not?
@Mr. Person- In one of those seasons it took him a league-leading 662 ABs to reach that many HRs, and that was pre-injury woes for him.
I mean… I feel like if Ender gets 400 ABs this year something has really gone south for the Yankees.
To be honest, my reply was a sarcastic one in response to the sarcastic reference to the short porch.
Inciarte seems to suffer from chronic hamstring problems, so the idea that he’d be a suitable backup to oft-injured Hicks seems a bit ludicrous.
My bad for missing the sarcasm. I don’t want to lump all Yankee fans together because there are some really knowledgeable ones, but there are a handful I could see thinking he’d belt out 15 hrs. Ha ha.
Not really your bad, AO. It was pretty subtle, on purpose.
Once NYY fix his bat. Could probably flip him and Devi for Straw and Clase from the Guardians. Maybe they toss in Civale or Plesac as a filler
System, I sure hope you were being sarcastic!! I’m thinking you are/were. There’s no way Cleveland would do that deal. Not even if Inciarte was an All-Star, which he won’t be, but he is a good depth piece, imho. Clase has turned into one of the better closers in the game and Civale or Plesac are solid 3’s. Straw looks like he’ll lead the league in SB the next couple seasons. So, Cleveland gives up all that for Inciarte & the prospect!? I’m thinking they’d reply with a “very respectfully, screw off, buddy!”
Yeah I think it was tongue in cheek
That RF porch can cure poor hitting Lefties. It’s a pathetic short distance.
True, but Inciarte wasn’t able to take advantage of the short RF at SunTrust/Truist: 325′ (with 16′ wall) vs. Yankee Stadium’s 314′ (with 8′ wall). If you don’t have a launch angle though, all this is moot.
It’d be great if Inciarte could bunt and run out the ball but the hamstring issues would pose a problem, not to mention the fact that he can’t bunt well. This horse is headed to the glue factory.
No aging veteran in the history of baseball has been cured by a “change in scenery.” It’s such a cliche. Ender does not hit baseballs hard and isn’t going to learn how to do that again.
I think “change of scenery” really means “change of coaches”. Sometimes players connect with a different hitting coach more effectively. I’m not saying Ender will become a better hitter, but it’s possible, I guess.
Nelson Cruz was a very good hitter in SEA at 37 y/o, but how did he become an excellent hitter in MIN from 38-40? Those 2019 numbers…my goodness.
I think Mike Lowell might have benefitted from a change of scenery. The Marlins forced the Red Sox to take him in a trade package to dump his salary. He got better in Boston and the Red Sox actually ended up extending him even though they never wanted him in the first place. AJ Burnett got better when he left Yankee Stadium. So did Sonny Grey. Gerrit Cole benefitted big time by leaving the Pirates just like Charlie Morton did by leaving the Phillies.
I think some guys definitely do benefit from a change of scenery. I do admit it’s pretty rare though. We hear about several players potentially benefitting from a change of scenery every offseason. In reality it only seems to work a few times a decade.
braves legend
He still has sufficient D. Looks like the Yankees wanted to get their hands on that D.
More teams should have shown interest in that D. It’s high quality D.
@LarsAnderson
I used a similar line in dozens of bars at 2am as I pondered why I was leaving alone.
Brett Gardner by another name….and much better leather.
Great pickup.
Wait until you see him try to hit. I’m sure the Yankees have someone in AAA who can play center and hit better than that.
What do you mean great pickup? It’s a depth move. Teams make these moves all the time.
Yeah and some depth pieces are better than others.
Assuming the Yankees don’t bring Gardner back I’d say the odds are pretty good Inciarte makes the team as the 4th Outfielder. Odds are also pretty good he’ll be the opening day Center Fielder because, Aaron Hicks…
Iniciarte was actually pretty good when he was in Arizona. Never fit in well in Atlanta afterwards. He can become a commodity in CF for the Yanks if he can re-capture those days as a D-Back! I’m asumible the Bronx could also look to bring Rizzo back and then sign Bryant to take on 3B and Story at short to reply to the Mets ! 2 NY teams fighting it off in the WS, would be something enticing to watch !
1.LeMahieu 2B
2.Story SS
3.Judge RF
4.Bryant 3B
5.Rizzo 1B
6.Stanton LF
7.Torres DH
8.Sánchez C
9.Inciarte CF
There’s a potent line up and with two reunite Sto-ties. Rizzo and Bryant reunite and so Story and LeMahieu !
These are not George Steinbrenner’s Yankees, the days of playing fantasy baseball with the roster are long over and Cashman and Manfred have no way of leveraging other teams to pay the entirety of Bryant and Story’s contracts as free agents like the Cubs paid Rizzo last year.
They may sign Rizzo or Story if they can get them on short term deals if they are cheap enough but no way they get Bryant and definitely no way they sign all three
@ to4: I don’t know what you’re talking about ! Inciarte fit in very well in Atlanta for the first three years ! He was very popular on the team and with the fans and provided a lot of value ! I wish him the best of luck going forward !
No Gallo in this lineup. Do you think they trade him?
No way they sign Bryant. Rizzo and Story are possible and I would welcome that.
If Inciarte can regain some health he could be a sneaky good asset. I think NY will roll with Gallo/Judge/Hicks/Florial at CF and acquire SS/SP talent.
You must have made a typo somewhere. Ender Inciarte fit perfectly with the Braves until his back injury. He had 201 hits in 2017.
He was the odd man out of the Diamondbacks Peralta – Pollock – Tomas OF.
Diamondbacks Peralta – Pollock – Tomas OF.
==================================
That’s what made this such an awful trade for AZ. Tomas couldn’t play the OF. He couldn’t play at all, but that couldn’t be predicted yet. But the DBacks just ruined a very nice outfield.
I’d sign Story to a 1 year prove it deal. $25M
He was injured last year.
If not Story,Simmons 2/$24M
Rizzo 4/$65M
Trade Voit & Garcia for Hader. Think I’m nuts? The Brewers don’t want to pay him. Take the Brewers other bad contract as well.
I’m sure you would sign him for that but I don’t think he will be too excited to sign. Someone will offer him term and that’s where he will go.
I agree with you Darryl. Welcome to the new Yankees. We have positions of need (CF, SS) and fill them with winter minor league signings, with a hopeful view of finding the diamond in the rough, 7 times.
@dave. Keep adding to that trade proposal Hader is elite. Voit and Deivi Garcia probably draw a chuckle at most from the Brewers GM.
Seriously. Garcia has almost no value.
Voit is a solid hitter who is constantly injured and plays defense like Steevie Wonder. And those knees aren’t going to magically get better now that he’s 30.
An oft injured DH who can’t run and a pitching prospect who can’t throw a strike does not get you an elite reliever. Every team in baseball would love to have Hader. Why would the Brewers give him away for the Yankees sloppy seconds?
Uh.
I think Inciarte is more along the lines of Allen/Davis/Locastro as opposed to a GGBG replacement. It’s just some depth, fellas. & Inciarte > than those guys (not saying much). Cash got caught without veteran CF in AAA last season. This year he won’t.
I believe it is as simple as that.
I don’t think he will be counted on as anything more than that.
Now. With Hicks’ health stuff…yeah, we may see him. So there is that. I would be pretty surprised if he is actually the CF contingency plan, though.
Man, if Ender’s defense is that much better than Gardner I’ll take him in a heartbeat. Brett’s defense has [declined] to above average from outstanding. Yeah, I’d take two of those.
Keep dreaming… put that on your list to Santa.
What a misinformed take on Inciarte. In addition to what bhambrave said, Ender’s best seasons were in Atlanta and not Arizona. He might make a good fourth OF; defensive substitute, pinch runner if anyone ever uses that anymore and so on.
I like making lineups in my comments too, lol. Mostly just to see what it’d look like.
And I have a feeling that if the same team gets both Bryant & Story, it’ll be Seattle. I wouldn’t mind the Tigers getting one of them! If they got Story, they’d put Schoop at 1B and play him at 2B. That’s not happening cuz Torkelson is about ready for 1B. They could sign Bryant & make Baddoo & Reyes the 4th and 5th OF once Riley Greene takes CF, which will be soon. Keeping Grossman’s .350 obp with 20+ jacks & 20+ sb in the other corner.
To4…. Always be leery of Colorado players. Story has bad numbers away from Colorado… not
Even close
That has been said about every single player who has ever played for the Rockies. That’s an old tired narrative.
Yep look at DJ and Arenado. Both were going to suck when they left Coors.
And the same people who chimp scream about that fall all over themselves to get judge signed to a long term deal.
Check his home and away stats.
Enciarte is an interesting player. He’s never been a great hitter, but his defense coupled with an average bat makes him a really valuable player. He hasn’t had an average bat in 5 years though, so he may never be able to hit that way again, but you don’t lose anything in seeing whether you can fix the bat. With Inciarte he may just need a change in his approach. Stats remind of JBJ only without the customary 2 weeks to 1 month a year he goes on an absolute tear (save last year).
The statistical similarity to JBJ is very strong. Batting numbers slightly favor Inciarte, fielding numbers slightly favor JBJ. Similar ages (Inciarte about 6 mos. younger) and playing time. (a bit more for JBJ).
This indicates that Gardner will be joining Yankees South once the lockout ends, patrolling LF and CF in Citizens Bank Park.
One can hope.
@to4: We had the two New York teams in the WS, and it got terrible ratings. Pretty much no one outside of NYC watched it.
Fewer viewers watched the Braves-Astros World Series than watched the Subway Series.
From Sports Media Watch:
“The six-game Braves-Astros World Series averaged a 6.5 rating and 11.75 million viewers on FOX, up 25% in ratings and 20% in viewership from last year’s six-game average for Dodgers-Rays (5.2, 9.77M) but down 20% and 16% respectively from the seven-game Astros-Nationals series in 2019 (8.1, 13.91M).
“The series tops only last year as the lowest rated and least-watched Fall Classic ever. Prior to last year, the all-time lows were a 7.6 rating and 12.66 million viewers for the Giants’ four-game sweep of the Tigers in 2012.”
People are probably just tired of the Astros. Of course, a healthy Acuna might have helped ratings too.
Last year’s ratings don’t refute what I said. I do think Astros-hate hurt the ratings last year somewhat.
I guarantee that Braves/Rangers would get better ratings than Braves/Astros. That’s because the Rangers would be a new team representing the AL in the World Series and people also don’t hate them the way they hate the Astros.
@bhambrave
The history of World Series TV ratings refutes what you said.
The 2000 Subway Series had a rating of 12.4. Since then, 17 World Series have had lower ratings, and only three have had higher ratings, and one featured the Yankees vs. the Marlins. The other two were historic curse-breaking Series: Boston vs. St. Louis in 2004, and the Cubs vs. the Indians in 2016.
@48-team MLB
They could play Baghdad and get better ratings for the same reasons.
I remember at the time that the networks were shocked at how poorly the games were received outside of NYC. Market share was down across the country. Most tv’s in New York were set on the games, but not so much anywhere else.
Mr.person: that was also 22 years ago the sports landscape has changed dramatically as has how ppl view sports. I mean come on most people now a days don’t even have cable tv.
@bhambrave
You seem determined to prove, against all evidence to the contrary, that the Braves are more popular outside of New York than the Yankees. The Yankees are the biggest draw on the road of all 30 teams. They have the most extensive fan base, not just in the US but also overseas.
You want to blame the poor ratings for the last Series on the widespread contempt for the Astros, but I watched the series as much to see Houston get beaten as to see the Bravos win, and I’m willing to bet I wasn’t the only one. There’s a reason why professional wrestling loves its villains. Schadenfreude sells.
I made no attempt to prove the “ Braves are more popular outside of New York than the Yankees.” That thought never occurred to me. You’re the one that brought up the latest WS. All I was saying was that the last NY series got bad ratings outside of New York, in response to to4. The rest of the country didn’t really care about that series. I agree it would be enticing to watch for New Yorkers, but probably not for anybody else.
@bhambrave
Serious question: How do you know which parts of the country did or didn’t watch the Subway Series? The ratings I’m aware of only give a number for total viewership. They don’t specify viewership by region. Where did you find that information? I’d honestly be interested in knowing your source. It’s certainly possible that few outside New York watched that Series, but I don’t know of a way to confirm that.
“Mr.person: that was also 22 years ago the sports landscape has changed dramatically as has how ppl view sports.”
Only two years later, the Giants-Angels World Series had lower ratings, and I don’t think the sports landscape dramatically changed in two years..
BTW, I misspoke in a previous comment. There were four World Series after 2000 with higher TV ratings, not three. I omitted the 2001 Yankees-Diamondbacks Series.
I’ll try to find it.
espn.com/mlb/playoffs2000/2000/1027/841989.html
Thanks for the link. I thought this was interesting:
‘The trend of sinking ratings hasn’t discriminated much by sport or network this year. NBC’s coverage of the Summer Games drew the lowest ratings for a Summer or Winter Olympics since 1968. The NCAA men’s college basketball title game dropped 18 percent from a year ago, which was the previous low since CBS started airing the event in 1982. The All-Star games for the NBA and baseball were the worst-rated ever.
‘One notable exception is the Super Bowl, which continues to consistently draw ratings above 40.
‘The World Series’ showing, which industry analysts say also could be traced to lengthy games and competition from fall TV season premieres pushed back by the Sydney Olympics, forced Fox to show “make-goods” — “free” commercials to make sure sponsors’ messages reach as many viewers as were paid for.’
The World Series with the highest Nielsen rating of all time was the Yankees-Dodgers Series in 1978. The 1981 Yankees-Dodgers Series was third-highest, and the 1977 Yankees-Dodgers Series was sixth-highest. The 1986 Mets-Red Sox Series was seventh-highest. It helps when both of the host teams are in big media markets instead of both being in the same single market.
Notably, the year after the Subway Series, the viewership of the Yankees-Diamondbacks Series increased by 6,447,000 and the Nielsen rating increased by 3.3 points. Of course, the recent attack on the World Trade Center might’ve generated a lot of interest in that Series, with perhaps some fans setting aside their accustomed Yankee-hatred for once.
“ It helps when both of the host teams are in big media markets instead of both being in the same single market.”
This is really the crux of what I was (poorly) trying to say. Not a dig on NYC, just that when the interest is so localized, ratings will suffer. I also wonder if inter-league play might be lessening the appeal of the WS.
I’ve wondered that too. For my part, I think the World Series was more compelling when it was the only contest between the two leagues other than the All-Star Game.
You might be interested to know (if you don’t already) something I discovered in researching this topic:
Team with the most U.S. counties: Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are the team with the most shopped-for tickets in 515 counties, making them the clear MLB winner by a wide margin. The Braves dominate the Southeastern United States, controlling most or all of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina, along with significant chunks of Tennessee, North Carolina, and Florida. In all, the Braves are represented in nine states, more than any other team. Notably, of those nine states, only two — Georgia (the Braves) and Florida (the Rays and Marlins) — have MLB teams.
That’s interesting. I remember before the Braves moved to Atlanta, if we wanted to go to a game the nearest MLB city was Cincinnati. The South is still mostly an MLB wasteland. It’ll be interesting to see the new dynamics if Nashville eventually gets an expansion team.
It’s kind of puzzling that MLB hasn’t founded another team or two in the Southern states between Georgia and Texas. There’s gotta be a market for it. Nashville was the first place that came to my mind too.
9th inning replace aka Brett Gardner/Tyler Wade but better defense a bit worse of a hitter
Since 2016, Inciarte leads all center fielders in Outs Above Average with 66 and Runs Prevented with 59.
If you believe in Statcast’s ratings, I guess you have to like this cheap signing for that alone.
He sure does get caught stealing a lot.
@Ducky Buckin Gent
He’s the Winona Ryder of MLB.
Man.
Remember when Ruben Rivera got caught stealing stuff out of Jeter’s locker?
@Ducky Buckin Fent
He was looking for the gold gloves so he could retire. Apparently Ruben wasn’t very bright.
So…Mariano’s dumb cousin? I guess we all have one of those.
Thank you guys, I needed that laugh, lol.
His career stolen base success rate is 72%. Not great, but the break-even point to make an attempt worthwhile ranges between 70% and 75% depending on the number of outs in the inning and not taking other leverage factors into account, so it’s not a terrible success rate either.
Over the last three seasons, like Gardner, he hasn’t attempted to steal much. But his 2019-2021 success rate was 86% compared to Brett’s 77%.
I think his durability issues should be a major concern; his SB% not so much. He looks like another attempt by Cashman to catch lightning in a bottle, not a player they should be counting on.
I called this weeks ago.
Did hicks get hurt again? If hicks is healthy, inciarte is a 4th outfielder.
Hicks was running on his treadmill and pulled some fat.
LOL
Low risk, high reward, good deal.
Rooting for him. It’s been a rough few years but he’s a good defender and has a tendancy to see the bat turn on later in the year.
Cashman once again shopping on the Clearance rack of Target/Wal-Mart
At least this rack has plenty of stock, unlike Target.
He can’t offer any major-league contracts until the lockout ends. This is the only kind of shopping he can legally do right now.
Its the only rack any team can shop at the moment, or have you been in a coma?
if you’re a fringe center fielder looking for playing time, you go where aaron hicks is playing
Gardner’s new backup.
@brucenewton
I simultaneously laughed and threw up in my mouth at the same time.
Okay…but who is the starting CF on the MLB roster?
Sadly, it’ll probably be Hicks, although they’d be better off letting Gallo play center and signing Suzuki to play left field. Alternatively, they could play Judge in right, Gallo in center and Stanton in left; but Cashman doesn’t seem willing to risk Stanton getting injured, although his latest injuries came from running the bases, not from fielding a position.
This guy fell off a cliff at age 27. That’s a bit early for hitting the age wall.
Nice move for the Yankees