The Yankees have signed utility player Josh VanMeter to a minor league deal, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The Sterling Sports Management client will presumably receive an invite to major league Spring Training.
VanMeter, 29 in March, has exactly 300 games of big league experience. He suited up for the Reds, Diamondbacks and Pirates from 2019 to 2022, hitting 19 home runs in 841 plate appearances. He struck out in 24.7% of those but also drew walks at a solid 10.5% clip. The overall production has still been subpar, with his career line of .206/.293/.347 translating to a wRC+ of 72. But he has stolen 17 bases and provided defensive versatility. He has played all the non-shortstop infield positions, the outfield corners and even small amounts of time at both ends of the battery.
In 2023, he signed a minor league deal with the Brewers but didn’t make it to the majors. He spent significant time on the minor league injured list and only played 46 Triple-A games. Incredibly, he walked in 24.2% of his plate appearances at that level, leading to a bizarre slash line of .199/.400/.362 and wRC+ of 106.
The Yankees are set to have Anthony Rizzo and DJ LeMahieu at the infield corners, but each of them are now in their mid-3os and they both dealt battled injuries last year. Gleyber Torres should be at second base but he’s also in his final year of club control and has been in trade rumors for a while now. They have depth options with each of Oswald Peraza, Oswaldo Cabrera, Jeter Downs and Jorbit Vivas on the 40-man roster, but they’re all fairly lacking in experience and may be better served getting regular at-bats in the minors as opposed to sitting on the bench in the majors.
If VanMeter is added to the roster at any point, he’s out of options but could be retained beyond 2024 via arbitration.
Mr Super Utility who can’t hit throw or catch worth his weight
Yep, Van Meter has difficulty at all facets of the game of baseball.
The Yankees have been driving up the Van Meter lately.
Except for drawing walks, the dude is elite in that one regard. But he does not chase.
Being signed to a contract to play seems like a huge hurdle to overcome, but he managed that..
Check out his pitching line. Big ooof. 15ER in 3IP. His manager must not’ve liked him very much.
At least he can walk his weight…
Remember: “cheap, controllable players off the books”…
My anticipation for pitchers and catchers is mounting. Utility infielders, eh
Waste of a transaction
It’s called depth. Jason Heyward, Max Muncy and Justin Turner were all minor league signings like this.
Serviceable guy in emergencies, but far from an everyday player.
If he goes onto the teams 26 man roster, hope for the season is lost if he is the best option, even in an emergency.
The emergency better be that every other position player in the system is hurt. Only way he should ever see a major league AB
His next home run will be his 20th. He gets that and we can start debating his hall of fame credentials.
Still be as qualified as the large handful of non-deserved members who are already in.
A pretty good off-season in NY. It’s too bad their biggest rivals, the Redsox, have suddenly forgotten they’re a big market team
John Henry is not opening up that pocketbook these days…
And maybe not any other book for that matter,,,
But in the end will most likely have the same records and not in the playoffs.
Dare we say future hall of famer upside?
Arguably the most underrated city and sports team in the world. You can ask anybody.
Making moves!LOL
I thought this site was a “Major” league rumors, these kinds of articles don’t belong here obviously.
Obviously they do.
If you want to go literally, only trade rumors would be here. Signing rumors wouldn’t be here. Neither would information about trade and signing after they occur since they’re no longer rumors then.
There have never been this many unsigned free agents a month away from pitchers and catchers reporting in any season I can recall. 5 of the top 10 (Bellinger, Snell, Montgomery, Chapman, Hader), and 20 out of the top 50 remain unsigned. There are even a few others like Paxton, Kershaw, Duvall, and Michael Taylor beyond that.
I know it’s not collusion, but it sure seems weird. You would think there would be mutual urgency from players/agents and teams alike at some point. I’m curious if any team will touch Bauer, or Clevinger.
I’m thinking teams are evaluating if they can compete with LA and Atalanta in the next 3-5 years. And I say that as a Giants fan. Not sure what is going on with the AL though
Collision by the players
It’s a game of who will blink first. Middling starting pitchers set the market price coming out of the gates. Boras reportedly is asking 270/9 for Snell and the Yankees offered 150/5. He’s for sure holding up the market.
Nobody is touching Bauer and Clevinger will e signed once the market gets moving (probably for much less than what he thinks he’s worth).
I’m thinking Clevinger will get a deal but Bauer will have to go back to Japan.
Is this the guy that threw back to back no hitters or the one that murdered the girl from Alabama?
Wtf?
Vandeer Meer, Van der slot, VanMeter, I guess I could have gone with Vanderbilt as well while I was at, but that’s all the Dutch names I know.
Dang Yankee fans! How does it feel to be the rich man’s version of the Pittsburgh Pirates? Sign minor league contract and hope to catch lightening in the bottle. Owner reaps the profits and doesn’t move the needle where it matters. Good luck Yanks!
Wasn’t he a martial arts movie star a couple decades ago?
Or a professional wrestler? Rob VanMater? Or Jean-Clyde VanMater?
Are you talking about John Claude Van Damme???
The difference is he’s minor league depth for the Yankees. He’d be a starter for the Pirates!
Then why didn’t the pirates sign him? This guy ain’t starting for any team outside of a triple a.
Start printing WS tix that’s the signing they needed. Another sub .200 hitter that can’t do anything at the ML level
Yeah I don’t understand why they keep signing players that can’t play at the big league level
The heater from van meter….oh, wait, that was Bob Feller.
Lousy signing. Stop with this bs
I root for Van Meter. He is the 3rd player from our tiny Norwell High School to make the majors.
One of the most unpopular Pirates as many called for his release in 2022.
I still have actual nightmares about the Pirates bringing him back.
It’s just an embarrassment of riches at this point.
Hey, someone has to show the Dodgers who the real offseason boss is….
You’ve got a laugh, otherwise, you may cry over the Yankees off-season, which appears to be those for less than ideal, especially if they are finished which they appear to be. Once again, they’re utilizing their greatest strength, dumpster diving.
They’ll need a power bench bat as Cashman can’t possibly be confident with Oswaldo Cabrera, Austin Wells, and Trent Grisham as subs.
You’d think, right? But, we also needed a LFer for about two years, a center fielder for a couple years, left handed bats for five + years, and more pitching…..and Cashman called the Yankees “championship caliber.”
So, I hope you guys are right about Cashman doing what he needs to in order to fill holes; but until I see the moves made, my confidence in Cashman is low. I was honestly shocked he landed Soto, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.
@YankeesBleacherCreature
wells isn’t a sub, he’s most likely going to he the starting catcher. But I do agree with your point of a better bench bat
If not, you’ll get a vanticket.
Schrödinger’s cat is predicting John Sterling’s home run call now:
“That ball got Van-dalized!”