Yankees To Sign Mark Reynolds

The Yankees have agreed to terms with Mark Reynolds, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports. Heyman indicates that Reynolds will "help with their righthanded power," and indicates he'll be used to spell Alex Rodriguez at third and Lyle Overbay at first. If that's the case, Reynolds would likely play in place of the left-handed Overbay against lefty starters.

The Indians released Reynolds on Monday after he hit .207/.315/.373 in 384 plate appearances this season. Cleveland signed Reynolds to a one-year, $6MM deal in the offseason, and they're still on the hook for the bulk of what's left of that contract — the Yankees will only have to pay Reynolds a pro-rated league-minimum salary.

The 30-year-old Reynolds has 196 career big-league home runs, but has struggled with strikeouts throughout his career. His 223 whiffs in 2009 are the most ever in a season, and he has had two other seasons in the top five all time. As Reynolds has aged, his strikeouts have led to difficulties posting respectable batting averages, and the low averages and weak defense have offset his prodigious power.