The Yankees have signed infielder Chris Owings to a minor league deal, per Conor Foley of the Scranton Times-Tribune. Owings has been assigned to the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com.
Owings, 30, is a veteran of ten MLB seasons now, appearing in each campaign from 2013 to 2022. Overall, he has a .239/.287/.366 battling line, good enough for a wRC+ of 69. In 2021, he dealt with thumb injuries and only got into 21 games but somehow had an incredible showing in that small sample. He hit .326/.420/.628 for a huge 158 wRC+, though his .481 BABIP was likely the key contributor there.
He settled for a minor league deal with the Orioles for this year, eventually making Baltimore’s Opening Day roster. Unfortunately, the baseball gods have given him the opposite treatment this year, compared to last. His .188 BABIP has helped tamp his batting line down to .107/.254/.143 this season, producing a wRC+ of just 27. He was designated for assignment and released last week.
Despite those tepid batting numbers, Owings continues to get opportunities due to his versatility. For the Orioles this year, he played second base, third base, shortstop, left field and even threw an inning on the mound. The Yankees have been remarkably healthy this year, but do have a number of older players on their roster. Should an injury situation suddenly arise, Owings will have the potential to give them cover at most spots around the diamond.
Whoa. Trying to make the RailRiders relevant again I see.
All aboard
37 Home runs in 2280 ABs. (2464 PAs)
Havent been this shocked by NYY OF minor league signing since Yanks signed Randy Winn.
Too late to edit it to general minor league signing…
This guy is the INF version of Randy Winn to me.
BBref says “ Shortstop, Second Baseman and Outfielder”
But the author says: “Infielder” -Utility, at best?
Career: .239 BA, .287 OBP
Good luck!
Career AAA: .323 BA, .357 OBP
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders going for the championship!!!
🙂
Woah. This proves can completely throw minor league #’s out the window.
This guy might be the definition of “AAAA” player lol
Too bad. He was growing a pretty sweet beard.
Lol.
Yassssss
Cashman must’ve noticed. One more for his collection.
Here’s hoping Mike Trout loses his razor.
He’s still at it trying to clean up the league…
It’s the man-scaping requirements that will really get you
Just prepping you for the mandatory Giambi-inspired gold thong when you fall into that inevitable prolonged slump. I see how that makes sense here.
Gives them veteran backup if something were to happen to Gonzalez. Oswald Peraza has not developed as quickly as hoped. Strictly an insurance policy, not likely to make it to the Bronx.
Maybe now they can get rid of the “Cheater” Gonzalez. His measly 4 RBI’s are a joke.
Let it go. They’ve got Beltran in the booth, and Gonzalez was with the Twins and the Red Sox before he joined the Yankees. Besides, Marwin was the first Astro to cop to the cheating and apologize publicly. He’s been contributing as a backup.
https://www.mlb.com/yankees/video/yandy-diaz-lines-out-to-right-fielder-marwin-gonzalez?t=t147-default-vtp
He’s credited with 4 Outs Above Average at third base. He’s earning his keep.
Correction: Marwin’s credited with 2 OAA at third, 1 OAA in the outfield and 1 OAA at shortstop, for a total of 4 Outs Above Average.
Alternate title: “Cashman Destroys Another Beard, Retains Title”
Funny clip ha ha
Of course, and he will come up and hit .350 with half a dozen HRs.
Really thought Owings got his mojo back last season. Boy was I wrong.
Owing has always been a very streaky hitter in the Major Leagues. He will go 2-3 weeks where he can’t make an out at the plate followed by 3-4 weeks of hardly touching the ball when he’s called upon. (He rarely gets a start). The good thing is that his defense tends to stay pretty consistent no matter what he’s doing at the plate. At this point in time, he’s a non-40 man insurance policy for Cashman & Co, so there’s nothing for fans to be upset about by signing him. You have to think that Carpenter will start to wither some or get dinged up after his incredible start, so having a veteran like Owings available to call upon is a smart move by Cashman and doesn’t cost the team much at all. He did very well for Colorado in limited chances in 2020 & 2021 so he should still have some solid baseball left in him as he’s only 30 years old and can still go on a heater from time to time no matter how he is used.
With all that said, he’s no Rob Refsynder!
Who is? Rob Refsnyder is in a league of his own.
Hicksy! And off Manoah, no less!
Cut from the Orioles major league roster, and now he’s on the Yankees minor league roster. So an upgrade for him?
More seriously, he looks like a back up to the Marwin Gonzalez role, but he’s more likely a backup for multiple positions in case of injury. He won’t help much, but he won’t hurt either if he’s rostered for a couple weeks. I hope not to see him on the team, but history says he’ll be needed at some point for a few games.
I think it’ll take more than that. He would need to be added to the 40 man to be called up. I’d be surprised if he ever gets a call up.
I find it funny how so many of you Yankee “fans” and haters were on this site whining about every move Cashman made this past off season. Where are all of you now? IKF looks like he should be the SS for this team going forward and do I really need to get into the Trevino trade which everyone dogged out? That trade alone has done so much for this pitching staff it isn’t even funny. Plus the guy has a better bat than most thought. He’s a huge win for Cashman and so is the Twin’s trade. I’m so glad he stood strong and didn’t waste money on the three way over hyped SS in Semien, Seager, and Correa all three of which have proven my point which was that they are all good players not great and certainly not worth the money they got. I give Cashman a solid A for his off season and the fans on this site an F for acting like fools every time Cashman made a move or didn’t make a move.
Happily, I’m not enrolled in your class, so your grade doesn’t affect me. Dodged a bullet there! But your keen hindsight is duly noted. Thanks for sharing your retrospective insights.
I wish the Yankees signed Bryce Harper…
Cant have them all lol
Mystery Team,
I liked all of the moves Cashman made over the off season. But I bemoaned the moves he didn’t make. Turns out he was absolutely right! If that makes me a fool so be it.
Me as well Mickey. If anyone cares to go back and look they will see the only real complaint I had was not signing Semien and I have admitted to being wrong about that.
Not sure why Mystery Team felt the need to bash Yankees fans this morning.
Because he’s not a Yankee fan and he’s angry!
I think all of us that criticized Cashman have been very forthcoming about how well he has done with those moves (or non-moves). I know we, in this thread, have discussed it several times. We hoped he would prove us wrong; we hope he continues to do so because that means a monster season for our team.
Anyway, the one admonishment in his comment I don’t understand is the Trevino reference. I don’t recall anyone bashing Trevino or that trade, but I could be wrong because “Yankees fans” could refer to any few of the multi-millions of us……
Nonetheless, as one of Cashman’s most ardent critics, he’s done admirably, as has Boone thus far. I’m pleasantly surprised with this team as is, and I am more than happy to have been wrong about Seager, Story, etc….. That’s why he gets paid the big bucks and has a litany of advisors / data men at his disposal.
Go Yankees!
Yeah, Clipper, I don’t remember anyone griping about the Trevino trade. Abreu never had command of his pitches and the Yankees clearly needed a backstop.
I went to the videotape to revisit what I said in the offseason.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/12/mlbtr-poll-how-should-the-yankees-address-shortstop.html#comment-2447406
That was a good read, Fink! Yeah, I don’t know what he was talking about in the above thread. I think people just read what they want or interpret things they want to, how they want to.
I certainly maintained Story as my premiere choice, but there were a plethora of options discussed, including IKF. CF was one of the most discussed positions too (I think it was probably your most notable one).
Anyway, whatever, man. I guess people gonna hate, especially if the Yankees keep on rolling like this.
We should have held on to Tyler Wade
9 years in the show. And debuted at age 22. What a run. Way to go CO!
Ducky? Where did you go, man? Crawl out of that abyss and come back, brother.
Yes!!!!! Come Back!!!
Yankees looking to catch lightning in a bottle? With IKF and his hammy, could be a decent signing if he’s needed and can figure things out.