The Yankees announced that they have selected the contract of outfielder Billy McKinney. He will take the active roster spot of Aaron Judge, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a right great toe sprain. That move was reported on last night and is retroactive to June 4. To open a spot for McKinney on the 40-man roster, right-hander Ryan Weber was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
McKinney, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Yankees this winter and has been having a great season in Triple-A thus far. He’s walked in 13.8% of his plate appearances while striking out at a 20% clip. He has nine home runs and is slashing .274/.388/.511 for a wRC+ of 127.
However, minor league success is nothing new for McKinney. He has developed a pattern of raking in Triple-A and then scuffling in the majors, with various clubs around the league giving him chances that he’s failed to take advantage of. Dating back to 2018, he’s played for the Yankees, Blue Jays, Brewers, Mets, Dodgers and Athletics. He’s received 768 plate appearances in the big leagues but hit just .206/.277/.387 in those for a wRC+ of 77. His minor league slash line in that same time frame is .261/.359/.498 for a wRC+ of 123.
He’ll now get another shot to succeed in the show, which has been spurred on the Yankees’ outfield mix dealing with various injuries. Harrison Bader and Greg Allen were already on the injured list and now Judge is joining them, subtracting three options from the center field depth chart. McKinney is capable of playing all three outfield spots and first base, so will give them a bit of versatile depth alongside players like Jake Bauers, Willie Calhoun, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Giancarlo Stanton.
McKinney is out of options and can’t be sent back down to the minors without being exposed to waivers first. Even in that case, he’d have the right to elect free agency since he has a previous career outright. If he finally manages to break out against big league pitching, the Yankees could keep him around for quite a while via arbitration. He would cross three years of service time this year if he stays up and would be slated for free agency after 2026 if he continued to justify his roster spot.
As for Weber, he was placed on the injured list on the weekend due to a forearm strain. There’s still no official word on what’s next for him but the fact that he’s been transferred to the 60-day IL isn’t a good sign. He’ll now be ineligible until the first week of August at the earliest.
Billy!! It didn’t work for the A’s last year – they looked at him extensively – but this is a second chance so take advantage of, mate…
He your buddy or something?
Second time’s the charm?
More like 5th time.
Maybe a future coach?
Ohhhh 2nd w NY Skankies
After Oakland parted ways with him I though he was done.
If you can’t make it there….you can’t make it anywhere! Except New York!
@retired/advisory role
LOL..I’ll… Start spreading the news…
Hey tell that to the Twinkies, they pass failed physicals!
Oh yes the Immortal McKinney!!!
Ok, your Bentley (Judge) is in the shop for repairs for a couple weeks or so, but never fear! We have a sparkling array of loaners to choose from to get you back on the road until your Bentley is ready! Choose from: 1980 Ford Pinto (McKinney), 1984 Dodge Omni (Rafael Ortega), a 1991 Saturn SC1 (Bauers), or a snazzy 1987 Yugo GV (Calhoun). Any one you like – you can’t go wrong!
If any of those are still on the road at least you know they’ve got a decent engine. Even if it is a 1 stroke
> 1980 Ford Pinto (McKinney),
> 1984 Dodge Omni (Rafael Ortega), a
> 1991 Saturn SC1 (Bauers), or a snazzy
> 1987 Yugo GV (Calhoun)
I don’t know which I would rather smell, the inside of one of those loaners or this Canadian wildfire smoke
sol = POST OF THE DAY!!
Sorry but Bauers is in no way a Saturn. He actually has some power. He is the 1997 Ford Crown Victoria police interceptor with 386,000 miles.
Put some rust and bullet holes in that Crown Vic, throw in a case of Lucky Lager, and you got yourself a deal.
Billy McKinney was Ned Beatty’s least favorite player.
This is so pedantic of me, but in the official PR tweet the Yankees said they signed him to a Major League Contract, but I feel like that would imply he was a free agent (like how Aaron Hicks signed with the Orioles). I think the correct terminology would be that they selected his contract, which is what you guys used here.
I believe Weber will get more service time on the IL this year than ’21 and ’22 combined.
The Yankees might still get something from the Aroldis Chapman trade of 2016.
That Torres guy might have something to say…
Yeah exactly! What’s wrong with Gleyber? Smh
They struck out with the Andrew Miller trade not the Chapman trade. Not sure why Cashman thought he would be the guy to finally win a trade with Cleveland. I can’t remember the last trade they lost badly. That team just doesn’t make many mistakes.
It’s hard to look at this without rolling your eyes. Not a fun year to be a Yankees fan.
It’s always fun being a Yankee fan. It’s not always fun dealing with Yankee fans.
It’s bandwagon and fair weather Yankee fans that are insufferable. I have always loved the Yankees and Cubs equally. (Spent my youth in both cities) Except in the dynasty years. Ugh I was embarrassed to be associated with the Yankee “fans” I would come across when going to their away games while traveling. I finally stopped wearing the cap and jersey and completely understand why their fans have the rep they do.
BASEBALL CANCELLED TONIGHT………………IN N.Y. AND PHILADELPHIA …………SMOKE GOT IN THEIR EYES…
Man I wouldn’t want to play or go to a game in this stuff. I don’t blame them one bit.
It was incredibly nasty this afternoon ( live on queens/nassau border) – letting up a little now but still a smart move postponing the game. What I don’t understand is why the wnba cancelled its indoor event.
To prevent people traveling in the smoke to and from.
They didn’t want people outside traveling to and from.
They try to find reasons to cancel every event. I doubt it takes much time to refund the 16 tickets they sell to each game.
Cliff Claven little known fact for the day ……..
Oakland drafted McKinney 8 spots ahead of Aaron Judge in the same 2013 Amateur Draft.
A’s did this despite already knowing alot about Judge, having drafted him in 2010 out of High School and being located in close proximity to where he played college ball at Fresno State.
A’s gonna A’s.
“It’s a little known fact that the suntan became popular in what is now known as the Bronze Age”
” Regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That’s why you always feel smarter after a few beers. ”
” Scientists say if pigs had thumbs and a language, they could be trained to do simple manual labor. They give you 20-30 years of loyal service and then at their retirement dinner you can eat them. .”
Judge fell out of injury fears. Just about every team had him on their radar but his size and the fact he was seen as a bit raw didn’t help either. Teams want a nearly finished product like Schwarber was when drafting college hitters high. Judge didn’t cement his spot with the Yankees until he was 25 and the injury concerns have definitely materialized. Why the Yankees keep (re)signing megadeals with oft injured players is baffling. Judge is a special player but when you only get 80 games a year out of him in his prime, that $40m a year should have been spent elsewhere.
No way that Billy McKinney is only 28. He’s 106 at least.
That was my exact reaction. I really can’t believe he’s only 28.
This dude is still at it? That’s awesome. He’s been through so nucb in his career. Played for at least 6 different organizations. Was part of a historic trade. He was part of the aroldis Chapman to tbe cubs trade. One of the 3 players thrown in.
And he’s only 28. I would’ve thought he was at least 31 – 32
Waste of a roster spot. Would rather see Miggy or Pujols come out of retirement than McKinney make a foo out of himself with his lack of Major League talent
Miggy is not retired. Your memory has a lack of talent as well.
Obviously. But his current spot on the team is equivalent to being retired
Could not disagree more. I would much rather watch a young player learning than a washed up veteran playing out a contract that they got based on past performance. That is why we all celebrated Hicks getting DFA. One of our young players struggling may turn into lessons learned and development that pays dividends later on. A washed up veteran struggling has no potential to pay off for the organization later.
@larkeaxm: McKinney is neither a prospect or a young player. He is what is known as an organization player aka roster-filler.
He is 28, or about 14 years younger than the suggested veteran players that you put forward. 40 plus year old veterans that haven’t performed in three years are roster holes not even roster fillers.
True
@Yanks2: They probably don’t wish to play for the Yankees.
What happened to Estevan Floria? Heard he is doing good in triple A. Seems like a better option then this.
Florial in striking out 37% of the time at AAA.
Florial is striking out in 37% of his At Bats, but he’s still managing to Hit .317 per his webpage below:
mlb.com/player/estevan-florial-664314?stats=career…
Guessing they prefer McKinney’s ability to make better Contact skills or perhaps his ability to play 1st Base in a pinch ?
florial is out of options as well and wouldn’t clear waivers
He did earlier this year
Should of kept K. Calhoun .
So Billy McKinney who has failed with 690 big league at bats is the better option than a true centerfielder who has been given all of 54 big league at bats and numbers are superior in EVERY category this year. Got it. The Yankees must really feel Florial can’t even hit .200. Can’t wait for the day he plays somewhere else.
McKinney is a poor man’s Ryan Langerhans. Let that sink in for a moment.
Billy may be getting into the lineup at just the right time;. The Red Sox are coming to town, and with Billy’s ability to hit AAA pitching he may get off to a good start against the Sox minor league staff with the exception of Paxton, Martin, and Jansen.