The Yankees have brought back infielder Andrew Velazquez on a minor league contract with a non-roster Spring Training invite, reports Jack Curry of the YES Network. The CAA client is a Bronx native who appeared for his hometown team in 2021.
Velazquez, 30, has played for five teams over a big league career spanning parts of six seasons. Nearly half his playing time came as a member of the Angels in 2023. Velazquez appeared in a personal-high 125 contests that year. He hit .196 with a .236 on-base percentage but played great defense in more than 900 shortstop innings. His defensive grades slipped the following year and the Angels waived him that September.
Prior to his nearly two years in Orange County, he’d made brief appearances with the Rays, Cleveland, Orioles and Yankees. Velazquez hit .224 over 28 games in pinstripes four years ago. He played all of last season in Triple-A with the Braves after signing an offseason minor league contract. While he hit 16 homers and stole 33 bases, his overall offense was mediocre. Velazquez struck out nearly a third of the time while hitting .242/.298/.394 through 473 plate appearances with Atlanta’s highest affiliate.
The switch-hitting Velazquez is a career .189/.244/.293 hitter in 624 big league plate appearances. His glove is the selling point. He has logged nearly 1500 major league innings at shortstop. Velazquez played both middle infield positions and all three outfield spots in Triple-A last year. He’ll likely begin next season at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as a versatile depth option.
Dude had crazy fast hands but can’t recognize pitches. Great glove.
Dude k’s 33% of the time and hits .240. Yankees just collecting junk because they can’t sign infielders worth a darn.
Goldy is a bum. They essentially have the same production at 1B in Goldy they had in 2024, plus maybe .030 in BA with Goldy, a whopping .240. Rizzo was just playing like a kid that wanted to be home eating chips playing video games rather than being at baseball and it showed. Yankees can’t sign guys like walker or Bregman and fill holes with guys like Jazz who never could hit & guys like Belly who married a hooker and Goldy who is past his prime neither of whom hit any more. the Yankees answer to Soto getting the F out of Dodge was to fill the infleid with .230 bats and massively decking fielders? Great job cashman. You’re definitely fooling everyone.
.189 career hitter, nice. Just what the Yankees like.
Bro still kinda looks like Joe Girardi.
yankees: (oliver twist voice) please, sir. can you not sign every single player?
dodgers: you can have velazquez but that’s it
@dasit: Nah, LA “let” the Yanks sign Fried too.
Thanks. Otherwise it would’ve been a angels reunion with squid.
Damn Yankees buying up everyone.
The system is broken
How so?
The switch-hitting Velazquez is a career .189/.244/.293 hitter in 624 big league plate appearances.
I was the game in 2021 when he hit his 1st HR at Yankee Stadium against against the Twins.
For a Bronx born kid who grew up idolizing Jeter that must have been very special for him and it was awesome to watch the hometown crowd give him such an incredible ovation.
Happy to see him get another chance to come back to the organization.
That was a sweet moment.
One player I’ll never miss. I would’ve been fine with him as a bench player and late inning defensive replacement. But how he was a starting SS for the Angels is beyond me.
Welcome back home, Andy!
Hometown hero is back!
I’m glad to see this man still finds work. A late career Renaissance with the bat is certainly called for.
Best of luck to him. Would be cool to see The Squid have a homecoming.
I’m still hoping for Profar. Can he still play 3B? Yankees need to unload salary such as Stroman or DJL before they can add salary. Until that happens, Cashman will go shopping on the Clearance Rack again
Ask the dodgers. Or several other teams that have put together all stars and all star caliber teams. The Yankees stink. And don’t spend money like the backs or any other teams that sign top tier talent. Yankees sign bums.
Plugged your 3rdbase hole, Yanks.
hey the Yankees have minor league rosters to fill too. This is a little more cheap insurance. Nothing wrong with having a player with high defensive value and experience available in system.