3:00pm: New York also announced they’ve selected left-hander Manny Bañuelos onto the big league roster. The Yankees had optioned outfielder Estevan Florial and left-hander JP Sears to Triple-A last night.
2:54pm: The Yankees announced they’ve signed Matt Carpenter to a big league deal. The veteran infielder had been granted his release from a minor league deal with the Rangers a week ago.
Carpenter was one of the game’s best hitters for a good portion of his tenure with the Cardinals. He posted above-average offensive numbers each season from 2012-18, earning a trio of All-Star selections along the way. He earned a Silver Slugger award in 2013 and twice finished in the top ten of NL MVP balloting. As recently as 2018, Carpenter had posted an excellent .257/.374/.523 slash line with 36 home runs.
Things have gone sharply downhill over the past few years, however. As he hit his mid-30’s, the left-handed hitter experiences a dramatic decline. Going back to the start of the 2019 season, Carpenter owns just a .203/.325/.346 mark in a bit more than 900 plate appearances. He’s continued to draw walks at a robust 13.3% clip, but that’s essentially been the only positive in his offensive game. He’s fanned in 27.9% of his plate appearances, posted a below-average .143 ISO (slugging minus batting average) and hit only .270 on balls in play.
St. Louis bought Carpenter out at the end of last season, and he was limited to minor league offers over the winter. The 36-year-old was forthright about the necessity of reinventing himself at the plate, and he chronicled some changes he’d made with Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic in February. The former TCU star signed a non-roster pact with the Rangers shortly after the lockout, and he’s shown some signs of a turnaround.
Through 21 games with Triple-A Round Rock, Carpenter put up a .275/.379/.613 showing. He hit six homers while continuing to draw plenty of free passes. Perhaps most encouragingly, he trimmed his strikeout rate to a lower than average 21.1%. Texas didn’t feel he had a path to playing time on the big league club, but the Yankees will give him the opportunity to try to carry over his strong work in the minors against big league arms.
More to come.