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Chris Gittens

Chris Gittens Signs With Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

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First baseman Chris Gittens has agreed to a contract with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, per a team announcement. Gittens was released by the Yankees at the end of November, just prior to the beginning of the lockout. At that time, it was reported that the Yanks had granted him his release in order to allow him to pursue an opportunity with an NPB team.

Gittens has spent the entirety of his professional career thus far in the Yankees organization, having been drafted by them in 2014. Gittens has always hit well in the minors, but has limited roster versatility due to the fact that he’s only ever played first base. In 2021, he played 45 games at Triple-A and absolutely crushed, slashing .301/.440/.644, for an incredible wRC+ of 185. He couldn’t translate that production to the major league level, as he hit .111/.250/.194 in his first season of MLB action. However, due to bouncing between the two levels and sustaining a few injuries, that was a small sample of 44 plate appearances in 16 MLB games.

Gittens was potentially facing a similar situation in 2022, as he still has option years remaining and didn’t have a clear path to playing time in the Bronx. Luke Voit is currently pencilled in at first for the Yanks, and they have also been connected to other first basemen this offseason, such as Freddie Freeman, Anthony Rizzo and Matt Olson. There’s also the potential of the club adding to another infield position and pushing DJ Lemahieu into some first base duty.

For Gittens, who turns 28 in February, he will now have greater certainty about his job status and likely an increase in salary as well. If he is able to hit NPB pitching at a level anywhere close to the level he’s shown in the minors, he should be able to garner interest from MLB teams in bringing him back to North America, following the trajectory of other sluggers who returned after overseas success, such as Eric Thames or Darin Ruf.

Yankees Release Chris Gittens; Gittens Expected To Pursue NPB Opportunity

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The Yankees have released Chris Gittens, according to the MLB.com transactions tracker. Lindsey Adler of the Athletic reports (on Twitter) that the hulking first baseman is likely to pursue an opportunity with a team in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. The move opens a spot on New York’s 40-man roster, which now sits at 39.

This kind of move isn’t uncommon for players on the fringes of a 40-man roster. Teams in South Korea or Japan are often willing to put forth a loftier guaranteed salary than players like Gittens would receive shuttling between the majors and Triple-A. Assuming he’s indeed signing with an NPB club, Gittens is likely to find himself in a more financially stable situation than he’d have been in with the Yankees.

Gittens, 28 in February, earned his first brief big league look this past season. He only tallied 44 MLB plate appearances and didn’t perform especially well, but he had an otherworldly year with their top affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Over 184 trips to the plate at the minors’ top level, the right-handed hitter mashed at a .301/.440/.644 clip with 14 homers. Given that dominant run against high level pitching, it’s easy to understand why he caught the attention of evaluators in foreign pro leagues.

It’s not out of the question Gittens makes a return to the U.S. over the coming seasons. Eric Thames, Merrill Kelly, Miles Mikolas and Josh Lindblom are a few fairly recent examples of former big leaguers who raised their stocks with strong showings in Asian professional leagues. Those players all returned to the U.S. on guaranteed big league deals later in their careers. That’s not to say it’s a given every one-time major leaguer will have that kind of success, but it’s also not out of the realm of possibility Gittens follows a similar path.

Yankees Reinstate Gio Urshela, Place Chris Gittens On 10-Day Injured List

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The Yankees have activated Gio Urshela from the COVID-related injured list. Chris Gittens will replace him on the 10-day injured list after stepping on a bat and turning his ankle, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (via Twitter). Tim Locastro was also transferred to the 60-day injured list, per the team.

Gittens, 27, made his Major League debut this season with a .111/.250/.194 triple slash line in 44 plate appearances. The right-handed hitter absolutely mashed in Triple-A, however, hitting an undeniable .359/.519/.718 in 104 plate appearances.

Urshela will be back at third base for the Yanks. The 29-year-old is again producing for the Yankees, posting 1.5 rWAR with a .275/.315/.441 line and 11 home runs over 314 plate appearances.

Yankees Select Three Players, Place Luke Voit On Injured List

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The Yankees announced a series of roster moves before this evening’s game against the Red Sox. New York selected the contracts of outfielder Greg Allen, catcher Rob Brantly and infielder Hoy Jun Park (previously reported). As expected, All-Star outfielder Aaron Judge, third baseman Gio Urshela and catcher Kyle Higashioka landed on the COVID-19 injured list. (Manager Aaron Boone implied this afternoon all three players had tested positive for the virus as part of its spread within the Yankees clubhouse).

Additionally, first baseman Luke Voit has been placed on the 10-day IL, retroactive to July 13, with left knee inflammation. Fellow first baseman Chris Gittens was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take his active roster spot.

Allen and Brantly each have a decent amount of big league experience, although neither has played in the majors to this point in 2021. Allen, a switch-hitting outfielder, suited up for the Indians and Padres between 2017-20. He’s only managed a tepid .239/.298/.343 line across 618 MLB plate appearances, but he’s an elite runner capable of covering all three outfield spots. The 28-year-old has had a strong season with Scranton, hitting .272/.409/.369 over 128 trips to the dish, drawing 15 walks and rather remarkably reaching base via hit-by-pitch nine times.

Brantly, a lefty-hitting backstop, has appeared in parts of six major league seasons for four different clubs. He appeared in one game with the Giants last year but hasn’t accrued more than 36 MLB plate appearances in any single season since 2013. The 32-year-old has hit a stellar .270/.391/.477 with six homers in 133 plate appearances with the RailRiders this year and will be on hand as Gary Sánchez’s  backup while Higashioka is on the shelf.

As part of the 2021 health and safety protocols, players selected to the big league roster as replacements for players landing on the COVID-19 injured list can be removed from the 40-man roster without being exposed to waivers. Thus, each of Allen, Brantly and Park can be taken off the 40-man and returned to Scranton without being offered to other teams upon the returns of Judge, Urshela and Higashioka.

Voit’s IL placement is unrelated to the Yankees’ COVID-19 situation. It’s the third stint of the season for the slugging first baseman, who’s had a disappointing 2021 campaign because of health woes. The diagnosis of left knee inflammation is particularly alarming since Voit began the season on the IL after undergoing surgery to repair a meniscus tear in the area. (His second stint was due to an oblique strain). Voit will undergo a lubricating injection and is looking at potential platelet-rich plasma treatment, Boone told reporters (including Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). The team didn’t provide a timetable for his return, but it seems he could be looking at another significant absence given the skipper’s comments.

That should leave first base to Gittens, who was selected to the roster during Voit’s second IL stint earlier this year. The 27-year-old didn’t perform well over his first 25 MLB plate appearances, but he’s had a downright monstrous season in Triple-A. The right-handed hitting slugger has mashed at a .359/.519/.718 clip across 104 plate appearances with the RailRiders this year.

Yankees Select Chris Gittens’ Contract

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1:01PM: Gittens has been officially signed to a Major League deal and selected to the Yankees’ roster.  Corey Kluber was moved to the 60-day injured list to open up a 40-man spot for Gittens.

9:37AM: The Yankees will select the contract of first baseman Chris Gittens prior to today’s game against the Red Sox, The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler reports (Twitter link).  Reliever Nick Nelson was optioned to Triple-A after last night’s game, so while there is an opening on the active roster, another transaction is necessary to add Gittens to the 40-man roster.

Now in his seventh pro season, “Hard Hittin’ Gittens” is set to make his Major League debut after being a 12th-round pick for the Yankees in the 2014 draft.  The 27-year-old is a classic first base/DH slugger, though not quite a three-true-outcomes type — Gittens has a .265/.375/.476 slash line and 75 homers over 1727 career plate appearances in the minors.  He does have 476 strikeouts on his resume, though Gittens has cut down on his strikeout rate considerably during what has been a breakout season at Triple-A.

Playing at Triple-A for the first time in his career, Gittens has hit .283/.486/.585 over 74 PA for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.  These offensive numbers would stand out in any circumstance, but they especially appeal to a Yankees team that has been surprisingly mediocre at the plate this season, with especially little coming from the first base position.  Luke Voit has missed much of the year due to injury, and New York first basemen have combined for a 76 wRC+, ranking 26th of 30 teams.

The door is certainly open for Gittens to earn some regular playing time if he can even approach his Triple-A production, as Voit isn’t expected back from his oblique strain until late June.  Gittens’ audition at first base will essentially push Rougned Odor out of New York’s lineup, as DJ LeMahieu will likely move from regular first-base duty to supplant the struggling Odor at second base.

Latest On Yankees’ First Base Situation

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Luke Voit was placed on the 10-day injured list Wednesday due to a Grade 2 oblique strain, and Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including The New York Post’s Dan Martin) today that Voit will miss “at least a few weeks” of action.

Between knee surgery and now this oblique strain, Voit has played in only 12 games this season, hitting .182/.280/.250 over 50 plate appearances.  It has been a marked step down for a player who had been crushing the ball basically since the moment he came to New York in a trade with the Cardinals in July 2018, with Voit even leading the majors in home runs in 2020.

Voit’s absence (and lack of production when he has played) has been one of the many reasons why the Yankees have struggled to score runs, with just about every regular on the team is having a subpar year at the plate.  First base, in particular, has been a problem area — Yankees first basemen have combined for an 82 wRC+, the fifth-worst mark of any team in baseball at the position.  Besides Voit and the now-retired Jay Bruce, DJ LeMahieu, Mike Ford, and Miguel Andujar have all seen time at first base, and while LeMahieu is seemingly the best option on paper, his services have also been required at both second base and third base this season.

Since Voit may not be available until late June at the earliest, it opens the door for another option, such as minor league slugger Chris Gittens.  A 12th-round pick for the Yankees in the 2014 draft, the 27-year-old Gittens isn’t considered a top-30 Yankees prospect by either Baseball America or MLB Pipeline, and he had never played even at Triple-A until this season.

Gittens is something of a throwback player, a classic slugging first base/DH type with a lot of power (.476 slugging percentage, 75 homers) and a lot of swing-and miss (473 strikeouts) over his 1709 career PA in the minors.  That includes a red-hot performance at Triple-A, with a .268/.464/.634 slash line and four homers over 56 plate appearances for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

“He’s swinging the bat really well to start the season,’’ Boone said, adding that Gittens is “very much on our radar” given his Triple-A production.

Gittens isn’t on the 40-man roster, and the Yankees don’t yet have a 40-man spot available since a decision hasn’t yet been made about Corey Kluber’s health situation.  Kluber will miss at least eight weeks recovering from a strain in his rotator cuff, so a shift to the 60-day IL could be inevitable, and such a transaction would free up a 40-man spot for Gittens or perhaps another player.  Martin suggests that the Yankees might also consider veterans who can opt out of their minor league contracts on June 1.

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