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The Yankees have reportedly signed recently released outfielder Brennan Boesch to a major league deal. With the injuries to Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, and now Ronnier Mustelier giving everyone a scare, you knew the Yankees were itching to sign some lame excuse for a veteran. They signed Ben Francisco when he was released by the Indians, because they like him for all the good things he does.
Boesch has been on the Yankees' radar since being released by the Tigers for being a disappointment and hurt. Last year he had a .240/.286/.372 batting line in 503 plate appearances. He wasn't even on last year's playoff roster because he had a hurt thumb and they probably didn't miss him. He is a left-handed hitter who has hit lefties better over his career, which amounts to a league average 110 wRC+ against a 92 wRC+ through three seasons.
He turns 28 in April, so he's still young and could improve because he's just a year removed from a decent .281/.341/.458 season in 2011. He has good power and will be able to hit around 15 home run as well, so there is that. The problem is that Melky Mesa, Mustelier, and Thomas Neal could probably approach those numbers too if given the opportunity. Giving Boesch a $1.5M deal with incentives doesn't seem necessary, but that's the Yankees way. Veterans at all cost.
Since it is a major league deal it probably means that this will likely be the end to the Spring Training outfield competition and the Yankees will go with some combination of Boesch, Francisco, and Juan Rivera.
This would also mean that even the Mets passed on Boesch. Ugh.