Yankees announce 32 non-roster invitees for spring training

The Yankees have typically announced their non-roster invitees in early February most years, so it was a little strange to see them wait so long to reveal them in 2021. As pitchers and catchers reported early on Wednesday, they finally did so, revealing the full list of 12 minor leaguers and 20 players signed to minor league contracts who will be taking the field alongside the Yankees’ current 40-man roster in Tampa.*

*No, the move for Justin Wilson has not yet been announced but it should be coming soon.

Most of these names should already be somewhat familiar to either prospect enthusiasts or people who have been following the Yankees’ minor league deals this winter. The new ones who we just learned about today are infielder Derek Dietrich and reliever Nick Goody.

The 31-year-old Dietrich has spent 8 years in the majors, belting 84 homers in 746 games, mostly with the Marlins. He had a career-high 19 dingers in 2019 with the Reds, though his overall OPS+ of 99 that year was actually his lowest since 2014 (thank the juiced ball). In 25 games with the Rangers in 2020, he hit .197/.347/.459 with a 118 OPS+. Dietrich has experience at first, second, third, and the outfield, but there’s a reason that the plurality of his outings in 2020 came at DH. Still, he might give Tyler Wade some competition for a bench role.

Goody is 29 and was once a Baby Bomber. Selected in the sixth round of the 2012 MLB Draft out of LSU, the right-hander debuted and pitched 34 games for the Yankees between 2015-16 with a 4.67 ERA and 5.11 FIP before being dealt to Cleveland in an offseason deal. Goody notched a career-best 2.80 ERA, 3.45 FIP, and 1.079 WHIP in 56 games in 2017, striking out nearly 12 batters per nine innings. Since then, he’s sandwiched two bad years around one other good one in 2019. Goody had to settle for a minor league deal because his ERA in 11 games for the Rangers in 2020 was 9.00, and not a fluky 9.00 either. So he’ll certainly be a long shot to make the bullpen.

Here’s the rundown of every non-roster invitee. If we did a post about their signing, it’s mentioned in a link next the player’s name (Peter recently wrote about all the known pitchers, so his article is useful). I’ve also included each player’s 2020 status.

Pitchers

RHP Kyle Barraclough (post)
2020: Padres spring training; released in July

RHP Jhoulys Chacín (post)
2020: Braves

LHP Nestor Cortes Jr. (post)
2020: Mariners

RHP Luis García (post)
2020: Rangers

RHP Nick Goody (post)
2020: Rangers

LHP Trevor Lane
2020: Yankees organization (High-A/AA/AAA in 2019)

RHP Lucas Luetge
2020: A’s organization (AA/AAA with A’s in 2019)

LHP Tyler Lyons (post)
2020: Yankees

RHP Reggie McClain (post)
2020: Phillies

RHP Glenn Otto (post)
2020: Yankees organization (Rk/High-A in 2019)

RHP Addison Russ (post)
2020: Phillies/Yankees organization (AA with Phillies in 2019)

RHP Adam Warren (post)
2020: Yankees in spring training; released in July (Tommy John surgery)

RHP Asher Wojciechowski (post)
2020: Orioles

Catchers

Josh Breaux (post)
2020: Yankees organization (Low-A in 2019)

Rob Brantly (post)
2020: Giants (Yankees organization in September)

Robinson Chirinos (post)
2020: Rangers/Mets

Kellin Deglan
2020: Yankees organization (AA/AAA in 2019)

Max McDowell
2020: Yankees organization (AA with Brewers in 2019)

Anthony Seigler (post)
2020: Yankees organization (Low-A in 2019)

Austin Wells (post)
2020: Yankees organization (drafted in 2020)

Infielders

3B Armando Alvarez
2020: Yankees organization (AA/AAA in 2019)

UTIL Derek Dietrich (post)
2020: Rangers

2B Ezequiel Duran (post)
2020: Yankees organization (Short-Season A in 2019)

1B Chris Gittens
2020: Yankees organization (AA in 2019)

2B/SS Hoy Jun Park (post)
2020: Yankees organization (AA in 2019)

UTIL Andrew Velazquez (post)
2020: Orioles

Outfielders

Trey Amburgey (post)
2020: Yankees organization (AAA in 2019)

Michael Beltre
2020: Reds organization (High-A/AA with Reds in 2019)

Sócrates Brito (post)
2020: Pirates organization (opted out in September)

Jay Bruce (post)
2020: Phillies

Ryan LaMarre
2020: Cubs organization (released in September)

Thomas Milone
2020: Yankees organization (High-A/AA with Rays in 2019)