Yankees sign outfielder Kole Calhoun to minor league contract

Bring in all the Calhouns! The New York Yankees already have Willie, and now they announced the signing of fellow outfielder Kole Calhoun on a minor league deal.

The left-handed hitter is expected to report to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and serve as organizational depth for the Yankees, who are currently without Harrison Bader and Giancarlo Stanton because of injuries. Bader is due to begin a rehab assignment tomorrow, but Stanton is at least six weeks from returning.

Calhoun had signed a minor league deal with the Seattle Mariners in February, with an invitation to spring training. He got out of that pact in late March when he he did not make the team out of camp, and had been a free agent since. The 35-year-old slugger was fine at best in the spring, with a .286/.342/.343 line, good for a .685 OPS with two doubles and no home runs in 35 at-bats.

Calhoun appears to be near the end of the line, but at the very least offers an experienced bat for the Yankees in case of an emergency. He is a career .243/.316/.418 hitter with a 101 wRC+ and 173 home runs. He won a Gold Glove in 2015 with the Angels, though he hasn’t been an above-average outfielder by Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric since 2018.

The last time Calhoun played in the majors was in 2022 with the Texas Rangers. He slashed .196/.257/.330 with 12 round-trippers and a 67 wRC+ in 424 trips to the plate.