Depleted Yankees sign Brennan Boesch to one-year contract

With Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira out of the picture early and Alex Rodriguez expected to miss at least half of the regular season, the New York Yankees have been desperately searching for stopgaps and band-aids to help keep their offense functional.

First, they reached out to former Atlanta Braves star Chipper Jones, who passed to focus on his admittedly lousy golf game. Then they called up Derrek Lee, who also turned them down as retirement has proven to be to his liking. That finally led general manager Brian Cashman to seek out active players with a little bit of pop.

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As things would turn out, one of those actually became available this week when the Detroit Tigers released outfielder Brennan Boesch.

According to CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman, the Yankees wasted little time in snatching Boesch up, agreeing to a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the 27-year-old on Friday. He'll now enter into competition with the likes Juan Rivera and Matt Diaz for playing time in the outfield, and a good final three weeks of spring training could allow New York to move Rivera over to first base to log some time there while he platoons with Diaz.

It’s also possible he’ll battle veteran Travis Hafner for some at-bats at the designated hitter spot.

The point is, he gives them options. Not exactly great options, but a few more than they had on Thursday. It could also create a bit of a logjam in the outfield once Granderson returns. With Ichiro there, Brett Gardner there, and now with Boesch in the mix, that’s the potential for four left-handed bats. Boesch would almost certainly be the odd man out under those circumstances, but as Chad Jennings over at The Journal News notes, that’s a problem for a day in May.

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Right now, the Yankees simply need healthy bodies, and with Boesch they get one that has both experience and respectable power.

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