Yankees News: Rivera signing official; Miller claimed; Nix and Storey DFA

The New York Yankees officially announced the one-year, $10 million contract with future Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera Friday. With it came a corresponding roster move to designate infielder Jayson Nix for assignment just a couple hours after the Yankees tendered him a one-year deal for $900,000. The Yankees also claimed reliever Jim Miller off waivers from the Oakland A’s which resulted in designating Mickey Storey for assignment.

Jayson Nix was tendered a contract for 2013 (one-year, $900K) but was then designated for assignment to make room for Mariano Rivera on the 40-man roster. (Image: Tom Szczerbowski-US PRESSWIRE)

Rivera’s deal is said to have the following incentives on top of the $10 million guarantee according to a tweet from FOX Sports reporter Ken Rosenthal; $500K for ALCS MVP, $1 million for World Series MVP and $1 million for winning the Rolaids top reliever award. Those are awards the Yankees will gladly pay on top of a $5 million decrease in salary from what Rivera pulled in for the 2012 season.

Journal News reporter Chad Jennings wrote that Nix has agreed to accept an assignment to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre if he clears waivers. He’ll have the chance to compete for a utility role during Spring Training. Nix was a nice option for the Yankees to have last season and ultimately won a utility spot over Eduardo Nunez. Nix was able to play multiple positions on the field and performed well enough in each of them. His slash line in 202 plate appearances was .243/.306/.384. He hit four home runs and drove in 18 while adding six stolen bases.

The right-handed Miller tossed 48 2/3 innings for the A’s in 2012 going 2-1 with a 2.57 ERA. The ERA is nice to look at but his FIP was 4.74 so there is room for concern. He struck out 8.14 batters per nine and walked an ugly 4.99 batters per nine. Miller is just another depth move for the Yankees.

Storey was just recently picked up off waivers from the Houston Astros.