Yankees Sign Carlos Corporan to Minor League Deal

According to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation, the New York Yankees have signed 32-year old catcher Carlos Corporan to a minor league deal.

The Yankees have been searching for catching depth all winter after trading John Ryan Murphy to Minnesota for Aaron Hicks. They were in on the Tyler Flowers sweepstakes, but after he chose to sign with Atlanta, the Yankees had to look elsewhere.

Now, with Corporan in the fold, all signs point to the veteran being added to the mix to compete with Austin Romine and top-rated prospect Gary Sanchez in spring training to serve as Brian McCann‘s backup in 2016. 

After spending the early parts of his career with the Houston Astro from 2011-2014, Corporan was dealt across the ‘Lone Star State’ to the Texas Rangers last January for a minor league pitcher.

Corporan didn’t play well in the dimensions of Globe Life Park in Arlington, as he struggled to a .178/.244/.299 slash line with three home runs in 121 plate appearances. Naturally, after his abysmal performance, Corporan was non-tendered by the Rangers in December.

However, not all hope is lost.

According to his .237/.297/.383 slash line with 17 home runs and 63 RBI in 485 plate appearances with the Astros, Corporan can potentially prove to be a serviceable backup if he performs well.

On the defensive side of the diamond, the Puerto Rican native is average to above-average in framing from behind the dish over the past three seasons, according to StatCorner.com and Baseball Prospectus. He does struggle when it comes to preventing stolen bases with a caught-stealing rate of just 23%.

Though Corporan isn’t a major upgrade over Romine or the inexperienced Gary Sanchez, one plus is that he’s cost efficient. Even if Corporan makes the major league roster out of Spring Training and finishes the entire season in pinstripes, he can be controlled through the 2017 season, as he currently has just four years of MLB service time under his belt. Also, Corporan is a switch hitter, so Girardi can use him off the bench as pinch hitter to counter bullpen specialist late in ballgames if the opportunity presents itself.