Yankees sign former first-round pick Jace Peterson

On Friday, the Yankees signed 27-year-old utility player Jace Peterson to a minor league deal that could be worth over 900k, should he make the major league roster.

A month after being non-tendered by the Braves, Jace Peterson has found a new home with the Yankees. However, it could only be a temporary one, as Peterson will have an uphill battle to make the 25-man roster out of Spring Training.

Luckily for Peterson, he did play six different positions in 2017 — four infield and both corner outfield spots, so maybe that gives him a better chance of overtaking someone like Tyler Wade, whom the Yankees are hopeful can eventually become their homegrown ‘do it all type.’

Peterson, the former first-round pick of the Padres back in 2011 has never hit the way he was advertised to.

A career .234/.319/.331 hitter, whose amassed 15 homers across parts of four seasons (356 games), the nicest thing you can say about a guy once traded for Justin Upton is that he (Peterson) has good plate discipline and finished 2017 with a .635 OPS in 215 plate appearances.

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I know, I know, MEH.

Upon reading that Peterson will head to Tampa in six weeks time, to test his mettle against the likes of Gleyber Torres, Ronald Torreyes and Miguel Andujar, I don’t give him much of a chance of seeing the light of day outside of Triple-A Scranton.

However, Jeff Todd of MLBTradeRumors.com believes Peterson is a sold low-cost addition that fits a need for the Yankees.

“If things work out, the Yanks could yet control Peterson for two or more seasons through the arb process. Peterson has just 3.003 years of service, so if he spends a bit of time in the minors to open the year, it’s possible he’d still have three years of control ahead of him.”

Don’t get it twisted, general manager Brian Cashman didn’t acquire Peterson because he’s a better option than say, Josh Harrison of the Pirates. Instead, Cash needs to fill the rosters of his minor league clubs too, and it helps that Peterson has “show” experience.

Next: Yanks $19 million shy of luxury tax

Maybe Peterson catches lightning in a bottle — perhaps not. Regardless, in my opinion, he’s a better option than Donovan Solano. More likely, though, Peterson is Dustin Ackley, part two.

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On Friday, the Yankees signed 27-year-old utility player Jace Peterson to a minor league deal that could be worth over 900k, should he make the major league roster.

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