Yankees ink veteran infielder Cliff Pennington to minor league deal

Nothing says we’ve got injuries quite like signing veteran players to minor league contracts. And so, on Friday, the Yankees brought in 34-year-old infielder Cliff Pennington as insurance.

Just one day after claiming right-handed reliever Jake Parker off waivers from the Pirates, the Yankees went to the scrap heap yet again, this time signing veteran infielder Cliff Pennington to a minor league contract.

After being released by Oakland following their opening series in Japan, Pennington will head to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to gather his barre-ings (see what I did there?). On a positive note, Pennington did go 8-for-27 during Cactus League action.

Having spent 11 years with five different clubs, Pennington has played a multitude of positions, including 609 at shortstop, 233 at second, 64 at third, 16 in the outfield, three at first base and one on the mound.

Know for his defensive acumen, Pennington has never provided much with his switch-hitting stick — as his career line of .242/.309/.339 with 36 home runs, 242 RBIs and 619 strikeouts in 3142 plate appearances would attest.

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In 2018, Pennington only saw 16 big league games with the Cincinnati Reds, where he went 4-for-29 with five walks and 13 strikeouts. He spent the bulk of his time at Triple-A Round Rock, in the Texas Rangers organization.

With Tyler Wade and Thairo Estrada getting called up to the Bronx due to Miguel Andujar and Troy Tulowitzki being placed on the injured list, Scranton needed some experience.

However, with 10 Yankees already on the I.L., there’s a real chance Pennington sees some playing time in New York. While Andujar’s status will be decided in two weeks, it’s hard to imagine the runner-up for last season’s Rookie of the Year Award, playing much third base with a partially torn right labrum.

To make room on the Railriders roster, infielder Wendell Rijo was reassigned to Double-A Trenton.