Yankees sign veteran catcher Chris Iannetta to a minor-league deal

The Yankees and veteran catcher Chris Iannetta are in agreement on a minor-league deal according to Sweeny Murti of WFAN New York.

After Austin Romine left the Yankees to sign with the Tigers earlier this offseason it looked like his departure would open up an opportunity for Kyle Higashioka to be Gary Sanchez’s new backup. That’s still likely still the case but Higgy could face some stiff competition to win the job this spring.

Over the past month, the Yankees have now signed Iannetta and Erik Kratz to minor-league deals. Both moves were made to give New York some veteran depth behind Sanchez, but also to give them a catcher for their Triple-A squad heading into next season.

Iannetta is entering his 15th major league season and has had a solid career up to this point. He’s a career .230 hitter with a .345 OBP, 141 HR, and 502 RBI. He’s spent the majority of his career as a starter, most notably with the Colorado Rockies who he just finished up his second stint with for the past two seasons. Last year he hit .222 with 6 HR and 21 RBI in 52 games.

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It will be interesting to see how spring training plays out for Iannetta because he’s a proven major league catcher and is probably good enough to be the backup for a handful of other clubs. That’s why it was somewhat surprising to see him sign with the Yankees on a minor league deal.

Maybe he wasn’t getting any big league offers elsewhere or maybe the Yanks told him he has a real shot at competing with Higgy for the backup job. Even despite the fact that he’s not a member of the 40-man roster.

Either way, this is a smart move by New York just to give them some more insurance in case Higgy doesn’t separate himself as the best option to be the backup for Sanchez. The Yankees love him for his defense and ability to hit for power against lefties although he’s still never proved himself for an extended stretch at the big league level. Granted, he’s never really been given the opportunity to do so, but in 146 career at-bats, he’s hitting only .164.

I’m not saying Higgy hasn’t earned the right to be the favorite heading into camp because he definitely should be now that Romine is gone and being out of minor league options should also give him an edge. However, the addition of Iannetta shows that nothing is going to be handed to him and that he still has to impress this spring in order to win the job.