Overview
- The Yankees announced Tuesday that they signed 34-year-old catcher Christian Bethancourt to a minor-league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
- The deal is minor-league only and does not add Bethancourt to New York’s 40-man roster, so it leaves the big-league roster and service-time options unchanged.
- Bethancourt brings eight MLB seasons of experience and recent Triple-A power, hitting 11 homers with a .466 slugging percentage and a 90 wRC+ in 59 games for Iowa this year.
- The signing is intended as organizational depth behind Austin Wells and backup Ali Sánchez and should not block the Yankees from pursuing a right-handed, higher-impact catcher before the deadline.
- With quality catchers limited on the market, the move gives the Yankees short-term insurance for injury or poor performance and keeps trade flexibility for targets such as Ryan Jeffers or Tyler Stephenson.