Just a few days ago, ex-Yankee Marcus Thames signed on with the Dodgers. That left the current Yankees without a potent right-handed hitter to have available off the bench, and so on Thursday, the team has filled the void by signing free agent Andruw Jones to a one-year contract.
According to Jon Heyman, Jones will receive a base salary of $2 million, with an additional $1.2 million possible in incentives. This'll give Jones a raise from the $500,000 base salary he earned with the White Sox a year ago.
The 33-year-old Jones has been in the bigs since 1996, and is no longer the graceful Hall of Fame-level talent he once was. What he is, though, is a useful role player. Jones still moves around the outfield pretty well, and he continues to hit at a decent clip against southpaws. He'll serve as an option to spell the left-handed Brett Gardner and Curtis Granderson, thereby addressing one of the Yankees' few remaining weaknesses. He'll also get a little time at DH.
After a miserable 2008 with the Dodgers, Jones batted .222 over the last two seasons with a .472 slugging percentage for the Rangers and White Sox. In New York, he should seldom end up having to hit against righties. For more on the deal, be sure to check out Pinstripe Alley.