Via Joel Sherman: The Yankees have signed infielder Gil Velazquez to a minor league contract. I assume he received an invitation to Spring Training, but who knows.
Velazquez, 33, has hit .236/.253/.250 (34 wRC+) in just 75 big league at-bats with the Red Sox, Angels, and Marlins over the years. He’s a career .267/.329/.366 hitter in over 2,400 Triple-A plate appearances, and he has a ton of experience at the three non-first base infield positions. Velazquez essentially takes the place of Ramiro Pena, that emergency infielder teams like to keep stashed in Triple-A.
Pena, meanwhile, recently landed a guaranteed one-year deal from the Braves according to Mark Bowman. Good for him.