According to Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman, the Yankees have signed journeyman right-hander Danny Farquhar to a minor league contract. This will be Farquhar’s second stint in the organization. The Yankees claimed him off waivers from the Athletics in June 2012, then traded him to the Mariners in the Ichiro Suzuki deal a month later.
No matter what he does on the field this season, this is a wonderful story because Farquhar is coming back from a life-threatening brain hemorrhage. While with the White Sox last April he collapsed in the dugout following a relief appearance and had to be rushed to the hospital. The hemorrhage was caused by a ruptured brain aneurysm.
Farquhar spent about three weeks in the hospital and, according to Heyman and Sherman, he’s made a full recovery and is ready to pitch. He was healthy enough to throw out a ceremonial first pitch alongside his teammates, coaches, doctors, and family last June. Check it out:
Now that he’s healthy and given the fact he has a lot of big league time, it’s safe to assume Farquhar received an invitation to big league Spring Training as part of his minor league deal. It probably includes an opt-out if he’s not on the 25-man active roster by a certain date as well. After missing almost all of last season, I have to think Farquhar is ticketed for Triple-A Scranton to begin the season.
Farquhar joins catcher Ryan Lavarnway, infielder Gio Urshela, lefty Rex Brothers, lefty Danny Coulombe, outfielder Billy Burns, righty Drew Hutchison and outfielder Matt Lipka as minor league contract depth pickups this winter.