(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

The Yankees are looking for a left-handed DH on the cheap, and they may have found one today. Dan Martin reports that they’ve signed Russell Branyan to a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training, where he’ll get a chance to make the team. Joel Sherman says he’ll earn $750k plus incentives while on the active roster. Since it’s a non-guaranteed contract, the signing doesn’t necessarily preclude the Yankees from signing someone like Raul Ibanez or Johnny Damon.

Branyan, 36, spent last season with the Diamondbacks and Angels and was pretty awful. He posted a .300 wOBA with five homers in 146 plate appearances, his worst season in about eleven years. He is just a year removed from 25 homers and a .350 wOBA, however. Branyan does three things really, really well. He strikes out a ton (29.7 K% last three years), draws lots of walks (11.3 BB%), and hits for ungodly power (.248 ISO). He has eight homers in 14 career games at the New Yankee Stadium, including some of the longest blasts in the ballpark’s history (like this one off Javy Vazquez and this one off Al Aceves).

Over the last three seasons, Branyan has hit .250/.347/.507 against right-handed pitchers but only .208/.290/.435 against southpaws, so he’s strictly a platoon bat. Although he has some third base and left field experience under his belt, it’s been a while since he’s played anywhere other than first. Frankly, his best position is DH. Coincidentally, he was part of that 2008 Brewers team with CC Sabathia and the recently signed Bill Hall. If nothing else, Branyan should put on a show in Spring Training.

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Yanks sign Russell Branyan to minor league deal

(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

The Yankees have signed utility man Bill Hall according to utility man Bill Hall. We first heard rumblings that the two sides were talking last week. Erik Boland confirmed that it’s a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training. Ken Rosenthal says Hall will get a $600k base salary if he makes the team with another $50k each for 100, 150, 200 and 250 plate appearances plus another $100k each for 300, 350, 400, and 450 plate appearances. That’s a total of $600k in incentives. He can opt out of his contract if he’s not on the big league roster by April 4th, two days before the start of the season.

Hall, 32, is supposedly a close friend of CC Sabathia‘s from their time together on the Brewers. He was atrocious for the Astros and Giants last season, like .252 wOBA with a 31.7% strikeout rate in 199 plate appearances atrocious, but Hall did club 18 homers with a .342 wOBA in nearly 400 plate appearances for the Red Sox as recently as 2010. He does have some power (career .188 ISO) and is very versatile, having played over 200 career games at second, third, and short while also seeing considerable time in all three outfield spots. The defensive numbers are mixed, however.

The Yankees have been connected to Hall in each of the last three or four offseason it seems, so Brian Cashman finally got his guy. The signing doesn’t impact the team’s pursuit of a left-handed DH-type. Last night we heard that the Yankees were in serious talks with Raul Ibanez, and that a deal with a DH-type could be wrapped up this week. Don’t be surprised if the Yankees bring in another player or two to compete with Hall for a bench spot either.

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Yankees sign Bill Hall to minor league deal

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Yankees outright Kevin Whelan to Triple-A

Delcarmen turns 30 in about two weeks, and he hasn’t pitched in the bigs since 2010. He split last year in the Rangers’ and Mariners’ farm systems, pitching to a 5.59 ERA in 38.2 IP. He owns a 3.97 ERA and a 4.01 FIP in just about 300 big league innings, most coming with Boston. It’s nothing more than a depth move for Triple-A Scranton, and he’ll join former teammate Hideki Okajima in the minors while the Yankees employ good pitchers in MLB.

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Yankees sign Future NL Closer™ Manny Delcarmen

All six of the Yankees arbitration-eligible players (Logan, David Robertson, Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Brett Gardner, Russell Martin) are now under contract next year for a total of $18.65M in guaranteed money (not including bonuses). Matt Swartz’s model at MLBTR projected the six players to sign for $17.8M combined, so give him a round of applause. Getting within 5% is pretty damn good in my book.

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Yankees avoid arbitration with Boone Logan

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It’s official: Kuroda’s a Yankee

Whelan, 28, was one of the first in line to go whenever a 40-man spot was needed, so this isn’t much of a surprise. The right-hander walked five of the ten men he faced in his big league cameo, but had a fine year in Triple-A: 3.24 FIP in 52.1 IP. His 2.4 BB/9 and 6.8 BB% in the minors were his first sub-5.5 BB/9 and a sub-14.0 BB% since 2006, so he’s always had significant control issues.

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Yankees designate Kevin Whelan for assigment

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It’s official: Andruw’s back for another year

6:05pm: The Yankees announced that they’ve avoided arbitration with Russell Martin by agreeing to a one-year contract. No word on the terms yet, but Russ filed for $8.2M while the team countered with $7M last week. Splitting the difference and calling it $7.6M seems fair enough. Martin is eligible for free agency after this coming season, and there’s been some speculation that the Yankees could look to sign him to a multi-year contract. That can still happen at any time, this deal doesn’t change that at all. The team’s only remaining unsigned arbitration-eligible player is Boone Logan.

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Yankees avoid arbitration with Russell Martin

The Yankees now have an open spot on the 40-man roster, but that will be filled rather quickly. We’re still waiting on the Hiroki Kuroda signing to be finalized, but last we heard he was still in Japan enjoying the offseason. His physical might not happen for a while. Andruw Jones‘ new contract still isn’t official yet either. Make sure you check out our Depth Chart to see where the team’s roster stands. So long Jesus and Hector, and welcome to the Boogie Down, Michael and Jose.

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It’s Official: Montero & Noesi for Pineda & Campos is a done deal