8:30pm: Jon Heyman says the Yankees are not interested in Betancourt “at this time.” The Phillies did indeed release him earlier today rather than add him to their roster, by the way.
2:00pm: Via Jim Salisbury: The Yankees are one of a handful of teams “poking around” on infielder Yuniesky Betancourt. I assume their thinking involves bringing in someone who would make Eduardo Nunez — who will start at shortstop as Derek Jeter slowly recovers from his ankle injury — look like an All-Star by comparison.
Betancourt, 31, can opt-out of his minor league contract with the Phillies if they do not add him to the roster today. He’s had a strong camp — 21-for-47 (.447) with three doubles and a homer — but remains one of the very worst players in baseball, a no-hit/no-glove type. Yuni is a .266/.290/.392 (79 wRC+) hitter in nearly 4,000 career plate appearances with a -49.2 UZR and -74 DRS in just over 8,200 defensive innings, in case you didn’t believe me. The Phillies are likely to keep him as a backup infielder, so the Yankees might not even get a chance to acquire Betancourt if they wanted.