Yankees Invite 20 to Spring Training

The Yankees released their spring training roster today, which involved 20 non-roster invitees. Non-roster invitees are players that are not on the 40 man roster that are invited to spring training.

Here is the list:

C Kyle Higashioka

C Jesus Montero

C P.J. Pilittere

C Austin Romine

C Mike Rivera

OF Marcus Thames

OF Colin Curtis

OF Reid Gorecki

OF Jon Weber

OF David Winfree

SP Jeremy Bleich

SP Jason Hirsh

SP Kei Igawa

SP Zach McAllister

RP Wilkins Arias

RP Grant Duff

RP Royce Ring

RP Amaury Sanit

RP Zack Segovia

RP Kevin Whelan

Yankees Add Another Ex

The Yankees added even more outfield depth today by signing former Yankee Marcus Thames. Thames, who spent 2009 with the Detroit Tigers, was added on a minor league deal, paying him $900,000 if he makes the Major League roster.

Thames (pronounced "Tims" - as in "more than one Tim"), 33 next season, was drafted in the 30th round of the 1996 draft by the Yankees. He made a memorable Major League debut by hitting a homerun on the first pitch he ever saw - off of Randy Johnson. He would then be sent to Texas in the offseason in a trade for Ruben Sierra. After becoming a minor league free agent, he signed with the Tigers, where he would be from 2004 to 2009.

Last year, in 258 at-bats, Thames hit .252/.323 with a .777 OPS, along wiht 13 homeruns. Thames has a lot of power, but a low batting average, mediocre OBP, and a terrible glove.

With the signing of Thames, the chances of Jamie Hoffman making the team just got a little bit slimmer.