The Yankees may be less than 24 hours away from Opening Day, but Brian Cahman wasn’t done tinkering with his roster.
The Bronx Bombers signed outfielder Franchy Cordero to a one-year, $1 million deal, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The deal would be worth $180,000 in the minors, but Cordero is expected to be on the Yankees Opening Day roster.
Cordero had been released by the Baltimore Orioles after he had a monster spring for the AL East ballclub. In 47 plate appearances, Cordero slashed 413/.426/.674 with seven extra-base hits for the Orioles.
While he may have been playing well with Baltimore in the spring, the Orioles have a stockpile of talented young outfielders that made it hard to keep Cordero on the roster. The 28-year-old had also been coming off a year with the Red Sox last season he slashed .219/.300/.397 with eight home runs.
Ironically, Cordero had a slight connection to the Yankees already having been part of the trade between Kansas City and Boston that involved former Bomber outfielder Andrew Benintendi.
Cordero would give the Yankees some much-needed outfield depth with Harrison Bader missing the start of the season. It has put New York in a bit of a quandary while they try to figure out how to fill the hole until Bader returns.
Cordero gives the Yankees a player that has played all three outfield positions and first base over the course of his MLB career.
The signing does raise questions about the future of Estevan Florial, who was expected to make the Opening Day lineup but now could find himself on the outside looking in. Florial is out of minor league options and would have to go through waivers if he doesn’t make the Opening Day roster.
Florial had hit .167 with a .548 OPS during the spring with the Yankees, but also struck out 19 times in 49 plate appearances.
