The Yankees have signed catcher Nick Ciuffo to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com.
This is a nice birthday present for Ciuffo, who turns 28 years old today. Originally selected by the Rays in the first round of the 2013 draft, he was a notable prospect in their system for many years after that. Though he was originally considered a well-rounded prospect, he seemed to struggle at the plate when he reached the upper levels of the minors.
Since the start of 2018, he’s appeared in 167 minor league games with a batting line of .247/.299/.381, walking in just 6.8% of his plate appearances while striking out at a 28.8% rate. He’s also appeared in 21 major league games over that time, hitting .188/.259/.292 for the Rays and Orioles. Ciuffo spent last year in Triple-A with the White Sox but was punched out in 31.1% of his trips to the plate.
For the Yankees, it was reported last week that they were looking for some some extra depth behind the plate because of a rash of injuries at the position. Ben Rortvedt, Austin Wells and Josh Breaux each suffered injuries that will keep them out of action for at least a few weeks. The Yanks still have their primary catching tandem healthy in Jose Trevino and Kyle Higashioka, but the latter is participating in the World Baseball Classic and will be away from camp for a while. With all of those absences, it makes sense that they would look to bring in another receiver to help out with all the arms looking to get ready for the season.
If Ciuffo is able to make his way onto the roster at any point, he has a full slate of options and less than a year of service time, meaning he could stick around as depth for a while if the Yankees would like.
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