The Yankees will welcome the former fan favorite and shortstop who started in the 2021 Wild Card Game to Tampa next month.
Fordham Prep graduate Andrew Velasquez has signed a minor league contract with the Yankees that includes an invitation to spring training in 2024 after two seasons with the Angels and two seasons with Gwinnett, the Braves' Triple-A affiliate. The Post's Dan Martin confirmed that.
Near the end of the 2021 season, Velasquez made his team debut in August as a replacement for the injured Gleyber Torres, before blossoming into a feel-good story on a burgeoning Yankees team, appearing in 28 games the rest of the season. Started the season. -We lost to the Red Sox in October.
On August 21, he hit his first home run at Yankee Stadium with his parents watching.
He made his first start against the Yankees and Red Sox and had two hits and two RBIs.
And Velasquez, known by his nickname “Squid,” was impressed with his glove when he was playing defense as Torres' substitute.
However, the Angels lost him to waivers in the offseason, and the Angels acquired him and played in 125 games during the 2022 season, hitting .196 with a .540 OPS.
“The opportunity to play in New York, my hometown, was amazing,” Velasquez told the Post in January 2022. And you never know how the game will work. ”
Six months later, when Velasquez returned to the Bronx with Los Angeles, then-manager Joe Maddon called him “the best shortstop in the American League.” [right now] And Velasquez added that there was “no animosity or anything,” even though he was sidelined by the Yankees due to offseason roster deficiencies.
But barring injury, Velasquez, now 30, doesn't necessarily have a clear path back to shortstop or the Yankees' MLB roster this time.
Anthony Volpe was still in the minors when Velasquez cracked the Yankees' roster, but appeared in 159 and 160 games in his first two seasons in MLB.
However, after Torres left for Detroit as a free agent, he would pose some questions in the middle of the infield and add depth to the team.
Oswaldo Peraza was removed from his minor league options, and Caleb Durbin, another potential asset, was traded to Milwaukee along with Nestor Cortez in a trade for reliever Devin Williams.
Jovit Vivas, who was briefly called up to the majors last season but didn't have much of an impact, is also a candidate.
Velasquez's signing was first reported by YES Network.
