Yankees make very questionable move by signing long-time veteran

Matt Sullivan

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Yankees make very questionable move by signing long-time veteran image

The New York Yankees are typically one of the most active and aggressive teams in free agency and the trade market. But this offseason has been different.

Cody Bellinger is still unsigned, and the other top free agents have all signed with little interest from the Yankees. And the moves they have made haven't been the biggest.

Another such questionable move came to fruition on Sunday morning, as according to Jon Heyman of The New York Post, the Yankees have signed a veteran infielder.

Yankees sign veteran infielder in questionable FA move

"Paul DeJong agrees to deal with Yankees," Heyman reports. "Minors deal, MLB camp invite."

DeJong is coming to the Yankees roster as an MLB camp invite to fight for a chance to earn a roster spot in the Majors.

DeJong is a 32-year-old veteran who's been in the Major Leagues since the 2017 season. He was formerly an All-Star with the St. Louis Cardinals back in 2019, when he had 5.2 bWAR with a.233 average and.762 OPS.

But, overall in his Major League career, DeJong has hit just.229 with a.710 OPS across nine seasons. There's been some ups and downs, but for the most part, he's not been a great player over the last few years.

More: Yankees officially announce signing of veteran infielder

Since 2022, DeJong has been hitting.209 with a.636 OPS and a 77 OPS+ across 385 games with the Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, and Washington Nationals.

This signing is not a major one and is just for depth purposes. But, amid the Blue Jays' signing Kazuma Okamoto and the moves from the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles, the Yankees' lack of splash signings or trades is concerning.

While there's still time to make some big additions to the roster for 2026, the Yankees so far have shown no indication of doing as such.

This signing of DeJong only further adds credence to the idea that the Yankees are not planning to spend big, as their answer to the Blue Jays move was a journeyman veteran who's struggled to find a landing spot in recent years.

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News Correspondent