The Yankees have reportedly beefed up their Triple-A outfield and potential competition for the open left field job, signing both Billy McKinney and Willie Calhoun to minor-league deals with invites to spring training.
MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (McKinney) and Mark Feinsand (Calhoun) were the first to report the deals.
McKinney, a former Yankee, played 23 games for Oakland last season, slashing .096/.158/.173, and he is a career .201 hitter in 263 games with six teams over five seasons. The No. 24 overall pick in the 2013 Draft, McKinney was dealt twice – from the A’s to the Cubs, then the Cubs to the Yankees in the Aroldis Chapman deal – before making his MLB debut in 2018 in pinstripes.
He played just two games, however, before being dealt to Toronto in the J.A. Happ deal, and he has since played for the Brewers, Mets, Dodgers, and A’s as well.
Calhoun, 28, was the centerpiece of the Dodgers-Rangers deal for Yu Darvish in 2017, and he made his MLB debut in Texas in 2017. He spent parts of six seasons with the Rangers before being dealt to San Francisco in June 2022, and last year he hit .135 in a combined 22 games for Texas and the Giants last season.
For his career, Calhoun owns a .240/.299/.404 slash line with 32 homers and 104 RBI over 257 games.
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