TAMPA — Greg Bird is back with the Yankees.
The 29-year-old first baseman signed a minor league deal with the team on Tuesday, sources confirmed.
Bird will report to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where the Yankees previously stashed Ronald Guzman, who was also in camp on a minor league deal.
Anthony Rizzo is the first baseman, with DJ LeMahieu and perhaps Marwin Gonzalez able to fill in there. But they don’t have much depth in the organization at the spot after trading Luke Voit to the Padres.
Bird opted out of his minor league deal with the Blue Jays on Monday after being informed he wouldn’t make their 40-man roster, despite playing well during spring training — including a homer against the Yankees.
The Yankees have brought back Greg Bird on a minor league deal. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post“He can hit,’’ Aaron Boone said. “Health has always been the issue for him, but I don’t think anyone’s ever doubted his potential and what he could be as a big league hitter. We get another talented guy who appears to be healthy. … Injuries derailed him and never let him build volume or momentum.”
The move brings the lefty-swinging Bird back to the team that drafted him in 2011. He made his MLB debut with the Yankees in 2015, hitting 11 homers in 46 games.
But injuries soon got in the way, as he missed the 2016 season due to a torn labrum in his shoulder during the offseason that required surgery.
Ankle and foot injuries limited him to just 140 games from 2017-19. He spent last year with Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate and then had a .958 OPS in 23 at-bats with Toronto this spring.
Greg Bird with the Blue Jays during a spring training game against the Yankees on March 26, 2022. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post“You always think [what if],” Bird said last month of his Yankees tenure. “But you look back on the past and learn from it, not dwell on it. It’s fun to reminisce and talk about. I’ll forever hold memories that I had with [Aaron Judge] and other guys. But it happened the way it happened and you can’t change it. We had fun and I’m looking forward to watching him play and playing against him now.”
Instead, they could be playing together again, which they last did in 2019.
“I was surprised,’’ Judge said of Bird’s signing. “I’m excited. I think this is where he belongs.He’s a Yankee through and through, coming up through the organization.”
Judge spoke to Bird during the spring and said the first baseman “knows he’s one step away. He’s in a good spot. … He had a great spring training.”
Boone said the Yankees like right-hander David McKay’s ability to spin his pitches, which is among the reasons they traded for him from Tampa Bay on Monday, when the 27-year-old triggered a clause in his contract that allowed him to go to a team that would put him on the 40-man roster if the Rays did not. The Yankees gave up cash considerations. To make room on the 40-man roster, RHP Stephen Ridings was moved to the 60-day IL.
McKay has been sidetracked by injuries and missed all of last season following hip surgery.
Zack Britton will stay in Tampa for at least the next month as he rehabs from elbow surgery in hopes of returning in the latter part of the season.
