Greg Bird is headed back to the New York Yankees.
The veteran first baseman is returning to the Yankees on a minor league deal.
The 29-year-old had previously signed a minor league pact with the Toronto Blue Jays, but ultimately opted out of that deal.
Bird has not had a taste of the major leagues since 2019.
After bursting onto the scene late in the 2015 season, Bird missed all of 2016 with an injury.
Since then, he hasn’t quite found his stroke at the plate, but as he returns to the Yankees, a new opportunity arises for him to prove himself.
For his career, Bird has hit just .211 with 32 home runs while posting a 0.6 WAR.
The Yankees have signed 1B Greg Bird to a minor league contract. Bird opted out of his minor league deal with Toronto to re-sign with the Yankees and will report to AAA @swbrailriders.
— Sweeny Murti (@YankeesWFAN) April 5, 2022
A New Opportunity
As noted previously, Bird enjoyed a solid run of success in the 2015 season, hitting 11 homers while batting .261 and driving in 31 runs.
Since missing all of 2016, Bird has not been quite the same, hitting below .200 in each of the following three seasons.
He appeared in only 10 games for the Yankees in 2019.
But Bird does have some pop in his bat.
If he can crack the big-league roster at some point, he could be a valuable weapon off the bench and could serve as a solid backup at first base for Anthony Rizzo, essentially filling the hole left after trading Luke Voit to the San Diego Padres.
Bird was a key part of the Yankees’ youth movement before injuries and lack of production slowed him down.
We’ll see if he can make the most of this new opportunity with his old team and find his way back to where he was in his rookie season.
He could prove to be a viable left-handed bench bat for New York if he sees time with the big-league club.
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