NEW YORK — Matt Carpenter agreed to a one-year contract with the New York Yankees on Thursday, a week after he was released from the Texas Rangers' minor league system.
Injury-hit New York also selected the contract of 31-year-old left-hander Manny Bañuelos from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before Thursday's series opener at Tampa Bay. Bañuelos was in the Yankees' minor league system from 2008-14 but never made it up to the big league club during that time.
Carpenter, 36, gets a contract paying a $1 million salary while in the major leagues and $200,000 while in the minors. A three-time All-Star with the St. Louis Cardinals, he hit .275 with six homers and 19 RBIs in 21 games for Round Round of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.
Carpenter spent the previous 11 seasons with the Cardinals, batting .262 with 155 homers and 576 RBIs. He hit .169 last year with three homers and 21 RBIs in 207 at-bats.
He played 19 games at first this year, one at third and two at designated hitter. DJ LeMahieu. who has shared time at third base with Josh Donaldson while also playing first and second, missed the final two games of a series against Baltimore because of a sore left wrist and was not in Thursday night's starting lineup.
Bañuelos gets an $800,000 salary while in the major leagues and $150,000 while in the minors.
He pitched in the major leagues for Atlanta in 2015 and the Chicago White Sox in 2019, going 4-8 with a 6.31 ERA in 14 starts and seven relief appearances. Bañuelos is 0-2 with a 2.35 ERA in five starts and two relief appearances for Scranton, striking out 30 and walking 12 in 30 2/3 innings.
Bañuelos, a member of Mexico's pitching staff at last year's Olympics, split the 2021 season between the Fubon Guardians in Taiwan and Mexico's Sultanes de Monterrey.
New York assigned catcher Rob Brantly outright to the RailRiders. The Yankees opened spots on the active 26-man roster by optioning left-hander JP Sears and outfielder Estevan Florial to Scranton after Wednesday's 2-0 win.