Chris

Iannetta

In a piece by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, Iannetta said the Yankees’ decision to designate him for assignment was effectively the end of his career. “If I didn’t make the team out of spring, I was going to call it a career. They knew that the whole time,” Iannetta said on Saturday. “That’s kind of what transpired when they took me off the roster and wanted me to go to Scranton. I was like, no. I wasn’t about to hang on or sit around and wait for someone to get hurt or get called up again. I’ve never wished anyone to get hurt in my entire career, and I wasn’t about to start now.” The 37-year-old finishes with a .230/.345/.406 line over a 14-year career.

Iannetta had been designated for assignment earlier in the week -- then sent outright to the team’s alternate training site. While there has been no official word on the reason behind the move to the restricted list, it’s possible that the veteran backstop has decided to opt out of the 2020 season.

Iannetta was designated for assignment by the Yankees on Saturday afternoon and passed through waivers unclaimed. The veteran will remain emergency depth at catcher for New York.

Iannetta was inked to a minor league contract a few weeks ago but wasn’t needed with starting catcher Gary Sanchez ready for the start of the season. His DFA makes room for Masahiro Tanaka to return ahead of Saturday’s start against the Red Sox.

Iannetta signed a major league deal on Thursday and will assuredly be on the 30-man roster as the backup backstop to Gary Sanchez to open the delayed 2020 season.

The Yankees are expected to go with Kyle Higashioka, who is out of options, as their backup catcher, so Iannetta is auditioning for pretty much everyone this spring. He’s not the worst option as a backup, but he’s had just one strong offensive season in the last five years and his defense has eroded some at age 36.

Higashioka is currently battling Chris Iannetta, Erik Kratz and Josh Thole for the right to backup Gary Sanchez, but right now, it appears that the 29-year-old has the upper hand. Because of Sanchez’s injury history, there’s a chance that whoever claims the backup gig might be in line for more playing time this summer, but they’ll obviously start the season without any fantasy relevancy.

Assuming the deal gets completed, the 36-year-old Iannetta will battle Kyle Higashioka and Erik Kratz for the right to serve as Gary Sanchez’s backup in 2020. Iannetta slashed .222/.311/.417 with six home runs and 21 RBI over 52 games last summer with the Rockies before getting released in mid-August.

WFAN’s Sweeny Murti was first to report that a deal was close and now Jon Heyman of MLB Network says it has been completed. Iannetta got released by the Rockies last August and failed to latch on with a new team for the stretch run, but he’ll have the opportunity to compete for the backup job behind Gary Sanchez in Yankees camp this spring. Iannetta, a career .230/.345/.406 hitter, turns 37 years old in April.

Iannetta was released by the Rockies in August after batting just .222/.311/.417 with six home runs across 164 plate appearances. He also dropped off defensively, so things are trending in the wrong direction as he hopes to find a job for his age-37 season. He’ll likely have to settle for a minor league deal to compete for a spot.