The Yankees have made a formal major league contract offer to right-handed hitting veteran outfielder Austin Slater, according to Brendan Kuty of The Athletic.
The Yankees acquired Slater (age 33) at last year’s 2025 MLB trade deadline from the Chicago White Sox for right-handed pitching prospect, No. 18th-ranked prospect, Gage Ziehl. Slater appeared in 14 games for the Yankees and posted a -0.4 WAR, Wins Above Replacement with a .120 batting average, 2 RBI’s, and a .240 OPS.
Slater Struggled In His Brief Yankees Tenure
Before being traded to the Yankees, Slater, in 51 games for the White Sox, posted a 0.3 WAR with a .236 batting average, 5 home runs, 11 RBI’s, and a .721 OPS. Slater is a right-handed hitting outfielder who particularly does well against left-handed pitching, in which he’s posted a career .267 batting average with 30 home runs, 112 RBI’s, and a .787 OPS lifetime versus left-handed pitching, according to StatMuse.
Slater struggled to stay on the field in 2025, dealing with hamstring and knee injuries. Regardless, the Yankees are looking for another right-handed bat on their roster depth chart, preferably a corner outfielder, according to Brendan Kuty of The Athletic.
The Yankees have also had discussions surrounding another free agent corner outfielder in veteran Randall Grichuk, according to Kuty. The Yankees also have holes in both the bullpen and the starting rotation that they could look to address to finish this offseason.
As it relates to the need for another right-handed bat, the Yankees are in such a market as a possible depth piece in an already left-handed-dominated lineup. The Yankees have already similarly done this already, re-signing utility infielder Amed Rosario, who they also acquired at last year’s trade deadline, and is a right-handed hitter himself who’s had strong career numbers against left-handed pitching with a lifetime .800 OPS against them, according to StatMuse.
The Yankees initially traded for Slater because, before the trade, Slater had an .859 OPS in 42 games versus left-handed pitching with the Chicago White Sox back in 2025, per StatMuse. The Yankees saw value in Slater’s ability as a depth option who’s right-handed and can hit left-handed pitching, but it didn’t quite work out that way the remainder of the 2025 season once the Yankees acquired him.
Yankees Also Looking For Right-Handed Hitter Who Can Play First Base
However, the Yankees clearly have interest in a reunion with this reported formal offer to him, according to Kuty, as the Yankees continue to navigate the free agency and trade market with just a few weeks until Yankees pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training. Kuty also mentions in his article that the Yankees are looking at right-handed hitters who could play first base.
Whether the Yankees actually add another right-handed hitter to this roster, whether that’s Slater or someone else, remains to be seen. Potential right-handed hitting outfield target Austin Hays, who the Yankees were linked to this offseason, came off the board earlier today, having signed a one-year, $6 million dollar contract with the Chicago White Sox, first reported by Jon Heyman of the New York Post on Saturday morning.
The Yankees, though reportedly, primarily viewed Hays as a “backup plan” if they had lost Cody Bellinger in free agency, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Bellinger re-signed with the Yankees, of course, so the chances of that happening obviously diminished.
Kuty mentions other free-agent options the Yankees could look at: outfielder/DH Starling Marte, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, and veteran outfielder Tommy Pham.
Yankees Make Contract Offer To This Free Agent Outfielder As The Search For Right Handed Bat Continues