February 4, 2020

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Langley Blaze and Junior National Team alum Kellin Deglan (Langley, B.C.) has re-signed with the New York Yankees and has been invited to their big league camp this spring.

The New York Yankees announced the deal on Monday. Deglan is one of 19 non-roster players that the Bronx Bombers have invited to spring training.

Deglan, 27, split 2019 between the Yankees’ double-A and triple-A affiliates and batted .257 with nine home runs in 71 games. That represented his second season in the Yankees’ organization.

Selected in the first round (22nd overall) out of R.E. Mountain Secondary School by the Texas Rangers in the 2010 MLB draft, Deglan spent his first seven professional seasons in the Rangers’ organization, rising as high as the double-A level. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound catcher belted 12 or more home runs in four seasons in the Rangers’ system.

With the departure of Austin Romine, who signed with the Detroit Tigers as a free agent on December 13, the Yankees are looking for a catcher to back up Gary Sanchez. Kyle Higashioka is the only catcher other than Sanchez on the club's 40-man roster. Higashioka batted .214 with three home runs in 57 major league plate appearances last season.

Deglan is one of five Yankees’ non-roster invitees that are catchers. The other four are former Blue Jays Josh Thole and Erik Kratz, longtime Rockies backstop Chris Iannetta and minor league veteran Wynston Sawyer.

Yankees pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to Tampa, Fla., for spring training on February 13.