TAMPA — Former Mets lefty Jon Niese has a minor league contract and an invite to major league spring training in place from the Yankees as he heads into a physical Monday morning, according to an organizational source.
The move allows the Yankees to take a look at the 30-year-old, who has experience as a starter and 🐷reliever. The Yankees have two spots open in the rotation with lefties Tommy Layne and Chasen Shreve in the bullpen.
The first three spots in the Yankees’ rotation house ace Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia and Michael Pineda. Luis Severino, Bryan Mitchell, Adam Warren, Luis Cesওsa and Chad Green ar💮e competing for the fourth and fifth spots.
Niese spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Mets before get💮ting traded to Pittsburgh before the 2016 season. In 182 games (177 starts) with the Mets from 2008 to 2015, Niese went 61-61 with a 3.91 ERA. With the Pirates last year, Niese went 8-6 with a 4.91 ERA in 23 games (18 starts) and finished the season back with the Mets, where he went 0-1 with a 11🌠.45 ERA in six games (two starts) and underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.