In mid-February, the Yankees signed veteran slugger Jay Bruce to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. He started the Grapefruit League nicely, going 4-for-6 with a homer, but cooled off and finished the warm-up games with a .206/.289/.441 line.
It wasn’t a scintillating performance by any means, but Luke Voit got injured, and suddenly it was decision time for the Yankees. Bruce had a clause in his pact that stated the Yankees needed to add him to the 40-man roster or release him by March 25th, and the first scenario came to fruition once it was revealed that Voit would be out for several weeks.