Romine clears waivers, Yanks outright catcher

The Yankees announced Wednesday that catcher Austin Romine has cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The 26-year-old backstop has batted .204 in 76 career games at the big league level, and he played in seven games for the Yanks last season.

Romine, the son of former big league outfielder Kevin Romine and the brother of Detroit shortstop Andrew Romine, was originally selected by the Yankees in the second round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft.

Romine batted .242 with six home runs in 81 games for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last season.

The Yanks currently have two catchers -- Brian McCann and John Ryan Murphy -- on the big league roster. Murphy, 23 years old, has played in 48 games in the Majors and owns a .252 batting average.