Yanks tender contracts to 8, including Romine

All players on 40-man roster secured ahead of Friday's deadline

December 1st, 2017

NEW YORK -- The Yankees have tendered 2018 contracts to all 40 players on their 40-man roster in advance of Friday's 8 p.m. ET deadline. Catcher , who was arbitration-eligible for the second time, highlights the list.
, , Didi Gregorius, , Tommy Kahnle, and were also eligible for arbitration. If any of those players had not been tendered a contract, they would have become free agents.
Several reports had suggested that the 29-year-old Romine could be on the bubble as a non-tender possibility. He batted .218 (50-for-229) with two homers and 21 RBIs in 80 games for the Yankees this past season, making 58 starts behind the plate and four at first base.
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The Yankees went 33-25 in his starts at catcher, and with former manager Joe Girardi prioritizing run prevention in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series against the Astros, Romine caught Gray in the Yanks' 6-4 win.

The son of former big leaguer Kevin Romine and the brother of former Tigers infielder , who was recently claimed by the Mariners, Austin Romine filled in nicely when missed most of April with a right biceps strain, including a career-high five-RBI performance on April 29 vs. Baltimore.
"It means a lot to me, because I can show what I'm worth to the team and help the guys out when I can," Romine said at the time. "I'm just trying to fill in and do my job. Things are going well right now, but all you want to do as a backup player who gets thrust into that kind of position is do well for the team and show them you belong, and to be a part of this."
The Yankees have three catchers on their 40-man roster, where Sanchez and Romine are joined by .
The 27-year-old Higashioka went hitless in 18 big league at-bats this past season, and he was limited to just 21 Minor League games due to injury, but he batted .338 with nine homers in those contests.