Yankees claim OF Oscar Gonzalez off waivers from Guardians

The New York Yankees claimed outfielder Oscar Gonzalez off waivers from the Cleveland Guardians on Friday.

Gonzalez, 25, made his major league debut in 2022 and split his 2023 season between Triple-A Columbus and the Guardians. He is a career .269 batter with 13 home runs, 34 doubles and 55 RBIs over 145 MLB games.

In Game 3 of the 2022 American League Division Series, Gonzalez hit a walk-off RBI single to help the Guardians defeat the Yankees 6-5. Earlier that same postseason, Gonzalez bashed a 15th-inning home run against the Tampa Bay Rays to give Cleveland a 1-0 victory and a two-game sweep in the wild-card series.

Gonzalez has primarily played right field for Cleveland, including 82 starts there in 2022.

In 54 games with Cleveland last year, he batted just .214 with two homers and 12 RBIs.