The Yankees have signed utility infielder Miguel Cairo and relief pitcher Octavio Dotel to one-year deals.
According to Anthony McCarron in The Daily News, the Yankees worked the phones in order to land Dotel:
A deluge of calls may have been most effective in landing a lesser name – reliever Octavio Dotel. The Yankees, who reached an agreement with Dotel on a one-year deal worth $2.25 million last week, announced the contract yesterday, giving them what they hope is a second power arm along with Kyle Farnsworth to set up for Mariano Rivera.
There was a lot of competition for Dotel, so GM Brian Cashman said calls from first base coach Tony Pena, Torre and Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson were exceptionally meaningful. “We had more people talk to him than anybody, to be honest, and it may have taken all of that because the competition on the player was so heavy and I had to drag my price up, too,” Cashman said.
Dotel is currently recovering from Tommy John surgery. The Bombers hope he will be a critical part of their bullpen come the second half of the season.