The New York Yankees signed first baseman and designated hitter Chris Carter on Tuesday. 

The two sides agreed to a one-year, $3 million deal, according to reports. The contract includes a $500,000 signing bonus and $100,000 in incentives at every 50 plate appearances starting from 250 PA until 450 PA. 

Carter is a big power bat and should supplement the Yankees at first base and designated hitter, places where they do not necessarily have holes but could need reinforcement. 

The New York Yankees have signed Aroldis Chapman on Wednesday, as first reported by Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. 

Chapman and the Yankees have agreed to a contract spanning five seasons and worth $86 million, reports Rosenthal. 

The deal includes a full no-trade clause for the first three seasons of the deal and a limited no-trade to California teams in the two years thereafter. The deal has an opt-out clause following the 2019 season. 

The New York Yankees have agreed to sign outfielder Matt Holliday on Sunday, as first reported by Sweeny Murti of WFAN Radio. 

According to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, Holliday's deal is a one-year, $13 million contract. 

Holliday, especially on a short-term contract, is a good fit for a Yankees team that really did not feature a power-hitting lineup. As a group, in 2016, Yankees hitters posted the fourth-worst slugging percentage and fifth-worst isolated power in the AL.

The Houston Astros have acquired veteran catcher Brian McCann from the New York Yankees, they announced Thursday. 

The Yankees received two minor league right-handed pitchers in exchange--Albert Abreu and Jorge Guzman--per the announcement. 

For Houston, the acquisition of McCann provides a left-handed bat in a lineup that was relatively right-handed heavy in 2016. The Astros will not have to play McCann every day at catcher, either, with Evan Gattis in the fold.

The Astros essentially came down to two options: keep Jason Castro, an impending free agent, or try and trade for a left-handed hitting catcher like McCann. They ultimately chose the latter. 

For New York, the trade is a continuation of what the team has decided to do recently: rebuild for the future.

McCann is yet another veteran player who has left the Big Apple during 2016, along with Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira. A youth movement is happening in New York, and with the mid-season emergence of Gary Sanchez behind the plate, Brian McCann became an odd man out going forward. 

McCann hit .242/.335/.413 with 20 home runs and 56 RBI in 492 plate appearances this season. According to FanGraphs, he was worth 1.3 Wins Above Replacement.

Signed through 2018, the Yankees will pay $5.5 million of his $17 million salary for each of the next two seasons, according to Buster Olney of ESPN. 

As for the Yankees' portion of the deal, the 21-year-old Abreu was the Astros 7th-best prospect, per MLB.com. He pitched in High Single-A this year. As for Guzman, he was unranked on the Astros' list, and the 20-year-old pitched in Rookie ball this year. 

--Devan Fink

The New York Yankees have promoted right-handed pitching prospect Ben Heller to the Major Leagues, a source told Cover Those Bases on Thursday. 

The need for a reliever came about when Nathan Eovaldi, the Yankees' starter last night, left the game after one inning with an elbow injury. The team went on to use seven different relievers in their 9-4 defeat of the Boston Red Sox. 

A corresponding move for Heller has not been announced. 

The 25-year-old Heller was acquired, along with a package of prospects, by the Yankees at the trade deadline when they shipped Andrew Miller to the Indians. 

He has made 46 appearances this season, spending time at Double- and Triple-A. Heller has gone 3-2 with a 1.60 ERA and a 52-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 45 innings pitched, saving 13 games. He projects to be a back-end relief pitcher in the big leagues. 

Heller's arsenal mainly consists of a blistering 100 MPH fastball and a wipeout slider. He was drafted by the Indians with their 22nd round pick in the 2013 MLB Draft out of Olivet Nazarene University.

--Devan Fink

For more on Heller, be sure to read this profile I did on him in June.