Via Matt Eddy, the Yankees have signed lefty reliever Neal Cotts to a minor league contract. Cotts, 31 in March, has not pitched since June 2009 due to Tommy John and hip surgery. He’s spent the last four seasons with the Cubs, so new pitching coach Larry Rothschild knows him well, and believe it or not he actually has a reverse split (.336 wOBA against vs. RHB career, .351 vs. LHB). I suspect Cotts is the 2011 version of Royce Ring and not the second lefty the Yanks are said to be seeking for their bullpen.

Update: Eddy says they also signed 20-year-old lefty Daniel Martinez. He’s spend the last four seasons walking everyone (88 BB in 138.2 IP) down in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.