Yankees reach agreement with Jones

The Yankees have agreed to terms with Andruw Jones on a one-year, $2-million deal for 2012, two people familiar with the negotiations confirmed, thereby ensuring that they'll deploy the same outfield mix that worked quite well for them last season.

Once Jones, 34, passes a physical examination, he'll rejoin the Yankees' 40-man roster. His contract also contains $1.4 million in attainable incentives.

The righthanded-hitting Jones turned out to be an excellent fit for the 2011 Yankees, as his presence allowed Joe Girardi to rest the lefthanded-hitting Brett Gardner and, less often, the lefthanded-hitting Curtis Granderson. He had a .356 on-base percentage and .495 slugging percentage, hitting 13 homers in 222 plate appearances. Against lefthanded pitchers, he had a .384 OBP and .540 SLG with eight homers in 146 plate appearances.

With Jones back, the Yankees' position-player roster appears largely set. They intend to have rookie Jesus Montero inherit many of the departed Jorge Posada's at-bats at designated hitter, and Japanese infielder Hiroyuki Nakajima could replace free agent Eric Chavez if Nakajima -- whose exclusive negotiating rights are owned by the Yankees -- signs by the Jan. 6 deadline.

The Yankees continue to search for more rotation help, although they think they've done the heaviest lifting by giving CC Sabathia an extension -- thus convincing him not to opt out of his contract -- and bringing back Freddy Garcia.