Sports

GLANVILLE GETS SHOT AS YANK

The Yankees decided against pursuing Bernie Williams’ replacement when they abstained from the Carlos Beltran derby, but they made some recognition of Williams’ brittleness and suspect defense by signing Doug Glanville to a minor league contract.

Glanville will have six weeks in spring training to prove to Joe Torre he is a better fit as Williams’ backup than Bubba Crosby. Glanville’s contract gives him the right to declare free agency after the exhibition season should he not make the final 25-man roster.

Glanville, 34, has mainly been recognized for his defense and speed throughout his career. Among active players (minimum 200 steal tries), only Beltran (89.3) has a better stolen-base percentage than Glanville’s 82.4, and Glanville was safe in all eight of his steal tries last year. However, he hit a career-low .210 in 162 at-bats.

Glanville is one of 18 non-roster players invited to spring that the Yankees announced yesterday. In addition, the Yankees have invited pitchers Danny Borrell, Aaron Small, Marc Valdes and Brad Voyles; catchers Joe DePastino, Ryan Hankins, David Parrish, Irwil Rojas, Omir Santos and Jon-Mark Sprowl; infielders Homer Bush, Caonabo Cosme, Russ Johnson and Damian Rolls; and outfielders Noah Hall, Colin Porter and Mike Vento.

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The Yankees announced they are nearly 300,000 tickets sold ahead of last year’s team-record pace. As of Thursday, they had sold 2,313,913 tickets compared to 2,015,319 last year at the same point.