Yankees' Edwin Encarnacion: Will debut for new team Monday

Encarnacion (back) will join the Yankees in New York on Monday ahead of their series opener against the Rays, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reports. Manager Aaron Boone said that Encarnacion would likely act as the Yankees' "primary DH."

The Yankees beefed up their lineup in a major way Saturday when they swung a deal with the Mariners to acquire Encarnacion, who had slugged 21 home runs through 289 plate appearances on the season. Though Giancarlo Stanton (shoulder) is on track to return from the 10-day injured list Tuesday and Aaron Judge (oblique) isn't far behind, Boone appears content to deploy the two as the Yankees' everyday corner outfielders, relegating Brett Gardner to a fourth-outfielder role as a result. Once New York has all its key hitters back to full health, Encarnacion may be forced to settle for a spot in the bottom half of the order, but the overall strength of the lineup from one through nine should translate to plenty of run-scoring and run-producing opportunities for the veteran slugger. Encarnacion had been managing a back issue prior to being traded, but it's believed to be only a day-to-day concern at this point.