TAMPA -- Adam Lind's first day in a Yankees uniform began with a morning assignment to head out to Steinbrenner Field and try his luck against Luis Severino and Sonny Gray in a simulated game.

This was kind of like throwing a guy to the wolves, because Saturday was the first day of spring training for Lind, a veteran first baseman who mysteriously had to settle for a minor-league contract despite coming off a good season as a part-time player for the 2017 Washington Nationals.

While other Yankees headed South on I-75 for a spring game in Fort Myers against the Red Sox, Lind stayed behind, along with Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.

Judge and Stanton were spared from getting a dose of a rearing-to-go Severino, who was about as on as anyone could be in early March.

A left-handed hitter with power, Lind got in a few good cuts in a hitting session. And while he won't be judged on the session, it made a good first impression on manager Aaron Boone.

"I've been around long enough," Lind said. "You've just got to perform. That's all that matters. Steady performance. ... Sometimes that doesn't even matter."

You can't blame him for feeling this way.

Lind was brought in to challenge Tyler Austin for the Yankees' backup first-base job, and while he's grateful for this opportunity, he's still bewildered that his first day of spring training was on March 3 as a non-roster player.

"It's tough," Lind said. "If I hit .220 last year, I would have had no problem being at home with no job. That's how you want it to end. You don't want it like this."

Playing for a 2017 division winner, Lind hit .303 with 14 homers in 59 RBIs in 267 at-bats as a first baseman/left fielder who played in 116 games and started 61. He hit .303 against righties, .310 against lefties and batted .356 in 45 pinch-hit at-bats.

A Washington Nationals staffer added that Lind "was loved, loved, loved by his teammates."

The backs of Lind's baseball cards have a lot of good numbers, too. He's a career .272 hitter in 12 big league seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays (2006-14), Milwaukee Brewers (2015), Seattle Mariners (2016) and Nationals (2017). He had one year in which he hit .305 with 35 homers and 114 RBIs. He's hit 26 homers in another season, 23 twice, 20 twice.

Yet in this offseason that's been like no other for free agents, Lind received no offers until this week when the Yankees and another club put minor-league deals on the table. One of the perks that came with picking the Yankees is Lind lives near Tampa, so he's still with his family during this spring job battle.

So why no job offer until this week?

"I don't know," Lind said with a shrug. "I was talking to people about it, but you get tired of the same conversations over and over. I kept hearing, 'It'll happen. Give it time.'"

Was his agent asking for too much money? Too many years?

"No," Lind said. "I was just looking for a J-O-B. This is what I got."

Lind's competition with Austin could go down to the final days of spring training.

On one hand, it looks like an easy call to keep Lind over Austin, who has far less experience. But Austin is a right-handed hitter with power who kills left-handed pitching and he could be a good complement to starting first baseman Greg Bird, who hits left-handed. Both cases are helped by their ability to play outfield, although both are much better at first base.

"Me in the outfield is an emergency plan," Lind said with a chuckle. "I was placed there last year because we had so many injuries in Washington. And it helped that we had good pitching, because without that, I can get exposed out there."

This final decision could come down to whether the Yankees want to keep two left-handed-hitting first basemen ... that and/or whether Lind or Austin has a better March.

"This is weird because Opening Day is in March and we're in March," Lind said.

Again, Lind isn't pouting about his situation. He's happy to be a Yankee. It's just he'd like to know why no team was willing to give him a guaranteed one-year contract ... at any price.

"I talked to my wife about it," Lind said. "I told her, 'What's the point of doing well?' What if I hit .280 this year? I probably won't even get a big-league invite next year.

"You think you're a good player and then to have no one value you ... it's tough."

Randy Miller may be reached at