The New York Yankees have optioned infielder Yangervis Solarte to Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre and selected the contract of infielder Zelous Wheeler from the minor league team.

Solarte won a job with the Yankees during spring training and had a hot start to the season that made him the everyday third baseman for much of the first two months.

However, he struggled for most of June and had just three hits in his last 41 at-bats. He was hitting a solid .299 on June 8 and had dropped to .260 after an 0-for-4 effort on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old native of Venezuela also has six homers and 30 runs batted in over 71 games. He had 26 RBI through May.

Wheeler was hitting .299 in 66 games for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The 27-year- old Alabama native has never played in the majors and has also been part of the Milwaukee and Baltimore organizations.

The Yankees made room on the 40-man roster for Wheeler by designating infielder Dean Anna for assignment. Anna began the year with the Yankees and hit .136 with a homer and three RBI in 12 games before being sent back to the minors in late April.