NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Unable to acquire a left fielder at the trade deadline, the New York Yankees today agreed to terms on a contract with veteran Luis Polonia for the remainder of the 2000 season.

Polonia, 35, who begins his third stint with the Yankees, was released by the Detroit Tigers on Monday. He batted .273 (73-for-267) with six homers in 80 games for the Tigers, including 58 contests in the leadoff spot.

Polonia fills a need for the Yankees, who had looked at several left fielders, including Rondell White, B.J. Surhoff and Jeromy Burnitz at the deadline, to replace Shane Spencer, out for the season with a right knee injury.

Polonia provides the Yankees with an experienced left-handed bat off the bench and adds to the mix in left field, where manager Joe Torre has been using designated hitter David Justice and Ryan Thompson.

Polonia had numerous problems during his previous two stints with the Yankees, including his 1999 arrest for having sex with an underage girl.

He pleaded no contest to a charge of having sex with a 15-year-old girl he thought was 19. He was sentenced to two months in jail and fined $1,500. Polonia spent 27 days in jail in Milwaukee, completing his sentence by doing community service in his native Dominican Republic.

A career .293 hitter, Polonia was acquired by the Yankees with pitchers Greg Cadaret and Eric Plunk on June 21, 1989 in the trade that sent Rickey Henderson back to Oakland.

After playing parts of two seasons in New York, Polonia was shipped to Anaheim in 1990 before re-signing with the Yankees as a free agent in December 1993. He was traded to Atlanta in 1995 following the return of Darryl Strawberry.