Righthander Jose Rafael DePaula has passed his physical and is now officially a Yankee, according to Yankees vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman.

DePaula, who is currently in Tampa and turned 21 on Saturday, recently had his visa approved, the final major hurdle for his contract to be approved after an elongated waiting period. DePaula signed his contract with the Yankees for a $500,000 bonus in Nov. 2010, with the deal contingent upon his acquisition of a visa and the approval of Major League Baseball. In DePaula's case, the process took so long because, among other reasons, he had previously used a different age and identity to sign, which resulted in a one-year suspension from MLB in 2009.

Now that deal is official and, finally, his career can begin.