The Red Sox have found an unlikely spark in Anthony Seigler, and his path out of the Yankees’ system says plenty about how a player’s future can change when a team stops forcing the wrong fit.
Boston’s midseason surge in 2026 has been driven by a rotation on a ridiculous run, but the roster’s energy has also come from two former Yankees: Seigler and offseason pickup Caleb Durbin. Durbin was the more obvious success story after nearly winning the National League Rookie of the Year last season. Seigler, by contrast, looked like a career minor leaguer for much of his time in New York.
That’s what makes his breakout so instructive. The Yankees drafted Seigler in the first round as a versatile catcher, a player who could handle the position and maybe move around the diamond later.
Instead, his time in the organization was bogged down by the physical toll of catching. Beyond a one-game appearance in right field in 2021, he bounced between catcher and designated hitter, and the results were ugly.
He didn’t reach 40 healthy games in a season until 2022, when he played 97. In 2023, he was back down to 67 games and hit .166.
The real shift came when he finally settled in at second base. In 2024 at Double-A, he posted a .748 OPS in 118 games, all at the position.
The next year, in the Brewers’ system, that number jumped to .892. Now with Boston, Seigler is healthy and has become the Sox’s primary spark plug, even if the production has cooled a bit.
He’s hitting .256 with a .737 OPS on the year, and he could end up as more of a part-time piece if that’s how things shake out.
The lesson for the Yankees reaches beyond Seigler. It’s a warning for anyone trying to map out Ben Rice’s future after 2026.
Rice may have catcher eligibility, but the source of the problem is the same: he is not a catcher. The idea of using him behind the plate to work around Paul Goldschmidt might sound clever, and it’s easy to imagine a future without Austin Wells that Rice could help build.
But the wear and tear that comes with catching is not a minor detail. It can reshape a career.
Rice can fill in as a third catcher if needed, but the Yankees should keep him at first base, with DH work when he needs a break, for the rest of his time in New York. Seigler’s five years of being pushed through the catcher grind should be enough of a cautionary tale.
In Other News...
Anthony Volpe Is Now Drawing A Trade Suitor Yankees Fans Will Notice
The Rays are once again in the mix as a team to watch at the trade deadline, and this time their search for lineup help has them linked to a name Yankees fans know well: Anthony Volpe. Contributors to The Athletic recently listed Tampa Bay as one of the better fits for the New York shortstop, a reminder that even a young player with real pedigree can find his name circulating when a season starts to drift from expectations.
Volpe is still under team control through 2028, so any conversation around him would be about fit, development and long-term value rather than a quick rental move. Tampa Bay has built a reputation for getting more out of players, which is part of what makes this pairing worth watching if the Rays decide to get aggressive and if the Yankees decide they need to listen. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Finally Got Injury News Fans Desperately Needed On Stanton And Fried
Giancarlo Stantons return has been one of the Yankees most closely watched injury stories since the slugger went down with a calf strain on April 24, and there is at least some forward movement now. Stanton has resumed a running progression, which is a meaningful step even if the club still has not put a firm timetable on when hell be back in a game.
Max Frieds path is a little clearer, and it matters just as much for a rotation that could use the help. The left-hander, sidelined since mid-May with a bone bruise in his elbow, is lined up for a 60-pitch rehab start on July 22, with the Yankees expecting him to rejoin the staff next week as they move into a series against the White Sox. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees May Finally Have A Real Catching Fix At A Cost
Shea Langeliers has started to look like one of the more practical catching targets on the market for a Yankees club that could use a clearer answer behind the plate. The Athletics have been open to listening, and the fit is obvious on paper: New York gets a catcher with real offensive upside, while Oakland gets the kind of pitching help it has been chasing as it tries to reshape the roster.
The catch, of course, is getting a deal to the finish line without emptying out the system in a way the Yankees will regret later. Any serious conversation is going to have to account for the Athletics' need for arms, which pushes the talks toward prospect-heavy packages and makes the price feel less like a simple upgrade and more like a calculated gamble on how much catching certainty is worth right now. [Read more 🡒]