The Yankees’ search for catching help has circled Ryan Jeffers for a while, but the Minnesota Twins just made the deadline picture a lot less tidy.
With the trade deadline closing in, Twins GM Jeremy Zoll said Tuesday night that his club will be buyers before Monday’s final bell. That alone matters for a New York team trying to sort through a messy market.
The AL playoff race is crowded, the list of obvious sellers is thin, and the Yankees’ needs have shifted in a hurry. What looked like a bullpen emergency a month ago has eased some thanks to Angel Chivilli and Paul Blackburn, while the outfield without Cody Bellinger has become a far bigger concern than it was even over the weekend.
Through all of that, catcher has stayed the one steady spot on the Yankees’ board, and Jeffers has been the steady name attached to it. MLB insider Jeff Passan even called a Yankees-Twins deal for Jeffers “preordained” on Tuesday morning.
But the Twins’ recent surge has complicated the script. After walking off the Royals on Tuesday, Minnesota is now one-half game out of a playoff spot and a win behind the Cleveland Guardians.
That puts Zoll in a tricky spot. Teams around the league are trying to figure out whether a final Wild Card push is enough to justify buying at the deadline, but the Twins’ situation seems simpler: sneaking into the postseason would mean a lot, even if the payoff comes later. Zoll made the club’s direction clear enough.
“We're really excited about how the team has played over this last stretch. We're really encouraged about that. In turn, we're going to use this next stretch, this next week, to do everything we can to find ways to improve the club and continue to execute on that goal and make it a reality.”
When the conversation turned to Jeffers, though, Zoll was more guarded.
“In terms of individual speculation, I don’t think it’s particularly productive to work through all that. But what I’ll say is on Ryan specifically, he’s had an awesome year. We’re really excited about where he’s at, and looking forward to doing everything we can to keep the group together and put us in the best spot to keep pushing ahead.”
That doesn’t slam the door on New York. It does, however, make the path a lot less straightforward.
Minnesota’s move back toward .500 gives the Twins a real reason to resist being picked apart by teams with obvious buying power. And if Zoll’s comments are any indication, he’s not eager to discuss a deal for Jeffers in public even while leaving enough room for the kind of deadline maneuvering that happens behind closed doors.
Five days remain, and the market is only getting more unpredictable.
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