Brian Cashman has plenty to sort through before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, but the Yankees’ catcher situation may be the most glaring issue on the board.
The club has bigger-picture questions to answer, from whether to chase Tigers ace Tarik Skubal to whether the bullpen needs a serious infusion and if the left side of the infield deserves attention. Still, the numbers behind the plate are hard to ignore.
Even after Austin Wells homered in Thursday’s 12-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays for his fifth of the season, Yankees catchers are hitting just .174 as a group, third-worst in the majors. Their combined .514 OPS is last in baseball.
That’s why the catcher market is drawing so much attention, and why Rockies backstop Hunter Goodman has surfaced as a possible target. Goodman leads all catchers with 27 home runs, and his power production has made him one of the most talked-about names available. ESPN’s Jeff Passan even labeled him the Yankees’ "dream match."
"For a Yankees team with a real shot at winning the AL this year, letting perfect be the enemy of good is dangerous, and if they can get Goodman, they should," Passan wrote.
There’s no question Goodman would bring impact. His 27 homers are tied for fourth in the majors, and he’s already past the pace of his career-best numbers from last season, when he finished with 31 home runs and 91 RBIs. He’s also only 26 and under club control through 2029, with two years of arbitration left.
But that kind of upside won’t come cheap. Goodman would likely require a major prospect haul, with multiple top-10 names and at least one player from the top 100. For a Yankees front office that still has other holes to patch, that price may be too steep.
A more practical path could lead to Baltimore, where Adley Rutschman is suddenly a name to watch. The Orioles catcher has had a second straight down year, with eight home runs in 62 games, and he’s now sharing time with Samuel Basallo, who has 14 home runs in 80 games.
Baltimore also locked up Basallo on an eight-year, $67 million deal last season, a clear sign of where the organization sees its future. Rutschman, 28, has one more year of arbitration eligibility remaining.
That combination of age, contract status and role on the roster could make Rutschman cheaper than Goodman. If so, the Yankees might be able to address catcher without burning through the prospect capital they may need for other moves.
Rutschman would also bring familiarity. He has spent his entire five-year career in the American League East and has postseason experience from Baltimore’s playoff runs in 2023 and 2024.
Of course, Cashman could choose not to add a catcher at all and stick with the group already on hand: Wells, Ali Sanchez and J.C. Escarra, who is in the minors. As MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand wrote last week, the Yankees may be more likely to focus on pitching.
"Cashman has a history of making the moves he deems necessary at the Deadline, so the Yankees will likely add a relief arm or two. Catcher is a different situation; despite their offensive woes at the position, introducing a new catcher into the mix could disrupt the pitching staff, which currently owns the best ERA in the (American League)."
One thing is clear: if the Yankees decide catcher needs fixing, they won’t find the answer in their own system. None of MLB Pipeline’s top 30 Yankees prospects is a catcher, which means any upgrade behind the plate will have to come from outside the organization.
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