Offensive catchers like Gary Sanchez and the recently demoted John Ryan Murphy surely come up in the conversations that Yankees GM Brian Cashman has had with other clubs, writes David Lennon of Newsday. Cashman told reporters yesterday that he expects to make a trade or multiple trades between now and the deadline. “Everybody’s making their phone calls,” Cashman said. “There are some big players that are available, but the price tags are going to be extremely high. There might be smaller pieces that can pay big dividends for teams.”
More afternoon links pertaining to the Yanks…
- Brett Gardner tells NJ.com’s Kevin Manahan that despite his strong season that could potentially have led to a larger free agent deal, he has no regrets about signing a four-year, $52MM extension with the Yankees. Gardner, who is hitting .291/.355/.415 with six homers, 14 steals and strong outfield defense, says he thought he was a goner when New York signed Jacoby Ellsbury but is as happy right now with his four-year extension as he was when he signed it.
- A spokesperson for Alex Rodriguez tells Jon Heyman of CBS Sports that all legal matters pertaining to A-Rod have been resolved (Twitter links). Rodriguez fully plans to play in 2015, the spokesperson adds.
- GM Brian Cashman spoke with the Daily News’ John Harper about trades, stating that he didn’t want to wait for the return of CC Sabathia and Michael Pineda to improve his club. Harper agrees with previous reports saying that Cashman isn’t going to move breakout reliever Dellin Betances, but he notes that slugging Double-A catcher Peter O’Brien has been moved around the field in an attempt to showcase him for trades. Many scouts question his ability to catch in the big leagues, however, and he’s not believed to be close to MLB-ready. He’s hitting .266/.305/.591 with 23 homers this season.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
