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Yankees Acquire Erik Kratz From Indians

By Steve Adams | August 31, 2017 at 11:37am CDT

The Yankees announced that they’ve acquired veteran catcher Erik Kratz from the Indians in exchange for cash considerations.

The 37-year-old Kratz has spent parts of the past seven seasons in the Majors, logging a combined .200/.248/.362 batting line in 647 plate appearances as an up-and-down reserve option. He’s had a very nice year with Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate, however, posting a robust .270/.359/.472 slash with 13 homers in 324 plate appearances. Kratz has also thwarted 37 percent of stolen base attempts against him this season in Triple-A and posted characteristically solid framing marks (per Baseball Prospectus).

Gary Sanchez and Austin Romine will remain the two primary catchers in the Bronx, but the addition of Kratz gives the Yankees a veteran option to serve as a third catcher down the stretch in September when rosters expand. Notably both Sanchez and Romine are facing potential suspensions following the Yankees’ recent brawl with the Tigers, so Kratz can help fill in during their absences as well.

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Cleveland Guardians New York Yankees Transactions Erik Kratz

Heyman’s Latest: Britton, Tigers, Tanaka, CC, Darvish, Holland, Moore
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View Comments (34)
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34 Comments

  1. DrLagwagon

    8 years ago

    The fact this made a phone notification makes me angry

    Reply
    • Gogerty

      8 years ago

      Take off your notifications.

      6
      Reply
    • Steve Adams

      8 years ago

      Ha, sorry. I’m guessing you have notifications set for Yankees, Indians, or all transactions, and they don’t filter out the minor stuff beyond that.

      2
      Reply
      • yanksfan2010

        8 years ago

        Steve, don’t be sorry. That person is the only one complaining, Thanks for the update

        2
        Reply
  2. nmendoza44

    8 years ago

    Do they lack that much confidence in Higa?

    Reply
    • Bob Knob

      8 years ago

      Think he may be on DL.

      Reply
    • walls17

      8 years ago

      He’s on the DL

      Reply
  3. higgy5592

    8 years ago

    Not to mention their suspension rulings come tomorrow

    1
    Reply
    • bigballerbrand99

      8 years ago

      Yup, surprised this wasn’t brought up in the post as the main reason why they acquired him.

      1
      Reply
  4. rycm131

    8 years ago

    Oh no I hope they didn’t give up a major
    Prospect for him!

    Reply
    • MB923

      8 years ago

      Cash Considerations has been traded so many times in his life.

      pbs.twimg.com/media/DGCbpA6UQAAt_PO.jpg

      3
      Reply
    • yanksfan2010

      8 years ago

      Major prospect? I hope you were kidding

      Reply
      • MB923

        8 years ago

        It’s quite obvious he was.

        Reply
  5. Bob Knob

    8 years ago

    He’s Anthony Recker (offensively) with a bit of more pop……if he actually hits it.

    1
    Reply
    • Erdnalrev

      8 years ago

      Who’s Anthony Recker? What’s he known for?

      Reply
      • Bob Knob

        8 years ago

        Pretty much a nothing that hits Mendoza… but Atlanta fans love him…

        2
        Reply
        • Erdnalrev

          8 years ago

          Thx. Why do they love him?

          If they loved him so much they shouldn’t have let him go. Oh well.

          Reply
        • Bob Knob

          8 years ago

          Fans loved him … more upset he was gone instead of Garcia’s departure..
          Fans simply loved him so much; front office ….maybe not so much.

          1
          Reply
        • Erdnalrev

          8 years ago

          Why’d the fans love him? He’s a third-rate catcher apparently.

          Reply
        • Bob Knob

          8 years ago

          They loved him like they loved Rafael Belliard for so many years.
          Anthony Recker got that fan-love too !

          Reply
  6. chuck123

    8 years ago

    Smart move by Cash

    Reply
  7. User 4245925809

    8 years ago

    Not looked at yanks Scranton roster, but most teams *do* keep a retread as backup/3rd catcher at the AAA level for just this type of emergency.. Do the yanks not have one there?

    Reply
    • mitchj4444

      8 years ago

      They have someone but he’s hurt. Easier to bring a guy in and DFA later than what they had for options in AAA

      Reply
  8. wkkortas

    8 years ago

    Guys like Kratz make me wish my parents would have forced to me do squat down somewhere beside my infant potty chair.

    Reply
  9. Solaris611

    8 years ago

    The plan may be for Kratz to split time with Romine at C while Sanchez DHs most of the time. Given Sanchez’ recent lapses in catching pitches consistently, that’s what I’d do.

    Reply
    • mvpetro

      8 years ago

      Dumb idea. The only area Sanchez struggles with is passed balls otherwise he ranks near the top defensively in other stats

      Reply
    • rmullig2

      8 years ago

      The plan is for Kratz to be the emergency backup so that they can take Sanchez out of a blowout game without worrying about Romine getting hurt.

      Reply
  10. bucketbrew35

    8 years ago

    Katz is what he is in terms of a player. He’s also a great character/clubhouse guy. Loved having him around when he played for Philly.

    Reply
    • thegreatcerealfamine

      8 years ago

      Did you work in the Phillies clubhouse?

      Reply
    • Baseballfan1130

      8 years ago

      I agree, he was very popular in Philadelphia

      Reply
  11. lesterdnightfly

    8 years ago

    Suspension insurance. They’ll need an extra catcher for a while.

    1
    Reply
  12. koz16

    8 years ago

    Kratz is a 37 year old catcher with 599 career MLB at bats. He’s cannon fodder and a safety net in case the Yankees can’t stagger the suspensions of Sanchez and Romine. The only problem is that if the Yankees need to put him on the 40 man roster they need to DFA someone on the 60 day DL. I’m not sure if they are allowed to move Higashioka from the minor league DL to the major league roster and then put him on the 60 day DL.

    Reply
    • costergaard2

      8 years ago

      Higa is on the 40, they can 60 him…

      Reply
  13. pihc

    8 years ago

    Yanks trying to get inside information on a team they simply can’t beat.

    Reply

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