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.
The fact this made a phone notification makes me angry
Take off your notifications.
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.
Steve, don’t be sorry. That person is the only one complaining, Thanks for the update
Do they lack that much confidence in Higa?
Think he may be on DL.
He’s on the DL
Not to mention their suspension rulings come tomorrow
Yup, surprised this wasn’t brought up in the post as the main reason why they acquired him.
Oh no I hope they didn’t give up a major
Prospect for him!
Cash Considerations has been traded so many times in his life.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DGCbpA6UQAAt_PO.jpg
Major prospect? I hope you were kidding
It’s quite obvious he was.
He’s Anthony Recker (offensively) with a bit of more pop……if he actually hits it.
Who’s Anthony Recker? What’s he known for?
Pretty much a nothing that hits Mendoza… but Atlanta fans love him…
Thx. Why do they love him?
If they loved him so much they shouldn’t have let him go. Oh well.
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.
Why’d the fans love him? He’s a third-rate catcher apparently.
They loved him like they loved Rafael Belliard for so many years.
Anthony Recker got that fan-love too !
Smart move by Cash
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?
They have someone but he’s hurt. Easier to bring a guy in and DFA later than what they had for options in AAA
Guys like Kratz make me wish my parents would have forced to me do squat down somewhere beside my infant potty chair.
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.
Dumb idea. The only area Sanchez struggles with is passed balls otherwise he ranks near the top defensively in other stats
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.
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.
Did you work in the Phillies clubhouse?
I agree, he was very popular in Philadelphia
Suspension insurance. They’ll need an extra catcher for a while.
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.
Higa is on the 40, they can 60 him…
Yanks trying to get inside information on a team they simply can’t beat.