The Yankees have signed catcher David Freitas to a minor league contract, according to the MLB.com transactions tracker. Like others who have signed during the lockout, Freitas was eligible to sign a minors pact by virtue of the fact that he ended the season as a minor league free agent.
Freitas has appeared in parts of three MLB seasons, suiting up with the Braves, Mariners and Brewers between 2017-19. The right-handed hitting backstop has only amassed a .200/.268/.288 line with one home run over 143 plate appearances at the highest level. While Freitas’ big league production has been modest, he owns a much more impressive minor league track record. Over parts of eight seasons at Triple-A, the California native sports a .322/.401/.472 line.
That impressive minor league resume caught the attention of the Korea Baseball Organization’s Kiwoom Heroes, who signed Freitas for the 2021 campaign. His stint in South Korea didn’t go as planned, though, as he hit .259/.297/.394 over 148 trips to the plate before being waived in June. Freitas caught on with the Rays on a minor league deal down the stretch. He hit well in a brief showing with Triple-A Durham but didn’t get a big league call and elected free agency at the end of the year.
Presumably, Freitas will get an opportunity to compete for a big league role in Spring Training. The Yankees look likely to again turn the bulk of the playing time at catcher to Gary Sánchez after tendering him an arbitration contract. Kyle Higashioka is the favorite for reserve duties as the only other catcher on the 40-man roster. Freitas and fellow non-roster invitee Rob Brantly are presently slated to function as the top depth options behind Sánchez and Higashioka.
Anyone know anything about his defensive skills?
He’s not great defensively, apparently. More of a bat first catcher, at least in the minor leagues.
Think Evan Gattis with less power.
Yes, because power is important on defense right?
Depends on how you play defense
Think Gary Sanchez but not as good as Sanchez. Or Rob Brantley, but not as good as Brantley.
Doesn’t seem like he is better than Higashioka – which is now my catching barometer, Clip. Dark times.
I think the smart money is on Cash just running it back at C. I sure would like to see more firepower out of BUC. But even that isn’t all that easy to accomplish.
Everyone always says to teach your kid to throw left handed.
I actually think it might be easier to make the bigs if you are a catcher. Which I completely understand. Catching sucks. I did it one year in H.S. as it was the clearest way onto the varsity squad. It’s not for everyone, & certainly was not for me. Never did it again.
Yep, I intentionally skipped Higgy, because he’s above Brantley and better defensively than both Brantley and Sanchez.
I agree, I think catcher is probably the easiest position to succeed at in lower levels, as long as one has some aptitude and incredible will.
My son wants to be a catcher. Ironically, he’s left handed so nobody will put him back there. He does play SS & pitch though. It’s weird because I would think a LH catcher would be easier than a LH SS, but, whatever.
higashioka:
71 total career hits
20 home runs
18 doubles
galloesque!
I see the Yankees putting together a compelling trade offer for Contreras from the Cubs. They could trade one of their young SS prospects and a AA pitching prospect. Even though they tendered Sanchez, his time behind the plate is coming to an end. Perhaps the Yankees find a trade partner for Voit and keep Sanchez for 1B & DH duties to see if the lessened defensive responsibilities can unlock Sanchez’s bat once again. Sanchez is still pretty affordable so the Yankees don’t need to trade him for payroll relief. If they can get him back to .250 with 25-35 HRs by playing 1B & DH, he’ll earn his money and perhaps earn a contract extension too. The Yankees can’t go into 2022 with Sanchez as their primary option behind the plate or it will be yet another disappointing season in the Bronx.
Plus having Sanchez as their 3rd catcher on the roster is an added bonus. He could still catch 10-15 games per season when needed.
@Dorothy_Mantooth- while Contreras is definitely a need for the Yankees, they won’t be trading Volpe or Peraza for him. The Cubs need a young pitcher. Domingo German is that guy. Aaron Hicks and Gary Sanchez would be pieces that the Cubs would have some interest in for Contreras.
@Dorothy I fully expect Sanchez to once again start behind the plate. He’s not a 1B and there are already enough DH at-bats for everyone else. If the NL adopts the DH, then I can see him being shipped off and the Yankees acquiring another catching vet. The Cubs and Contreras and the Yankees don’t appear to be a good trade fit. They definitely don’t need to move him during their retool and could possibly extend him.
Sanchez isn’t the long term answer at C for sure but they did win 92 games with him as the primary C. No one in the AL East has moved the needle much yet. I expect some positive regression for the offense so worse case right now is they are as viable a playoff team as last year.
Dorothy: I hope you’re right. Contreras is the guy for C in the Bronx imo. He’s got the attitude, can play defense, and hits about as well as we would expect Sanchez to hit.
He’s valuable but I don’t see Peraza as a good fit. Although I do believe Cubs will require some overpay, I don’t think the Yankees would use Peraza and I don’t think the Cubs need him as much as some other areas, like OF.
Like other Yankee fans in this thread I envision pitching as the centerpiece of this trade, plus maybe Florial? Or utility like Cabrera? So, for example, I could see Yankees offering a catcher, Luis Gil or German, and Florial, Dunham, or utility. It may require addition of another player but that’s what I see the Yankees agreeing to. Probably a 3-1 or 4-1 player swap.
Obviously that all changes depending on the centerpiece of the deal.
I see Sanchez as Yankee history after 2022.
He’ll be a FA, and Wells is on the way. Management won’t want to overpay him.
Contreras would make sense if Wells is projected at another position, though.
So he can’t hit or play good defense
the final boss of AAAA catchers
I think I might be the only person who:
-is in favor of the NL DH
-and is in favor of extra innings starting with the runner at second, but against the seven-inning double header games.
-and, probably the most controversial, is in favor of expanding the playoff field to 12 teams with the two BEST teams from each League each earning a first round bye.
MLB needs a pitch clock too. The time some of these pitchers waste in between pitches is ridiculous. Give them a 30 second pitch clock and only allow the batter one ‘time out’ per at bat. This could end up knocking off 20 minutes + per game.
Agreed on the pitch clock. Watch any game from the ‘80s or earlier on YouTube. You’re reminded how much better baseball looks with a peppier and more consistent pace of play.
Dorothy,
Agree on the pitch clock, would add automated umpires. If you look at games of the seventies there are MANY differences but the biggest one is in time of play! How many times have you seen an umpire miss a ball/strike call and the game turns around. Ump misses a strike and batter gets a hit that turns the game around.
1. I support the NL DH. It took me a while to get there.
2, No pre-assigned base runners in extra innings. For the regular season, I prefer to just have a maximum of one regular old-fashioned extra-inning. For the regular season, if it is tied after 10 innings, then it remains a tie
3. I am ok with the 7-inning double header until the pandemic is over, then let’s keep all games at 9 innings.
4. With 30 or 32 teams, I like six playoff teams in each league. The best two division winners get a bye. So the Giants and Brewers would have got the bye, not the Giants and the Dodgers. (And I am a Cubs and Dodgers fan, I just think the two byes should be division winners.)
The remaining division winner plays team 6 and hosts all games. 1, 2 and 5. The top wild card plays the second best wild card and hosts games 1,2 and 5.
You’re ok with a tie? Meh.
The Yankees can turn to Freitas when the chips are down. He can Lay one down when needed.
You intentionally trying to Ruffle chips here?
plus his UTZ rating is off the charts
A distant relative of Pepe Frias , twice removed.
When Freitas is in AAA he’s Gary Sanchez 2017.
When he’s in MLB he’s Gary Sanchez 2018.
On the twelfth day of lockdown Brian Cashman signed for Yankees:
Tim Drummond pitching,
Piper Davis at shortstop,
Carlton Lord at third base,
Lady Baldwin in the outfield,
Joe Mays for relieving,
Craig Swan for starting,
Goose for the closing,
Five Jeter rings,
Four baseball cards,
Luke French in the bullpen,
Pitcher Dennis Dove,
And Jay Partridge for second base.
Merry Christmas.
I think the Yankees are banking on the new CBA to include the DH in the NL, thus opening up the trade market for Sanchez to 15 more destinations, He would be an excellent DH at his salary, plus the team that gets him can use him behind the plate twice a week. Depending on the team and the add-ins, maybe he returns a stopgap shortstop or a reasonable arm.
Very interesting position here. Yes, I could certainly see the logic in adding to his value by DH positions. It’ll sure be interesting to see what happens. And boy could we use Thurman now, uh?