Yankees Notes: Judge, Catcher, Lombard, Rotation
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman met with reporters on Thursday afternoon to provide some health updates and discuss the club’s early deadline outlook (links via Chris Kirschner of The Athletic and Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). The most notable update is that Aaron Judge is expected to go for his first round of re-imaging on his fractured rib during the All-Star Break.
It has been six weeks since Judge went on the injured list. He’d played through the injury throughout May, and it’s believed he suffered it on a diving play on April 26. At the time of the IL placement, the Yankees announced it’d be 4-6 weeks before the three-time MVP could go for further testing. Cashman said today the Yankees don’t anticipate the fracture will be fully healed, merely hoping that it’s showing progress. That’d allow Judge to expand his upper body work.
It’s clearly still going to be a long process even if the test results are encouraging. Cashman reiterated that the Yankees anticipate Judge will be back at some point this year. They’ve otherwise been hesitant to specify a timeline until they see how the fracture is healing.
New York has gone 15-19 since Judge went on the shelf. Paul Goldschmidt was their only productive hitter in June. He’s ice cold now but Ben Rice has gone back on a tear to carry the lineup in July. Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Anthony Volpe and Jasson Domínguez have all slumped of late. Austin Wells hasn’t produced at the plate all season.
There’s nevertheless enough talent that the Yankees are probably comfortable with seven or eight lineup spots. Rice, Chisholm, Bellinger and Trent Grisham are all locked in. They’re not going to trade for a right fielder when they expect Judge back. Even though Ryan McMahon hasn’t been great, the third base market is thin enough that it’d be tough to find a clear upgrade. Goldschmidt has had a strong enough season overall to keep him as the regular designated hitter while Giancarlo Stanton works back from calf injuries.
That leaves shortstop and catcher as the two positions in flux. It’s a day-by-day situation at shortstop, where skipper Aaron Boone divides playing time between Volpe and José Caballero. The Yankees haven’t gotten anything offensively from their catching group of Wells, Ali Sánchez and J.C. Escarra. It’s no secret they’re looking to upgrade there, ideally with a right-handed bat.
Cashman praised the catchers’ defensive contributions but called their production at the plate “an issue, clearly. … On the offensive side, it’s been a struggle, and it’s a surprise. We feel like we have players capable of a lot more. I recognize and acknowledge how difficult this game can be, and so it’s become an area of concern, clearly, when it wasn’t expected to be.”
The Yankees have been linked to Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers, who could make his return from hamate surgery as soon as tomorrow. Tyler Stephenson, Jonah Heim, Joey Bart, Jake Rogers and old friend Kyle Higashioka are potential fallback targets. Hunter Goodman or Shea Langeliers would be the prizes of the market if they’re surprisingly made available by the Rockies or A’s, respectively.
Catcher and high-leverage relief are the expected deadline priorities for Cashman and his staff. It seems less likely they’ll go outside the organization for a shortstop. Top prospect George Lombard Jr. is nearing a return from the Triple-A injured list after suffering a finger sprain on his left hand. Cashman said the Yankees are keeping the door open for the 21-year-old to make his MLB debut before the end of the season.
“Looking forward to getting him back and active, and he might be a choice at some point,” Cashman said of the 2023 first-round pick. “More importantly, we just got to get him playing again and turning him loose again in Triple A. Really talented player that, offensively, was coming a long way of closing the gap despite his age. Defensively, he’s plug-and-play, ready to go.”
Lombard opened the season in Double-A, where he raked over 20 games to earn a promotion to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre by the end of April. He owns a .231/.381/.385 line with four homers in 42 contests with the RailRiders. It’s an unimpressive batting average, but Lombard hasn’t chased outside the strike zone and has posted strong batted ball metrics.
With Lombard looming, it’s unsurprising that Jon Heyman of The New York Post writes that the Yankees don’t appear to be prioritizing shortstop at the deadline. Heyman reports that New York could be in the rotation mix along with their obvious targets behind the plate and at the back of the bullpen.
That’d be in response to losing Carlos Rodón to elbow inflammation last week, though they’re still better positioned than most contenders in terms of starting pitching. Max Fried and Rodón are potential late-season reinforcements behind a group that already has Gerrit Cole, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren and Ryan Weathers. Weathers and Warren are vulnerable to the home run ball and the former could have some workload questions down the stretch. If the Yankees were to add a back-end starter, they could consider moving Weathers to the bullpen leading up to the postseason.
AL East Notes: Wells, Kremer, Kiner-Falefa, Grove
The Yankees reinstated catcher Austin Wells from the 10-day IL ahead of Sunday’s game against the Reds. Wells went 0-for-2 in his return to the lineup. He missed two weeks while dealing with cervical headaches.
Wells has struggled mightily at the plate this season. He’d posted a 53 wRC+ through 47 games heading into Sunday. His strikeout rate has risen to a career-worst 26.6%. After a career-high 21 home runs last season, Wells has hit just four in 169 plate appearances.
The Yankees optioned J.C. Escarra back to the minors with Wells back, but there will be more shuffling at the position in the coming days. Manager Aaron Boone told reporters before today’s game that Ali Sanchez is headed to the paternity list soon (h/t Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). Escarra will take Sanchez’s spot while he’s away from the team.
The Yankees rank 28th in OPS at the catcher position. The lack of production from the group has New York in the market for a backstop, preferably one who hits right-handed. Ryan Jeffers of the Twins has been frequently mentioned in the conversation. He’s been excellent this season (163 wRC+), but he’s currently sidelined with a fractured hamate bone.
The Yankees also called up right-hander Elmer Rodriguez to start on Sunday. He took righty Jake Bird‘s spot on the roster. It was just a spot start for Rodriguez, who allowed three earned runs over four innings and took the loss. New York optioned him right back to Triple-A after the game. Using Rodriguez today allowed the Yankees to give their rotation an extra day of rest. The club doesn’t have an off-day until July 2.
Here are a few other items from around the AL East…
- The Orioles sent a pair of starters on rehab assignments today. Right-hander Dean Kremer joined the Triple-A squad, and lefty Cade Povich headed to Double-A (h/t Roch Kubatko of MASN). Kremer has been sidelined for nearly two months with a quad strain. He was surprisingly optioned to the minors to start the season, then went down with injury after just two big league starts. Povich hit the IL with elbow inflammation in early May. He’s pitched in four games across two stints with the Orioles this year. Kremer and Povich will likely need several starts to ramp up, but they could push for rotation spots once healthy.
- The Red Sox placed infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa on the 10-day IL with left forearm inflammation on Saturday. He’s headed for more tests later this week to make sure he isn’t dealing with a fracture. “There’s some things with that, like on the bone, where you got to … get a more clear picture,” interim manager Chad Tracy said, relayed by Tim Healey of the Boston Globe. “At this point [they don’t believe there is a fracture], but that’s what the CT scan will be for.”
- Fellow versatile infielder Romy Gonzalez could’ve been a candidate to replace Kiner-Falefa, but he was pulled from a Double-A game on Friday with hip tightness, per Healey. Gonzalez is working his way back from offseason shoulder surgery. Tracy said the club hopes Gonzalez can resume his rehab assignment on Tuesday.
- The Rays reinstated right-hander Michael Grove from the 60-day IL on Sunday. He was optioned to Triple-A. Grove missed all of 2025 after right shoulder surgery. The former Dodger joined the Rays in mid-April. He’s made eight appearances in the minors with Tampa Bay, posting a 2.84 ERA with a 32% strikeout rate over 12 2/3 innings.
Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images
Yankees Hoping To Add Right-Handed-Hitting Catcher
The Yankees have gotten a disappointing season out of catcher Austin Wells so far, and his struggles have the team interested in bringing in some catching help. Chris Kirschner of The Athletic reports that the Yanks would prefer to add a right-handed bat behind the plate and specifically lists Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers as a potential target. Jeffers knows Yankees director of catching Tanner Swanson quite well from Swanson’s days as the Twins’ catching coordinator from 2017-19.
Jeffers got out to a monster start this season — .295/.408/.541, seven homers, equal walk and strikeout rates (15.6%) — but suffered a fractured hamate last month that required surgery. He’ll be sidelined into July.
The arrows on Jeffers are all trending up this season, but he’s quietly been one of the game’s best-hitting catchers dating back to 2023. Over his past 1411 major league plate appearances, Jeffers touts a .258/.346/.445 batting line (121 wRC+). The former second-rounder out of UNC Wilmington ranks eighth among qualified catchers in batting average, sixth in on-base percentage and sixth in slugging percentage in that time. Jeffers swatted a career-high 21 homers back in 2024 and was on pace to trounce that mark this season.
Despite the Swanson/Jeffers connection, it should be noted that Jeffers is just one of several options GM Brian Cashman & Co. could consider. It’s not even a foregone conclusion that Jeffers will be moved. The Twins have been expected to function as sellers all season and likely still will, but they’re at 36-40 after four straight wins and currently sit just 1.5 games back in the wide-open AL Wild Card hunt. Jeffers is an impending free agent and arguably their most likely trade chip if they do sell, but between their recent play and the 29-year-old catcher’s current injury, a deal in the near future seems quite unlikely. He’s making $6.7MM this season, and the Yankees would have to pay a 110% tax on the remainder of that contract due to their luxury-tax status.
Whether Jeffers or someone else, some form of catching upgrade would be prudent for the Yankees, whose backstops have combined for an awful .181/.271/.270 slash this season. The resulting 53 wRC+ indicates that Yankees catchers have been 47% worse than average at the plate, ranking them ahead of only the White Sox (who’ve been without starter Kyle Teel all season due to injury) and the Phillies.
Wells, currently on the injured list due to recurring cervical headaches, has been the primary culprit. After slashing .224/.294/.423 from 2023-25, he’s faceplanted with a .166/.278/.255 slash and career-worst 26.6% strikeout rate in 169 plate appearances this season. It’s plenty feasible that the ongoing neck/headache issues have dampened his production, but Wells’ struggles — and those of backups J.C. Escarra and Ali Sanchez — have been so pronounced that they leave the Yankees with little choice but to pursue an upgrade.
If not Jeffers, there are other righty-swinging backstops who’ll likely be available. Minnesota could conceivably make switch-hitting catcher Victor Caratini, whom they signed to a two-year $14MM deal this winter, available if they sell. The Red Sox are open to moving Connor Wong, though trade talks between the two parties are always complicated by their archrival status. Switch-hitting A’s backup Jonah Heim is a free agent at season’s end and would surely be available if they end up selling off some short-term pieces (though they’re currently in both the AL West and Wild Card races). The Rangers could be amenable to parting with old friend Kyle Higashioka (also an impending free agent), and the Rockies could have one of the more intriguing controllable trade chips on the market if they make slugging catcher Hunter Goodman (arb-eligible through 2029) available to other teams.
Yankees Notes: Fried, Wells, Stanton
Lefty Max Fried continues to rehab from the left elbow bone bruise that sent him to the 15-day injured list last month. Today, manager Aaron Boone told reporters, including Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, that Fried is scheduled to throw off a mound tomorrow. That follows recent imaging which showed Fried’s elbow has improved and sets him up to eventually begin a rehab assignment.
Fried had a 3.21 ERA in ten starts before the injury, continuing his dominance from last year, when he was worth 4.8 WAR according to FanGraphs and finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting. The club’s official injury report has Fried returning at some point in July. Assuming he makes it back after the All-Star break, that would give Fried 12 to 13 more starts through the end of the season.
The rotation has fared well in Fried’s absence. Since May 14th, Yankees starters have a 3.49 ERA, which ranks fourth-best in the Majors. Cam Schlittler remains an early contender for the Cy Young Award, while Carlos Rodón and Will Warren have ERAs of 3.38 or better in that span. Gerrit Cole hasn’t quite recovered his strikeout stuff since returning from Tommy John surgery, but his velocity is at normal levels. Only Ryan Weathers has objectively struggled, running a 6.44 ERA in his last five starts.
New York’s end goal should be a playoff rotation of Schlittler, Fried, Cole, and Rodón. Knowing that and the club’s current position in first place in the AL East, the club will continue to exercise caution on Fried’s recovery. An exact timeline will be clearer when he begins a rehab assignment, though tomorrow’s plan of mound work marks a crucial first step.
Turning to the offense, Kirschner adds that catcher Austin Wells is expected to play in rehab games this week. That seems to put him on track for a return later this month, assuming no setbacks. Wells went on the IL on June 6th with cervical headaches, though he’s improved after an MRI on his neck came back negative on June 8th, per the team’s injury report.
Wells had been hitting poorly before the headaches, having a 53 wRC+ in 169 plate appearances. That’s a massive drop-off from last year’s mark of 94. Wells will eventually hit better than .206 on balls in play and could catch up to his .359 expected slugging percentage, which far exceeds his actual .255 slugging percentage. Still, the 2026 version of Wells is barely a replacement-level player, and that’s only due to his defense. Meanwhile, J.C. Escarra has been even worse (35 wRC+ in 79 plate appearances), and Ali Sánchez is a fringe player with a 20 wRC+ in 141 career plate appearances in the Majors. Given those options, it’s clear that New York needs some kind of upgrade behind the plate at the trade deadline.
In other news, Boone confirmed that Giancarlo Stanton will undergo imaging tomorrow on his ailing calf, as relayed by Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. Reports from yesterday indicated that Stanton tweaked his calf again while running the bases. When asked if Stanton is back to square one in his rehab, Boone stated, “I don’t think so, but I don’t know that.” That response aside, it’s a fair bet that Stanton will need longer to recover based on his extensive injury history.
Photo courtesy of Mitch Stringer, Imagn Images
Yankees Place Austin Wells On 10-Day IL With Cervical Headaches
Catcher Austin Wells is heading to the injured list due to cervical headaches, the Yankees announced. J.C. Escarra was recalled to take Wells’ spot on the roster. Escarra was just sent down on Friday, but he’ll report back to the big-league club before playing a game at Triple-A.
Wells does not have a concussion, manager Aaron Boone told reporters, including Greg Joyce of the New York Post. The backstop complained of a headache on Friday night. He’s slated for additional testing on Sunday. Ali Sanchez was in the starting lineup behind the plate on Saturday before the game was rained out.
Jose Caballero pinch-hit for Wells in the ninth inning yesterday, but that likely had more to do with getting a right-handed bat in there against lefty Aroldis Chapman. There was no indication of an injury. Wells had started three of four games this week. He went hitless in 10 at-bats.
Wells is enduring a brutal offensive season. He’s hitting just .166 as New York’s primary catcher. After slugging a career-high 21 home runs last season, Wells has left the yard just four times this year. The left-handed bat has been particularly underwhelming against southpaws. Wells is 5-for-50 facing left-handed pitching this season.
Wells’ main contributions have come with the glove. He’s recorded 3 Defensive Runs Saved across 400 2/3 innings. Statcast gives him a Fielding Run Value of 3. Wells ranks in the 91st percentile for framing. He’s been slightly below average throwing out base stealers.
Escarra has functioned as Wells’ backup for most of the season. He hasn’t been any better offensively, posting a 38 wRC+ in 68 plate appearances. Only the Angels and Phillies have a lower OPS than the Yankees at the catcher position. Escarra will likely step into a platoon with Sanchez, who had his contract selected yesterday. The righty-swinging Sanchez should typically be in the lineup against lefties, like he was tonight against Ranger Suarez.
Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images
Luis Gil Wins American League Rookie Of The Year
Yankees right-hander Luis Gil has been named the American League Rookie of the Year, the Baseball Writers Association of America announced. Colton Cowser of the Orioles finished second while Gil’s teammate Austin Wells finished third.
Gil, 26, made his big league debut back in 2021 despite what his eligibility for this award might imply. The right-hander made seven starts in the majors between the 2021 and ’22 seasons, pitching to a 3.78 ERA in those 33 1/3 innings of work. Unfortunately for Gil, the start of his career was derailed in early 2022 by Tommy John surgery, and he did not return to a professional mound until the tail end of the minor league season in 2023. Given his long layoff and the fact that the Yankees entered Spring Training with a solid on-paper rotation of Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, Marcus Stroman, Nestor Cortes, and Clarke Schmidt, it at first seemed all but certain that the 26-year-old would see his return to the majors further delayed as he began the season in the minors to wait for a big league opportunity.
That opportunity came earlier than anyone expected, however, as Cole missed the entire first half after being diagnosed with a nerve issue in his throwing elbow. That opened the door for Gil to make the Opening Day roster as the club’s fifth starter, and he proceeded to dominate in the early months of the season. In his first twelve starts of the year, Gil delivered a sensational 1.82 ERA with a 31.5% strikeout rate and a 2.98 FIP across 69 1/3 innings of work. That dominant performance was more than enough to earn him a rotation spot even after Cole returned to the rotation, and while Gil’s performance was far more uneven for the remainder of the season he still entered the month of August with a solid 3.20 ERA and 3.58 FIP across 21 starts.
August proved to be a bumpy month for Gil this season, as he made just three abbreviated starts before ultimately winding up on the injured list due to a back strain. That injury may have contributed to his rough finish to the year, as Gil posted a lackluster 4.38 ERA and 5.76 FIP in eight starts between August and September. Of course, it’s hardly a shock that Gil seemed to lose steam late in the year between his long layoff and the fact that his 151 2/3 innings of work were by far a career high. Overall, his final numbers were solid thanks to his otherworldly start to the year, with a 3.50 ERA (117 ERA+) and 4.14 FIP in 29 starts.
The Yankees will not receive a Prospective Promotion Incentive draft pick as a result of Gil’s win, as the right-hander did not appear on the requisite number of top-100 prospect lists in order to qualify for the PPI. That’s not the case for the second place Cowser, who would have earned the Orioles their second consecutive PPI pick and Rookie of the Year win had he won the award. The 24-year-old outfielder turned in an impressive season of his own this year, slashing .242/.321/.447 (120 wRC+) with 24 homers in 153 games while splitting time between left and center field for Baltimore. That impressive showing nearly took home the award, as Cowser received 13 first place votes to Gil’s 15 and actually appeared on 27 ballots as opposed to 26 for Gil.
That split voting continued down the ballot, as Wells finished in third place despite both Athletics closer Mason Miller and Guardians reliever Cade Smith receiving a first place vote a piece while Wells himself did not receive any first place votes. Miller and Smith finished fourth and fifth for the award, respectively, while Red Sox outfielder Wilyer Abreu and Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford finished in sixth and seventh place with a handful of down ballot votes a piece.
Yankees, Padres Reportedly Far Apart In Juan Soto Trade Talks
The Yankees are known to have interest in Padres outfielder Juan Soto but it doesn’t seem as though a trade is close to coming to fruition. Per reports from Ken Rosenthal, Dennis Lin and Brendan Kuty of The Athletic, Jon Heyman of The New York Post and Andy Martino of SNY, talks have stalled with a noticeable gap between the two clubs. Heyman says that “at least nine” clubs have checked in, while the report from The Athletic says the Blue Jays are involved.
All the reports indicate that the Padres are asking for a multi-player return, with Martino reporting that the Friars asked for Michael King, Drew Thorpe and four or five other prospects such as Randy Vásquez and Jhony Brito, as well as salary relief for Soto and Trent Grisham, who was also in the discussions. He adds that none of Jasson Dominguez, Anthony Volpe, Gleyber Torres, Austin Wells or Everson Pereira are involved. The report from The Athletic identifies Clarke Schmidt as a target.
It seems there is a disparity in how to value Soto, who is incredibly talented in a vacuum but there are other factors that could diminish his value in a trade. He only just turned 25 years old but has already played in 779 big league games with 160 home runs. He has drawn walks in 19% of his plate appearances while striking out in just 17.1% of them. He has slashed .284/.421/.524 overall for a wRC+ of 154, indicating he’s been 54% better than the league average hitter.
But he is now just one year removed from free agency, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting an arbitration salary of $33MM next year. It is generally expected that signing him to an extension will be extremely difficult, given that he’s about to hit the open market just after his 26th birthday, a uniquely young age for a free agent. The Nationals reportedly offered him an extension of $440MM in July of last year, eventually putting him on the trading block when he rejected it. Since then, he banked $23MM in 2023 and is set to add about $33MM more next year, increasing his earning power as he has moved to free agency. That makes him seen by many in the industry as a one-year rental.
Shortly after that extension was turned down, the Nats were able to trade Soto and Josh Bell for a package of six players: C.J. Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell III, James Wood, Jarlin Susana and Luke Voit. But that was when Soto still had two and a half years of control remaining. Now he is down to one year and his salary has increased to roughly market rate for a star player.
Given the changing circumstances, his trade value should be far lower now than it was when the Padres acquired him. But the Padres still seem to be asking for a significant package of players, seemingly focused on pitching. King still has two years of control whereas Vásquez and Brito each have six. Thorpe is one of the Yankees’ top pitching prospects and hasn’t reached Triple-A yet. From the perspective of the Friars, they think the Yankees are acting like the only suitors, presumably extending offers the Padres consider non-starters.
It’s possible that this is just a classic case of early negotiations, where both sides stake out extremely unreasonable positions and gradually meet in the middle. But both sides also have the option of pivoting elsewhere. The Padres seem to have many other clubs calling, while the Yanks can walk away from Soto and pursue free agents like Cody Bellinger. They are known to be looking for two outfielders, which is presumably why Grisham’s name has been brought up in talks, but the Yanks could always looks elsewhere.
As for the Jays, it’s unsurprising that they are involved. General manager Ross Atkins has admitted that the club is looking for significant upgrades to their lineup, targeting big names like Bellinger and Shohei Ohtani. Like many things this offseason, the ultimate outcome might have to wait for a decision from Ohtani. Recent reporting indicates the Jays are one of the handful of clubs still involved as Ohtani’s market whittles down. But if they end up just missing there, they could call up the Padres and try to get something done for Soto.
Some reports have suggested that the Friars could look to finish a Soto deal as soon as next week’s Winter Meetings, but it might actually be in their best interests to wait. Since nothing is close with the Yankees and the Jays are waiting on Ohtani, the Padres might get a better deal with a bit of patience. Earlier reporting has suggested the Cubs, Giants and Phillies could be involved and there are other speculative fits as well.
Despite Soto’s immense talent, he’s available in trade talks due to the budgetary concerns in San Diego. The club’s payroll for next year is currently estimates by Roster Resource to be around $189MM. Due to aggressive spending in recent years and their loss of broadcast revenue with the bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group, they are expected to be working with a reduced payroll of around $200MM this year. That means they are almost at their limit before addressing the significant losses to their rotation. Blake Snell, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha and Nick Martinez reached free agency at season’s end, leaving them with Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish and plenty of uncertainty beyond those two.
It appears that president of baseball operations A.J. Preller is trying to kill two birds with one stone, moving Soto and his projected to salary to both clear out some payroll space and bring in the pitching they sorely need. Whether he can pull it off will be one of the most interesting storylines to follow in the weeks to come.
Yankees Could Look To Trade Kyle Higashioka, Ben Rortvedt
The Yankees were surely glad to have some catching depth when Jose Trevino needed season-ending wrist surgery just after the All-Star break. Kyle Higashioka took over the starting role, while Ben Rortvedt earned a call back to the majors to serve as the backup. When Rortvedt struggled to hit big league pitching, the team had more depth at Triple-A in the name of Austin Wells, who ended up earning the bulk of the starts behind the plate over the final month of the season.
With Trevino progressing well in his rehab, the Yankees are set to have four catchers competing for playing time next season. Trevino will likely return to his regular role, and Wells played ably enough to merit a spot on the Opening Day roster. That leaves Higashioka and Rortvedt on the outside looking in. Higashioka has been a capable backup in New York for several years, but he is a finished product and a known quantity. Rortvedt, meanwhile, will be 26 next season, and he hasn’t shown an ability to hit at the MLB level.
Therefore, it comes as little surprise that the Yankees could look to deal either or both of Higashioka and Rortvedt this offseason. According to Andy Martino of SNY, the team is “signaling” to other clubs that both catchers are available in a trade.
Higashioka is the longest-tenured player on the Yankees, having joined the organization in 2008 and played for the club in every MLB season since 2017. The 33-year-old has earned more regular playing time over the past two years, appearing in 175 games and starting 143 behind the dish. While his bat is below average, even for a catcher, his terrific defense makes up for his offensive shortcomings. The metrics from Baseball Savant, FanGraphs, and Baseball Prospectus all agree that he is an excellent pitch framer, saving several runs with his glove in each of the past three seasons.
The veteran is eligible for his final year of arbitration this winter and is projected to earn $2.3MM. That’s hardly more than a drop in the bucket for the Yankees, but still, they might try to trade him before the non-tender deadline, to avoid making a decision about tendering him a contract for next season. He would be a good fit for a team in search of a veteran stopgap to fill in behind the plate until a top prospect is ready to take his place. The White Sox, who have already expressed interest in trading for a veteran catcher (namely Salvador Perez), could be a match.
Rortvedt made his debut for the Yankees this past May, after coming over from the Twins last March as part of the deal that brought Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa to New York in exchange for Gary Sánchez and Gio Urshela. While the Yankees intended for him to compete for playing time with Higashioka and Trevino, he spent the first four months of the 2022 season on the injured list before he was optioned to Triple-A without having played a game. The 2023 campaign marked his third and final option year, and thus, he cannot be sent to the minors next season without being designated for assignment and placed on outright waivers.
Like Higashioka, Rortvedt has demonstrated an aptitude for pitch framing, but unfortunately, his bat has been nonexistent at the big league level. In 171 plate appearances across 2021 and ’23, he has hit just .146 with seven extra-base knocks, good for a career 38 wRC+. The offensive bar is low for backup catchers, but he’ll need to hit more if he wants to stick around in the majors. He would fit in best as a backup on a rebuilding club that can afford to give him a chance to prove himself, despite his substandard offensive production so far. The Mets will need a backup catcher if they choose to move on from Omar Narváez, as will the Tigers if they don’t exercise their option on Carson Kelly.
Martino also mentions that trading Trevino or Wells isn’t off the table for the Yankees, although it’s much more likely they deal Higashioka or Rortvedt instead. Wells would net the most valuable return, while the team could move on from Trevino if they think Wells is ready for a full-time role.
MLB Trade Rumors Podcast: Waiver Claim Fallout, September Call-Ups and the Biggest Strength of Each Playoff Contender
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss:
- Several important players are put on waivers in unprecedented fashion (0:55)
- The Angels placed all those players on waivers to try to get under the competitive balance tax (3:30)
- How can the waiver system be changed in the future? (6:15)
- The Guardians were the most active club in terms of claiming those players (13:45)
- Notable September call-ups include Jasson Domínguez, Austin Wells and Ronny Mauricio (17:05)
- The Yankees are committing to the youth movement, letting go of Harrison Bader and Josh Donaldson (19:50)
Plus, for the first time, we answer a voice memo question from a listener! Owen asks us which trait each team in postseason position has that will win them the World Series (21:10). If you want to hear your voice on the pod, record yourself and send the audio to mlbtrpod@gmail.com! iPhone users can find instructions on how to do so here.
Check out our past episodes!
- MLB Trade Rumors Podcast: Shohei Ohtani’s Torn UCL, Free Agent Power Rankings and Stephen Strasburg to Retire – listen here
- The White Sox Fire Their Front Office, Injured Rays and Prospect Promotion Time – listen here
- Pete Alonso’s Future, Yankees’ Rotation Troubles and Should the Trade Deadline Be Pushed Back? – listen here
Yankees To Promote Jasson Domínguez, Austin Wells
The Yankees are calling up outfield prospect Jasson Domínguez, reports Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. Catching prospect Austin Wells will be promoted as well, per Greg Joyce and Joel Sherman of The New York Post. Both looming promotions were reported on earlier today. Neither player is on the 40-man roster but the Yanks already opened a couple of spots by releasing Josh Donaldson and Spencer Howard. Active rosters expand from 26 to 28 on Friday.
Domínguez, 20, was a much-hyped prospect even before joining the affiliated ranks, signing for a huge $5.1MM bonus in 2019 that accounted for the vast majority of the Yankees’ bonus pool that year. “The Martian” has since climbed the ranks of the minor leagues, showcasing the potential to be an all-around contributor.
After some tepid results in 2021, the switch-hitter went through three different levels last year, going from Single-A to High-A and Double-A. In 120 total games, he hit 16 home runs and stole 20 bases. He struck out in 24.2% of his plate appearances but also walked at a 13.6% rate. His .273/.375/.461 batting line amounted to a wRC+ of 135, indicating he was 35% above average. This year, he hit .254/.367/.414 in 109 Double-A games for a 117 wRC+. His 25.6% strikeout rate is on the high side but he’s also walked at a 15.2% clip and stolen 37 bases. He was recently promoted to Triple-A and mashed in eight games there.
Defensively, Domínguez is a center fielder, though there’s much debate among prospect evaluators as to whether he’s a long-term fit there. Even if he has to move to a corner, he’s considered to have the arm strength necessary to be viable in right, though that would put more pressure on his bat than if he were to stick in center. Domínguez is currently ranked the #60 prospect in the league at Baseball America, #34 at FanGraphs, #78 at MLB Pipeline, #16 at ESPN and got the #27 spot from Keith Law of The Athletic.
Wells, 24, was a first-round pick of the Yanks in 2020, getting selected 28th overall. He’s considered a bat-first catcher, hitting left-handed, though many evaluators think he’s elevated his defensive reputation as he’s approached the majors.
He’s played in 95 games this year across three different minor league levels, hitting 17 home runs in that time and walking in 11.1% of his plate appearances. His combined slash of .243/.335/.447 amounts to a wRC+ of 105 and he also stole seven bases. BA considers him the #81 prospect in the league. He didn’t crack any of the other four aforementioned lists, though ESPN lists him as a “late cut” on their midseason update, which was capped at 50 names.
The Yankees are 64-68 and 11 games out of a playoff spot with just over a month left on the schedule. They have clearly shifted from contention mode, placing outfielder Harrison Bader on waivers this week, willing to essentially give him away for cost savings. They will use what is left of the season to evaluate some of their younger players, having recently promoted Everson Pereira and Oswald Peraza, with Domínguez and Wells now joining them.
Assuming Bader is claimed off waivers tomorrow, it’s possible Domínguez gets to finish the year as the club’s regular center fielder, with the Yanks taking that time to evaluate him before deciding how to proceed this winter. Behind the plate, Jose Trevino is out for the season due to wrist surgery. The club has been using Kyle Higashioka and Ben Rortvedt as their catching duo lately but Wells will presumably take some of their playing time the rest of the way.
Neither player will have enough time to exhaust their rookie eligibility here in 2023, meaning they will still be rookies in 2024. Under the current collective bargaining agreement, the prospect promotion incentive can potentially provide extra draft picks to clubs who promote top prospects for an entire year of service time. To qualify, a player must be on two of the Top 100 lists at BA, ESPN and MLB Pipeline in the preceding offseason and then earn a full year of service time as a rookie. If they win Rookie of the Year or finish in the top three in MVP voting during pre-arbitration seasons, the parent club earns an extra draft pick in the following season just after the first round. Wells may or may not be in that camp, depending on how the offseason lists shake out, but Domínguez seems like a lock to have PPI status next year.
Though it’s undoubtedly been a disappointing season in the Bronx, fans will be able get a glimpse at some things to be excited about for future seasons, as they watch some players who could perhaps help the Yankees in future seasons.