The New York Yankees made it no secret that they were in the market for a new catcher at the trade deadline. It seemed to be the one position that they were forced to upgrade.
The Yankees’ general manager, Brian Cashman, said, “It’s an issue, clearly,” to The New York Post almost a month ago.
But as the clock struck six on Monday, the Yankees made no upgrades behind the plate. Instead, they opted to boost the offense by acquiring 1B/DH Luis Garcia Jr. and outfielder Heliot Ramos. While both are upgrades to the offense, it still doesn’t fix the glaring issue behind the plate.
Now they will go the rest of the year and into the postseason with a catching crisis they will regret not solving.
Yankees Catchers Have Been Among MLB’s Worst
An upgrade was dire because of how underwhelming Yankee catchers have performed. The need for an everyday right-handed catcher was a focal point to fix the bottom of the order. Austin Wells and backups Ali Sanchez and J.C. Escarra have combined for a .187/.266/.295 slash line.
That puts Yankee catchers currently third-worst in both OPS and wRC+, with only the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago White Sox getting worse offense from their catchers. These poor numbers mainly fall on Wells, the starting catcher whose numbers have just plummeted.
There’s slumping, and then there is what Wells is enduring. The 27-year-old slugged 21 home runs last year but has now looked completely lost at the plate in 2026, finally hitting his eighth on Monday. He has become virtually nonexistent to the offense.
Out of the 22 catchers with at least 250 plate appearances, Wells bottoms out in almost every category. He’s dead last in both wRC+ and slugging. If he isn’t last, he is either second- or third-worst. Still, with all this information, the front office opted not to address the position at all.
The Yankees Saw Their Rivals Upgrade at Catcher
The aftermath of the trade deadline left the Yankees empty-handed while their division rivals went out and landed premium catchers.
The red-hot Boston Red Sox swept in and acquired three-time All-Star Adley Rutschman from the Orioles, a player the Yankees were connected to. Boston paid a hefty price for the former first pick of the 2019 draft, by giving up their number two, four, and five rated prospects.
Rutschman hasn’t been the same player he was from 2022 to 2024, though. In that three-season span, he put up a 13.8 fWAR. From 2025 to now, he’s just accumulated a 3.4 fWAR. Injuries have derailed the past couple of seasons, but without a doubt Rutschman is still an above-average hitter with elite defense at his position that the Yanks could have benefitted from.
Then first-place Tampa Bay Rays traded for the breakout Liam Hicks from the Miami Marlins. Hicks would have been a great addition to replace Wells. The lefty catcher is hitting .284 with 15 homers and a 128 OPS+. With five years left of team control, the Rays added a top catcher in baseball to an already dominant lineup.
As the deadline ended, the Yankees’ pursuit fell short, and Cashman gave a reason why he was unable to acquire a catcher.
“It was a thin market of opportunity,” Cashman said. ” We had many conversations with Baltimore, but were unable to meet the price. So they did their business elsewhere, and we kept grinding through it. At the end of the day, there was no opportunity that existed for us that we felt good enough about to push through on.”
The limited market left it tough, but quite literally any option would have been an upgrade over Wells or Sanchez. The Yankees needed a platoon for Wells to make sure Sanchez isn’t taking meaningful at-bats down the line.
A perfect solution would have been Cincinnati Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson. He is a right-handed bat that has posted a .252 average with nine home runs and a 105 OPS+ this season. Stephenson would have been a rental for New York, so his price couldn’t have been that astronomical compared to Rutschman’s or Hicks’. Instead, the Yankees never even made an offer to the Reds, per C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic.
Brian Cashman Still Believes in Austin Wells
The Yankees still view Wells as their catcher for years to come. The once-American League Rookie of the Year finalist has been an elite defender and a league-average hitter before this season. His fall from grace has made fans furious that the team didn’t upgrade, given how lackluster the AL is this year. Instead, fans watched the only threats to the Yankees get catchers.
Cashman is about the only person left who still has faith in Wells. He used Wells’ recent offensive hot streak as an example of why fans should be hopeful.
“Austin (Wells) has been getting his offense going. This past month has been a much more successful version of him, and a much closer version to what he’s capable of, ” Cashman said. “Hopefully, the best is yet to come, and they’re going to play big roles on both sides of the ball.”
Wells has shown signs of turning the page. Since July 12, he has hit .273/.400/.485 with a 154 wRC+ in 40 plate appearances. While the sample size is small, the Yankees need Wells to continue this hot streak, as Sanchez isn’t a suitable backup.
Had the Yankees struck a deal for a new catcher, many fans would’ve viewed the deadline differently. Every sign showed that this was their biggest weakness. Now they will continue to ride with Wells and Sanchez for the remainder of the year, hoping Wells’ surge is sustainable.
If it isn’t, their decision to ignore such a weakness will be another mistake during the Aaron Judge era for the Yankees.
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