{"id":124089,"date":"2026-06-19T22:54:51","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T02:54:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=124089"},"modified":"2026-06-19T22:54:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T02:54:51","slug":"yankees-catcher-situation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/06\/19\/yankees-catcher-situation\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees Could Improve Their Catcher Situation at the Trade Deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Yankees<\/a> need to start assessing what the club needs to succeed in the second half of the season. The club should consider trading for a catcher to enhance areas that they lack.\u00a0<\/span>For the longest while, catcher talent and depth<\/a> have been major concerns. This does not take away from the talent that Austin Wells<\/a> has, but it does relate to the struggle that he\u2019s endured.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Wells has been battling injury since June 6th<\/a>, sidelining him on the 10-day injured list to date. His temporary supplement has been J.C. Escarra<\/a>, who, with the bat, has not been impressive. Currently, Escarra slashes a .195\/.250\/.286.\u00a0<\/span>He\u2019s recorded just 15 hits in 77 at-bats with seven RBIs. Behind the disk, the Yankees catcher is just breathing the air of the Major League Baseball average fielding percentage. He\u2019s at a .990; MLB\u2019s average is a .992.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Wells has a .166 batting average with a .278 on-base percentage and .255 slugging percentage. Offensively, Wells is hit or miss despite the numbers. He\u2019s a streaky left-handed bat who can take advantage of pitchers; however, the Yankees need more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How Do the Yankees Improve the Catcher Scenario This Season?<\/h2>\n

Wells is making his way back slowly, as the catcher just began his rehab assignments. The left-handed hitter mashed two home runs in his rehab game, driving in two runs for the Triple-A Scranton Wilkes\/Barre Railriders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Overall, a returning healthy Wells is a good day in the Bronx. The Yankees need their left-handed option back, along with a good choice of calling a game. Wells does both and is super valuable to this team.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"New
May 27, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals second baseman Michael Massey (19) is tagged out by New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells (28) at home during the third inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The club does need another star behind the dish to be a battery-pack both offensively and defensively. Obviously, Wells will be the primary guy at the backstop, but one more beneficial option will do wonders for the team.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ryan Jeffers Is a Top Target for a Yankees Trade Scenario<\/h2>\n

This seven-year big leaguer may be the answer to the Yankees’ catcher pursuit. Ryan Jeffers<\/a> is with the Minnesota Twins, who currently don\u2019t look to be a divisional favorite and may have an interest in gaining quality prospects.<\/span><\/p>\n

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This would be the perfect scenario for both teams. The Minnesota catcher could be in pinstripes and evenly split the work behind the plate with Wells.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u2019s a right-handed hitter with power to all fields, showing good plate approach and zone awareness. His batting averages are competitive, along with his on-base percentages.\u00a0<\/span>Jeffers is a middle-of-the-order type of bat with the ability to move guys on the base paths and get the job done. So far this season, he\u2019s recorded a .295\/.408\/.541 slash with 26 RBIs, seven home runs, and 36 hits in 122 at-bats.\u00a0 <\/span>His fielding percentage is .996 while displaying great defensive attributes. A pairing of Jeffers and Wells would bring great offensive upside.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hunter Goodman<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The second option could be Colorado Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman<\/a>. The Rockies are already sitting in last place in the National League West 20 games behind first place; it\u2019s safe to say they could be sellers.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The catcher also plays in the outfield, and his bat is a strong tool. Goodman can hit, and he can be placed in the middle of the order. The 2025 All-Star catcher<\/a> has a 2.0 WAR in 2026, recording 66 hits, 21 home runs, 39 RBIs, and a slash of .251\/.322\/.536.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Goodman would also be a solid pairing with Wells, making consistent offense behind the dish. Both Goodman and Jeffers should be top trade targets. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Yankees will need to give up a big-time prospect as well as a player that’s ranked 15th and below in the farm system. A trade like this is very possible and attainable.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New York Yankees need to start assessing what the club needs to succeed in the second half of the season. The club should consider trading for a catcher to enhance areas that they lack.\u00a0For the longest while, catcher talent and depth have been major concerns. This does not take away from the talent that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5126,"featured_media":124092,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1071,5,35],"tags":[3602,5014,4265],"class_list":["post-124089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","category-yankees","category-news","tag-austin-wells","tag-hunter-goodman","tag-ryan-jeffers"],"modified_by":"Augustus Oswald, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5126"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124089"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124094,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124089\/revisions\/124094"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}