The New York Yankees made a rather intriguing move late Friday, promoting right-handed catcher Ali Sanchez from Triple-A.
The Yankees sent down lefty J.C. Escarra as a corresponding move, giving them a lefty/righty split of Austin Wells and Sanchez behind the plate.
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Remember: New York has been in search of a right-handed hitting backstop, so the fact that it demoted the light-hitting Escarra in favor of Sanchez should not come as much of a surprise.
However, it seems highly doubtful that the Yankees will go all season with Wells and Sanchez as their two catchers.
Barring a torrid stretch by Sanchez, New York will almost certainly acquire another catcher between now and the trade deadline, and its decision to send Escarra to the minor leagues is concrete evidence of that.
Clearly, the Yankees are running out of patience with the production they have been receiving from the catcher position. Wells is slashing .166/.268/.255. Escarra had a .493 OPS. And worst of all, both were lefties.
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Funny enough, Escarra was actually 6-for-16 against southpaws this season, but that was obviously a very small sample size.
New York Yankees catcher Ali Sanchez. Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images.
And make no mistake: Sanchez is almost surely not the solution. Yes, he hit six home runs down at Triple-A this season, but he also posted a .702 OPS. That isn’t exactly notable for a 29-year-old in the minors.
Sanchez is only a temporary fix for what has been a glaring problem for New York all year long, and the move is an indication that a trade is coming.
The Yankees have already been connected to numerous catchers on the trade market. Christian Vazquez, Ryan Jeffers and even Adley Rutschman have all been pitched as potential targets for New York, and it seems like Brian Cashman has already gotten busy trying to make something happen.
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The Yanks cannot live with such putrid offensive output at backstop. Especially not with Aaron Judge probably sidelined for around two months, and with Giancarlo Stanton still out of the lineup (although he is expected back soon).
It would be surprising if the Yankees didn’t make a move for a catcher somewhere. Maybe it won’t be as big of a swing as Rutschman, but Vazquez is certainly a possibility and would represent a clear upgrade (pretty crazy how a guy with a lifetime .666 OPS would be such a step up at this point).
And if New York does want to hotly pursue someone like Jeffers, Rutschman or perhaps Dillon Dingler? Then it has a host of pitching prospects that it can include in such a trade … and Jasson Dominguez could be on the table, as well.
The Yankees are evidently fed up with watching their catchers flail at the plate, and they are preparing to take action.
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Let’s just hope they follow through.
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