As they look to upgrade their catching situation, the New York Yankees are considered the leading candidate to trade for a coveted catcher.
The Yankees currently have Austin Wells as their starting catcher, but he is having a rough year behind the plate, hitting just .166 with 7 home runs, a .546 OPS, and a 54 OPS+. For a Yankees team that is looking to make it to the World Series, they know they need more production from behind the plate, and that’s why Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has been working the phones hard trying to find an upgrade behind the dish.
Now, it looks like they are honing in on the catcher they covet.
Yankees ‘Leading Candidate’ for Ryan Jeffers
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Yankees are now considering the “leading candidate” to acquire catcher Ryan Jeffers of the Minnesota Twins, as the Twins are likely to move him before the trade deadline.
“Rival teams now believe that the Minnesota Twins will trade catcher Ryan Jeffers, with the Yankees the leading candidate to sign him,” Nightengale wrote.
The Yankees have also been heavily connected to Hunter Goodman of the Colorado Rockies, but the Rockies’ asking price for Goodman is said to be sky high, so it makes sense for New York to pivot and see what other catching options are out there on the market.
Besides Goodman, who might not even be available anyway, Jeffers is likely the best catching target for teams looking for a new man behind the plate in the lead-up to the postseason. The Yankees definitely need some help at the catching position, so it makes total sense that they want to get Jeffers, and hearing the news that they are the “leading candidate” to acquire him isn’t a surprise at all given the team’s needs.
Ryan Jeffers Having a Big Year
Jeffers is having a big year for the Twins. He has hit .283 with 9 home runs, a .922 OPS, and a 157 OPS+. He also has 2.1 bWAR.
The 29-year-old Jeffers is a free agent following this season, so it makes sense that the Twins would move him at the deadline. Although the Twins are surprisingly good this year and in the hunt for a Wild Card spot in the American League, they are still a rebuilding team that would be better off trading Jeffers and seeing what sort of prospect capital they could get in return for him.
The Twins drafted Jeffers in the second round of the 2018 MLB Draft, and he has spent the last seven years playing for Minnesota. During that time, Jeffers has hit 77 home runs with a .756 OPS and a 110 OPS+, indicating his bat has been above average for a catcher.
There is no doubt he is having a career year heading into free agency, but the Yankees desperately need help at catcher, and so Jeffers makes a lot of sense for them, especially since he would cost less in a trade than Goodman. With the deadline eight days aways, we’ll see what happens.
Yankees Considered ‘Leading Candidate’ for Coveted Catcher