Yankees state of the system: Catchers

Double-A

The Yankees have three catchers slated for Trenton. I’m not sure that they’ll all wind up there, but for the sake of this article, they’re going to be grouped. All three of them will likely be invited to Spring Training.

In Double-A, the Yankees have an okay crop of depth guys. None of them are likely to make an impact at the major league level.

27-year-old Jorge Saez figures to be the Thunder’s starter. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because Saez was in Spring Training last year with the big club.

Saez, who the Yankees picked up two winters ago as a minor league free agent from the Blue Jays, posted a more-than-solid .249/.350/.423 slash with nine home runs in 63 games in Trenton last summer.

He should get somewhat of an extended look in Spring Training, mostly because the team might need him at Triple-A at some point. Between Higashioka’s health and Kratz’s age, Saez is probably next in line.

Saez’s main competition is recent acquisition Chace Numata, whom the Yankees scooped up as a minor league free agent several weeks ago. The Yankees signed the 25-year-old Hawaiian away from the Phillies.

Numata managed a .249/.318/.351 batting line with minimal power in 84 games at Double-A Reading last season.

The Thunder will likely feature Saez and Numata as co-catchers and give them each playing time until one of them separates himself. Numata is a little younger, but Saez was a bit more productive last year.

There’s also 27-year-old Francisco Diaz, a native of Venezuela, who was in Spring Training with the club each of the last two seasons.

A minor league lifer, Diaz has plugged away in the Phillies and Yankees’ systems for a dozen years. He’s played six career games at Triple-A, and that’s it. No doubt, you could circle the globe more than once with all the bus mileage he’s racked up over the years.

Diaz batted .228 with no homers in 48 games with Trenton last year. He’s strictly depth and will likely be one of the first catchers trimmed from the roster in March.